If you are a small business in Barnet, you are most likely to be able to apply for a Covid grant. These must be applied for by the 14th February 2022 and can be up to £6,000. The process is slightly cumbersome, you have to load copies of your last accounts, 2 Utility bills, a rent statement (or other docs if you don't rent), your last four months bank accounts and proof you are trading (sales receipts etc). It took me approx 40 minutes to apply on Tuesday night. This morning I received the following message
Your claim submitted through GrantApproval.co.uk under reference number: ****** has been updated
Message from London Borough of Barnet: I can confirm that your grant claim has been approved and you will receive payment within 5 working days.
For our business, this is a lifeline. We had a negative cashflow in December. In the music industry, bands book and pay for rehearsals months in advance for Xmas shows. We had to refund tens of thousands of pounds of bookings, as bands had their shows cancelled as Omicron hit and the Govt cancelled Xmas parties by issueing work from home advice. The grant has meant that we can pay our rent this month.
I must compliment Barnet Council on their efficient processing of the claim.
There is a limited pot of money for this particular relief. It is being paid on a first come, first serve basis, so if you don't apply you will miss out.
Visit https://www.grantapproval.co.uk/ to apply. If you have any problems with the process, contact your local councillor ASAP and they will assist. If they cannot help, please email me, do not include personal details, just a contact number and a brief description of what the problem is with the process and the Council Ward you live in. I will treat any requests in strict confidentiality. I have helped several Mill Hill businesses to claim relief, but I can make no promises. Good luck with it and please, don't delay.
What are London Symphonies? Let me tell you the whole story.
This is a special year for me. If I make it through to August, I will be 60 years old. I can't believe that the time has passed so quickly. I have to be honest and say that 99% of the time it's been an absolute blast. I was asked if I was a glass half empty or glass half full person recently. I said that I am someone who drinks the glass and fills it up again. When the glass is empty, it is an opportunity to try a different tipple.
Over the past four years, I've been working diligently on a little project. It started off as an idea for a concept album for my band, The False Dots. We started writing songs and then the pandemic struck. During the period of lockdown, I sat at home, sorting out old photo's, getting boxes out of the shed, looking at all manner of things I'd put away for safe keeping. In the middle of the pandemic, I had to go to UCH for an MRI for my Cancer. As we were only allowed out for 'essential reasons' I realised I would be seeing a London that most of us would never see and it was a unique opportunity to record this for posterity. I photo'd the journey and recorded it on Instagram. I then put this together as a blog - From Mill Hill to UCH, a lockdown journey through London as you've never seen it before - as I was doing this, I came to realise just how fascinated I was with London. I reflected long and hard on the album we'd started to write. I came to the realisation that what I wanted to do was something completely different. London is such an amazing subject for a project, but there was more scope than just music. The old photos in our family collection made me realise that there was a visual story to be told. The old videos I found also told a story. For a couple of years, I've been chatting with my good mate Richard Wilkinson, who has provided guest blogs about Mill Hill in the 50's and 60's about London and the suburbs. Richard is an amazing storyteller. His storys got me thinking about whether we could encompass such reminiscences in London Symphonies.
As I thought about the project, I realised that I didn't want to do a history project. I wanted to do something that encapsulated living London. I wanted to capture the stories, images and sounds of London through the lifetimes of living Londoners, be it memories of times gone by or current times.
If it can be called Eureka moment, it was when I was putting a song together with The False Dots at a rehearsal recently. I'd written a song called "Sunday Morning at The Sacred Heart". It was based on my experiences of having to go to Church as a child, being an alter server, etc. I got the band playing it, and our drummer, Gray Ramsey said "That really reminds me of Sundays at our house. My Mum would always do a big seafood spread in the afternoon. It was lovely, there was great big crabs, whelks, prawns. All my mates would come around. It made me realise that there was far more to Sunday in the 70's than going to Church for most Londoners. I remembered how my Dad would take us to Church and then go to the club for a few beers, arriving home just after 2pm when the bar shut.
I remember my Aunty would nip around and borrow two shillings for the meter and we'd all have to shut up whilst she gossiped with Mum. Her husband Michael drove a skip lorry and he'd chat football with us and tell us stories. I threw out most of the old lyrics, rewrote the song and we recorded it. I was blown away. I dug out old footage of Mill Hill, a video we had of me starring in a Heinz beans commercial, some old photo's and my good mate Richard Logue got some footage of one of the vintage tellies he collects and put it together into this.
I didn't want to make a big thing of it, just gauge the response. The response has been amazing. It has been really well received by just about everyone I know.
I've been reflecting on the project and I realised that there are four main strands to what I want to do.
