Oxfordshire has abolished a role intended to promote cycling. The previous holder, Dr Suzanne Bartington, resigned in October complaining that it was difficult to serve as “the face of cycling” without any responsibility for transport decision making.
Bartington, an Oxfordshire county councillor, was tasked with promoting cycling and advising senior councillors on how to improve bike facilities.
However, she stood down from the role in October, explaining, “It's seemingly impossible to enact positive change in Oxfordshire without a portfolio or budget responsibility.”
Scores of people responded to a tweet announcing her decision, thanking her for her efforts. She told one that her head was “rather flat” after three years of banging it against a brick wall.
Speaking to the Oxford Mail, Bartington said: "I felt that what I would like to make happen was very difficult to do without being a cabinet member for the council.
"It is the cabinet who make decisions for the authority and I am a back bencher. It is very difficult to be the person who is the face of cycling and funding it but doesn't actually have any responsibility for decision making around transport."
She said she believes there should be a cabinet member for active travel with powers to make decisions about cycling. However, the BBC reports that the ‘Cycling Champion’ role will instead be replaced by a cross-party advisory group of councillors.
Councillor Arash Fatemian, who proposed the change, said a "diversity of approach" was needed.
"What works in cycling and walking for Banbury and its hilly surrounds will not necessarily suit the comparatively flatter and better-established commuter routes between Oxford, Abingdon and the Culham science park," he said.
You turn onto a side road with the hope of a clear road but the expectation that you may have to stop if there's something blocking your path....
I'm pleased that local businesses seem to be more aware of issues than the council are - maybe they should volunteer to walk/cycle along the path...
Hopefully they can reset the counter like last time so we can join the upcoming new games.
That is true but I'm not sure that Shell's sponsorship of cycling will have much of an impact on the climate either....
Totally apropos that the Shell logo appears to be British Cycling up in flames
Man gets on bike:...
See attached image...
The review certainly isn't wrong, but I do find it slightly amusing that 9.6kg is considered 'light for a children's bike'. As cycling adults many...
Ridiculously, here in Portugal the national federation actually does give us a discount of 6c per litre with Repsol...
I just remembered the epic fail on Southeasterns part. Further to my reply to a comment here, as mentioned Dartford station has these double decker...