Build safe cycling routes to help people ditch cars for local journeys, urges senior doctor "redressing balance" of city's "polarised" cycling ban debate

A senior doctor has urged Worcester policy makers to see past "so much negativity locally" and implement safe cycling routes that encourage and enable people to leave their cars at home for short local journeys, the comments coming in a bid to "redress the balance" of discourse around cycling in the city that has predominantly centred around controversial cycling bans in recent times.

Doctor Jonathan Leach OBE, who was a colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps and now works as a GP in Bromsgrove but lives near Worcester, spoke to us today to provide "balance" to the "polarised" cycling ban talk that has dominated the discussion around cycling in the city centre this year and has been the subject of several stories on this website.

> Tory councillor who wanted mandatory cyclist number plates vows to keep high street cycling ban, blaming "lazy and selfish" cyclists

Much of the headline-grabbing coverage has come courtesy of the only remaining Conservative on Worcester City Council being outspoken about "dangerous and selfish" cyclists, and his desire to see a TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) banning bike riders from the city's high street between 10am and 6pm kept in place.

In March, Worcester City Council opted not to extend a PSPO (Public Spaces Protection Order) which banned cycling in other parts of the town and that campaigners branded a "psychological barrier" to people using bicycles. At the time, councillors said they were "never convinced dangerous cyclists were the big issue" and the ban felt like "political theatre".

Now, it has also been proposed that the high street TRO should be reviewed, prompting more comments from Cllr Amos about the decision only being made to "appease the cycling lobby", that it had left disabled residents "horrified", and that it would transform a "safe and welcoming area where pedestrians can shop and walk" into a "dangerous and unwelcoming place".

And while Dr Leach agrees the high street pedestrianisation should stay in place, his overall message is that enabling people to cycle through the city and to its shops and amenities via other routes and safe cycling infrastructure should be the priority.

Urging policy makers not to get bogged down in "polarised" cycling debate, Dr Leach gets straight to the point about the health benefits of cycling that should be being targeted.

"If I could prescribe it, exercise would be one of the most effective drugs," he told road.cc. "Especially physical health, especially mental health, it helps people keep fit. I've got a number of my patients who can't walk very well because they've got osteoarthritis in their knees, back, but they can cycle... but they're bloody terrified about going out because of the aggressive nature of too many car drivers.

"Particularly for shorter journeys where people are going to the shops, they're going to take the children to school, going to the doctor, things like this, then it would save an awful lot of money in terms of their cost on their cars, but also it would be far, far better for their overall health."

Dr Leach cycles for transport and travels to local home visits by Brompton. This afternoon he travelled to Plymouth by train, cycling to the station first. He tells us he recently took an old washing machine to the tip, a journey he drove. He's also a member of IAM Roadsmart (formerly the Institute of Advanced Motorists).

"So I'm not anti-car," he continues. "But we need to encourage people to be, particularly for short journeys, leaving the car at home.

"I'm just trying to get some balance in this discussion which is far too polarised and as I said, I'm not anti-car, I'm actually a member of the Institute of Advance Motorists which is brilliant training and it made me a better car driver, a better motorcyclist and a better cyclist because it gives you far better hazard appreciation. 

"There are lots of these shorter journeys where a bike is absolutely fine, but we need to be encouraging people. The evidence is very clear that the infrastructure and their being fearful of cars is a major impediment."

When talk inevitably returns to the whole discussion's starting point — the ongoing talk around Worcester's former PSPO and existing TRO — Dr Leach says he wouldn't change the rules around pedestrianisation on the high street, but points out so much can be done elsewhere to make the city accessible and safe to cyclists so they wouldn't have to use it anyway.

He also raises concerns about the need for "much better enforcement" of people using "motorbikes that look like bicycles" (the bikes often labelled as e-bikes in the press, but which exceed the 250w maximum power output and 15.5mph speed limit at which the motor should cut out) which he says aren't helping public perception of cycling and legal e-bikes.

Ultimately, however, Dr Leach wants the take-home message to be about the health benefits society could unlock through cycling and safe, accessible and well-designed cycling infrastructure.

He says: "I'm just in my own little way just trying to redress the balance because we've had so much negativity locally and we need to find better ways than just saying you can't cycle."