1. Stories of London.
When I was at School, I did a project on St Pancras Station. I was given a guided tour by an old railwayman, who was close to retirement. He'd started on the railway in 1940 at the height of the blitz. St Pancras was bombed. He'd been working on the day it was bombed. He told tales of the station through the years. At the time, in 1976, the station was run down and at risk of demolition. If I had a regret, it was that those stories were lost. Another similar thing was a Cafe I used to visit in Aldgate called Sidoli's on Leman St. Margaret who served the tea was always good for a chinwag. She'd tell me stories of when the cafe was full of sailors from the London docks, rather than city types from Nat West banks offices next door. Another such great racontour is the much missed Stan Davison RIP. We video'd Stan for the film "A Tale of Two Barnets". The interview was so good that when he passed away, I posted the whole thing on my Youtube channel. It is well worth a look
I really want to capture as many of these stories of London as I can.
2. Photographs.
London may be the most photgraphed city in the World. I realised that what I want is not pictures of buildings, but pictures that tell the tale of London. I found a picture of my sister and my cousin as kids in the fountain at Mill Hill Swimming pool in the summer of 1963. For many, this is the London they remember, not Big Ben. These are the images I want to capture.
I want images that someone, somewhere will say "Wow, I remember that". I want pictures that spark memories, not just well composed images of buildings and routemaster buses etc. It would also include times of change, where the passing of something is marked.
3. Films.
I've made films of a couple of things of interest in London, I hope to make some more. A good example is the film I made of the official opening of the Handley Page memorial at Cricklewood. I love the memorial and it was an honour to make this film. I hope that in years to come, people will see the memorial and be inspired enough to search out the film. I'd really like to make more of such films. I'd also be happy to include other things, I'm not so much looking for mini history films as getting an insight into the people behind them.
4. Music.
Initially, this will be the songs that The False Dots have been working on for the album. That will be volume 1 of London symphonies. Who knows if there will be a volume II, if there is I'd like it to be something radically different to the first album. The first album will be songs that evoke the spirit and sound of London in our lifetimes.
Initially I will be collating all of this into a website. If that works out OK, I'll be looking to make some sort of multi media show or exhibition. I hope that there is something in this you think might be worth a look. My intention is to spend 1 day a week working on it all year. I plan to visit a neighbourhood I know, where I've worked etc and re-explore it. I've deliberately not overplanned it. Next week will be the first day. I'll be spending the day in and around Aldgate and Spitalfields, My plan is to just spend a few hours walking around, taking pictures, making videos and see how it all comes out. We'll take it from there.
This morning I walked the dogs over a rather frosty Arrenden open space. It looked stunning in the sunshine. But what really took my eye was the frost on the fallen leaves. I snapped the above picture. I happen to think it is one of the best I've taken. I showed my wife the picture and she was rather underwhelmed. She much preferred the pictures below, far more standard shots of the fields and trees.
It got me to thinking about the subject of beauty. Have you ever had the experience of telling friends that you think someone is stunningly attractive only to see a universal look of disbelief. When I was at school, a couple of times I was ridiculed for saying I rather liked someone, only for my friends to be very dismissive. What was interesting is that I've realised they were not telling the truth, but were scared of being honest. I recall one incident where a friend started a new relationship ( we were all about 18). One of my friends commented that the new girlfriend was 'a bit of a battleship' and that our friend could "do better for himself". I was quite shocked because I thought that the girl in question was very attractive, albiet in a rather unconventional way. I pulled up my friend for his comments and said "How do you think he'd feel if he heard that?". As this turned out to be a very long term relationship for my friend. The guy who made the comment later quietly asked me to never mention his comments, when it became clear they would be a long term item. I asked him whether he'd changed his opinion or whether he just didn't want to look like a knobhead. His response somewhat surprised me. "Well as I got to know her, I still think she's ugly but she's really sexy".
It is interesting how some of us let good looking people take liberties but if they find someone unattractive, they won't give them the time of day, unless they are rich and powerful. At the weekend, I was discussing (The artist formerly known as) Prince Andrew with the family, as we sat having Sunday lunch. I'd forgotten, but about 15 years ago, we were at The Cobden Club, formerly in Notting Hill. The ex-HRH happened to be at a private function downstairs. A couple of our group were outside having an Oily when His Royal Highness (or whatever you are meant to call him) departed. To say he didn't cover himself in glory with his behaviour is an understatement and alcohol may or may not have played some part in that. I took the view that it didn't matter who he was, it was disgraceful and I've never liked him since. A couple of people in our group had snuck off and managed to gatecrash the private party. They were somewhat starstruck by the errant Prince and were thrilled to have met him, even though he'd been less than pleasant. It is strange how for some of us wealth and power can warp their perception of beauty.
I've only ever really met Royalty once. The False Dots performed for the Princess of Tonga in 1989. I've been accused of being anti Royal on occasion, but she was what a Princess should be, as far as I'm concerned. She got down and boogied and thanked us for a great night at the end of the show. She was a lovely lady and told us we must one day visit Tonga, telling us it was a beautiful island. The dreadful events of the last two days, with a volcano and a tsunami made me think of the Princess and say a quiet prayer that she's OK.
