Meeting minutes 8 December 2008

Venue: Galway Social Space, 24 Middle St.
Present: Marty, Simon, Stan
Agenda:
1. Volvo Race
2. Media
3. National group
4. Greens 30kph presentation
5. Meetings
6. AOB

Minutes of the previous meeting are to be read at the next meeting. Due to the absence of almost everyone, much of this meeting was comprised of informal discussion.

1. Cycling promotion measures for the Volvo Race can be divided into marketing/PR and infrastructural/traffic-management. Guides, maps and routes for cyclists fall under the former, with the maps idea particularly attractive. The latter includes such measures as access to and from the docks by bicycle, conversion of one-way streets to two-way for cyclists. Promote exploration of the city by bike: by removing obstacles, increasing bicycle parking facilities, and increasing safety and convenience of cycling by the usual means.

2. Two print publications were discussed and analysed: the press release in The Sentinel about Cyclist.ie, and John Cunningham’s opinion piece in the City Tribune. The Sentinel gave generous space to a very good and positive piece, while Mr Cunningham’s article was more of a mixed bag, with some fair points but also some mistaken assumptions and misleading conclusions. Simon said he would write a reply, time allowing.

3. Maynooth Cycling Campaign joined the collective. The most recent subject under discussion by Cyclist.ie was ‘operation freeflow’ in Dublin.

4. A representative of the local Green Party asked Simon if he would be interested in giving a presentation to the Party on 12 January on the subject of 30kph zones. There is widespread resistance to 30kph zones in urban areas. Very few drivers obey the 50kph zones in Galway city, for example, and would likely baulk at the idea of further restrictions on their speed. Nonetheless, 30kph restrictions have been successfully implemented in various towns in the UK. Simon reminded Niall O’Brolchain TD of the Green Party’s policy on 30kph zones. From the Galway Cycling Campaign’s point of view, association with any political party is to be handled with caution. Marty wondered if it would be possible to give such a presentation to all the political parties, and Simon added the possibility of giving the presentation to the City Council.

5. Oisín and Bart met Ministers Eamon O’Cuiv and Frank Fahey to discuss the parking levy; the meeting was more of a general discussion about cycling promotion and traffic conditions.

6. Simon contacted a local sergeant to enquire about repeating the bike lights initiative. There was no response. We received 100 armbands from the County Council. The Road Safety Authority, Anchor Safety (Ballybrit) and Super Valu shared a high-visibility vest promotion. Simon contacted Anchor Safety, who said they would be amenable to a joint project with the Galway Cycling Campaign.

Meeting ends.


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.