The consultation on how Tower Hamlets spends its Local Infrastructure Fund is currently open, closing on 8 August.

The Fund is made up of payments received from developers and the aim is to spend it on infrastructure which helps Tower Hamlets cope with increases in population and employment. Cycling facilities fit the bill perfectly: bicycles are a space-efficient, healthy, zero-pollution mode of transport -- ideal for a growing borough, being relatively cheap to enable and with plenty of potential for growth in use.

We therefore suggest that you pick “Cycling and walking routes” as one of your top three priorities in answer to Question 3, and then consider suggesting some cycling schemes as your infrastructure project nominations (you are allowed to nominate up to three projects). Examples might include:

• Making your area’s residential streets local access only for motor vehicles (sometimes known as "modal filtering"), thus enabling safe cycling. You could suggest that some money from the Fund is offered as part of a bid for Transport for London funding for such schemes, which is likely to become available via its upcoming “Liveable Neighbourhoods” programme.
• Creating new, high-quality cycleways in your area, or upgrading existing ones.
• Providing secure residents’ bicycle parking in your area (for example, replacing a single parking space with two Bikehangars -- which would hold 12 bikes).

As this is a fund in relation to development, you will have to include some explanation of how your suggestions address the demands placed on the area by development. This should be easy to do with cycling, as it’s a highly space-efficient form of transport which is ideal for an increasingly-dense urban area, and recent Transport for London analysis has shown that it has huge potential for growth in Tower Hamlets. Don’t worry, however, if you can’t answer the questions about how much the project might cost – your suggestion will still count without this.

Click here to get straight to the consultation response page. Remember to reply by Tuesday 8 August.