I do hope that Tonga recovers it's beauty and that the Islanders are not too badly hit and do not suffer too much hardship.
So how has your week been? Mine has been pleasant enough. Having had a dry two weeks at the start of January, I thoroughly enjoyed having a couple of beers and watching Hadley FC yesterday (more of that later). On the work front, we had the hassle of a break in at our premises on Thursday night. The hassle that scumbags who thieve and rob cause for small businesses trying to survive a pandemic is absolutely unforgiveable. Whilst insurance covers the cost of losses, it doesn't cover the stress, aggrevation and general unpleasantness of what you have to deal with. Please support your local small businesses and please do not buy hooky goods. You are just encouraging scumbags who need no encouragement.
Anyway, enough of my week. What have the esteemed tweeters of the Borough of Barnet been up to?
1. Lets start with the best goal you'll see in the Borough of Barnet this year. A cracking game at Brickfield Lane last night
GOAL 38’ Cameron Ferguson curls one into the top corner to put us 3-0 up
2. This is a tragedy. The Station that never was. Mill Hill Tube station, which would have made getting between Edgware, Mill Hill, Finchley and surrounding areas far better, reducing pollution etc
3. Following up on one of last weeks selection, Mr Ian McGreevy, our unofficial loca roads correspondent, has produced a definitive guide to the abandoned accesses to the M1 motorway in Mill Hill.
The evolution of the "M1 Hendon Urban Motorway" (to give its official title) through Mill Hill, crops up now and again. I thought I would put a bit of a Timeline on a map for those interested. pic.twitter.com/6FMeQPyiPa
4. And now for something completely different. A big shout out to the rather marvellous Silkstreamers and the amazing work they are doing preserving our local waterways. Mind you, not sure if the paddling pool would have too many takers.
5. If you want to get included in this list, a bit of gold dust North London music history is a surefire way, This is brilliant. I loved the Torrington
Fantastic album 👌 Steve my mum and dad use to go down the Torrington pub in finchley North London and watch them play. They were so good speedy king on bass, the great mick green on guitar and the epic cliff Bennett from the rebel rousers on vocals. pic.twitter.com/tDMPtNeAFs
9. It's how things get better. Please make the effort
We are kindly asking that if you have not already done so, please could you assist us with completing our Ward Panel Survey It really helps us to know what is an issue and problem at the moment, that you feel needs to be a priority on the Edgware Ward.https://t.co/7tngWZhQAB
Best bit of dodgers was the band who rang up to cancel a booking last minute. To avoid cancellation charges, said the drummers Granny had passed away. Sadly they forgot to tell the drummer, who turned up and had to pay. He wasn’t best pleased
There is a song that called "Three is a magic number" as this is blog three three three, it must be triple magic. I've always been intrigued by magic. My Uncle Harry, a former Mayor of Southport was a member of the Magic Circle. When we were kids, it was always great to see him. He'd bring cakes, do tricks and was great fun. He taught my Sister Caroline how to perform fire eating. He tried to teach me tricks, but I told him I'd rather believe it was magic. Harry died in the 80's. In 2004, I was at an airport in France. I was at the bar,ordering a beer. A scouser in a Liverpool top was also at the bar. We started chatting. He mentioned that he wasn't really a Scouser and that he was from Southport. I said "My Uncle Harry was the Mayor of Southport". An incredulous look appeared on his face. He said "Paul and Elaine's Dad?". I said "yes". We had a long chat, it turned out that he was Harry's next door neighbour and Harry's kids were his best friends. He had the same stories of Harry's magic tricks. Harry moved to Australia as his daughters had moved out there. I was never actually sure how he was related to us, but he was probably our best loved rellie. He knew all of the famous TV magicians, he'd make a point of meeting them when they appeared at venues in Southport. Perhaps his best revealation was that Tommy Cooper was a fine magician, but unless the tricks went wrong, people felt cheated. He made more money playing the incompetent buffoon, so he stuck with it. In these days of cameras everywhere, we are all cynics. I am always amazed at people who claim that they've been cheated because the magician didn't really saw the Lady in half! I thought a list of my favourite magic tricks would be suitable for todays list.
I sort of feel that much of the current TV and film content about magic lacks the joy of the 60's and 70's. I wasn't a fan of the Paul Daniels school of magic and the Harry Potter business leaves me cold. So here is a short list of the magic on TV and in film that made a real impression on me as I grew up.
1. We had to start with the Late, great Tommy Cooper. I still can't watch Tommy without laughing
2. Second on our list, we have Uri Geller. At the time, this was a sensation. Uri's USP was that it wasn't an illusion, it was the power of his brain. I seem to recall that about three weeks after this Harry turned up and did the same trick. It seems silly now, but this was a really big deal in more innocent times.
