Held online via Zoom
Wednesday 9th December 2020 at 19:30
Attendees – Keith, David, Alexandra, Neil, Kate, Owen, Hirra, Julie, Helen, Sabeha, Iain
Apologises –

Whitechapel
- Co-design workshops to be in January but may be slightly delayed.

Friends of the Earth Hackney & Tower Hamlets
- Friends of the Earth Hackney & Tower Hamlets have suggested creating a petition in support of Liveable Streets with an ask to commit to funding Phase 3 & 4 of the program
- It was discussed whether to aim for the petition to gain enough signatures so that the council has to respond (so there is a written record of a petition in favour) or to aim for enough signatures to present at a future council meeting.
- ACTION – Alex & Kate to draft petition text & email around

Old Ford West
- There is currently a public consultation on the Old Ford West Liveable Streets scheme that closes 20th December.
- https://talk.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lsoldfordroadwest
- Julie, Neil, Dan & Iain had a meeting with the Liveable Streets team to talk through the plans in the consultation.
- We raised concerns that sometimes one-way systems can actually encourage drivers to speed as they know nothing will be coming towards them.
- There has been a concern raised from a resident’s association about there not being any closure on Old Ford Road itself and concern that traffic will increase along this residential road due to the resulting closure at Sewardstone Road. We suggested reaching out to the Liveable Streets team to raise any concerns and organise a meeting with the housing association as our experience is that they have been very willing to meeting with other housing associations and community groups.
- We will be putting in a formal response to the consultation as a community group.
- ACTION – Iain to start the draft response & circulate

Tower Hamlets Officers Meeting
- Cable Street, the council will be carrying essential utility works between 1st Jan – early March 2021. They are looking at rerouting options for CS3 as during this time part or all of the cycleway will be blocked by the works.
- ACTION – Julie to email around the drawings concerning Cable Street rerouting options.
- Funding for School Streets has been secured and rollout across the borough will continue with consultation at each school.
- Cllr Perry stated that some councillors have been receiving a number of emails against the Liveable Streets schemes.
- ACTION – email your local councillor in favour of Liveable Streets
- Works at Arnold Circus are currently on hold as they consult further and some planters are to be added to replace the current fencing
- There is some funding available for cycle training until the end of this financial year
- Local Infrastructure Fund, closes 9th December. https://talk.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lif?tool=survey_tool#tool_tab

Bow
- The Bow Liveable Streets consultation results went to cabinet meeting for it to be voted on whether to continue.
- 6 members of the public all spoke at the cabinet meeting, all being in favour of the scheme.
- The cabinet approved the scheme to move to the next phase (detailed design) and the Mayor has proposed to hold a virtual town hall to ensure that everyone in the area has had their chance to voice their views.
- The date for the virtual town hall is to be confirmed.

AGM
- ACTION – Iain to reach out to Wheels for Wellbeing about speaking at AGM
- 13th January will be AGM
- ACTION – Alex to send email out to LCC about AGM

Cycle Buddies
- Currently have 19 experienced riders signed up and 12 new/returning riders.
- You can sign up to become a Cycle Buddy via link https://www.towerhamletswheelers.org.uk/tower-hamlets-cycle-buddies

Email Groups
- With Yahoo groups closing down, Owen is in the process of transferring the 3 mailing groups across to Google groups

Cycle Sisters
- Cycle Sisters is a charity which inspires and enables Muslim women to cycle. They run community cycle groups that provide support and role models to help tackle stereotypes and make cycling more inclusive and diverse.
- A new group is being set up in Tower Hamlets and they are looking for suitable routes for rides between 5-8miles long.
- It was suggested that they should reach out to Cllr Perry who is the borough’s walking & cycling champion.
- They are also looking for help with accessing bicycles for the rides.
- It was suggested to look into the ‘hire a Brompton’ cycle scheme as it costs around £5 a day but also they may be willing to assist with the loan of bicycles.

AOB
- There has been 3 more bike shops open up in Tower Hamlets
- Teviot Street Fixers in Bow
- Urban E-Bikes Cambridge Heath Road
- Zoomo on Clare Street
- ACTION – Keith/Owen to add to Wheelers website

Next Meeting – Wednesday 13th January 2021, 7.30-9pm, The Cabin, St Margaret’s House, Old Ford Road, E2 9PL or via Zoom if lockdown is in place. Email or contact on social media to receive the invite link to the Zoom meeting.