3. My father always spoke of Harry Houdini. Dad was nine when Houdini died. He had an obsession with Houdini. He watched films and documentaries and we'd have hot discussions on the subject
4. When I was little my favourite magician was Sooty! I used to love the section of the show where he did magic tricks.
5. I must also mentioned Bewitched. My sister Caroline loved this. I don't really remember too much of it, other than it was essential viewing in our house. I may have imagined it, but I think the Nuns at St Vincents may have ordered parents to stop the kids watching it, a it was the "work of the devil"
"That nice George Johnson asked me out for a date. I know you went out with him last week, and I wanted to talk with you about him before I give him my answer."
Edna:
"Well, I'll tell you. He shows up at my apartment punctually at 7 pm, dressed like such a gentleman in a fine suit, and he brings me such beautiful flowers! Then he takes me downstairs. And what's there; a limousine, uniformed chauffeur and all. Then he takes me out for dinner; a marvelous dinner, lobster, champagne, dessert, and after-dinner drinks. Then we go see a show. Let me tell you Dorothy, I enjoyed it so much I could have just died from pleasure!
So then we are coming back to my apartment and he turns into an ANIMAL. Completely crazy, he tears off my expensive new dress and has his way with me three times!"
Dorothy:
"Goodness gracious!... so you are telling me I shouldn't go?"
Edna:
"No, no, no... I'm just saying, wear an old dress."
Barnet Council are planning on imposing car parking charges on users of Scratchwoods open space. Hale Tory Councillor Laithe Jajeh has posted the justification for this action on the local Facebook group
"Following the murder of a young man in December 2019, issues with an on-site cafe and members of the public that frequented the site and the overall popularity of the car park at all hours (day and night), the council and Cllr’s agreed with police guidance that there is a potential safety concern that needed addressing (monitoring of vehicle registrations that utilise the car park). This will enable the council and authorities to monitor the site and ensure illegal activities are deterred. The best option tabled was a system that did the above and in order to pay for and maintain it, a small charge was agreed and introduced at committee.
This is subject to a review in 12 months and any thoughts and comments via email are appreciated: Cllr.l.jajeh@barnet.gov.uk"
As Mr Jajeh knows, I walk my dogs over Scratchwoods on a dialy basis (when the park is actually open). I choose this area as it is very quiet. I have two large rescue dogs, who are easily frightened and we rarely get disturbed at Scratchwoods. Mr Jajeh states that a 'small charge' will be levied. As I usually walk the dogs for 1.5 hours 3 or 4 times a week, the small charge equates to approx £182.50. I have walked over the area with Mr Jajeh on several occasions, discussing the issues with fly tippers and other nuisance users. Mr Jajeh declares that the charge will 'deter illegal activities'. I hardly think that people who dump stolen cars with bodies in the boot will be deterred by a 50p parking charge, it will however penalise perfectly ordinary people such as myself, who have dogs that require quiet open spaces. Several of the people I know who use the space also have rescue dogs who also benefit from the relative tranquility of the space.
Mr Jajeh states that the on site cafe has caused problems. I have no idea if this is true, I personally have not seen any evidence of this. In fact having the cafe made the park seem safer to me. If what he is saying is true, it would seem fair to address this with the Cafe owners and not penalise dog walkers and families who usethe park for recreational reasons in a perfectly social manner.
I am not really one for conspiracy theories, but I can only wonder whether it is Laithe Jajeh and the Barnet Tories way of 'paying me back' for my criticism of them over the years on the local Lib Dems Mill Hill account? The only people who will really suffer financially are the regular users, all of whom value the wonderful facility.
I've had a long, illustrious career. I've worked for myself, for small companies, for middle sized companies and for blue chip companies. I've been to all manner of 'work events', 'team building events', 'team lunches' etc. I've never been to a 'bring your own booze in the garden' event. I've been on plenty of after work booze ups, picnics with work mates, etc. The difference is that when it is a work do, your boss organises it, pays for the refreshments and expects you to go. When it is a social get together, you pay your own way and attendance is up to you. Given that 100 people were invited, you had to bring your own booze and it was specifically mentioned that the good weather would be enjoyed, it is insulting to expect us to believe that it was work.
I just re-read the blog I posted on 20th May 2020 - http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2020/05/ing-you-most-want-to-hear-during.ht -it is pretty clear that myself and my friends had bought into the rules. Boris had a lot of good will. He has squandered it all. I hope and pray that we've beaten the virus and the pandemic if finally over, because if he has to call another one, it will be nigh on impossible to get us all to buy into it. The results could be fatal for a lot of people.
As for what will happen to Boris. Tory MP's are not stupid. Unlike Labour, they don't hang around when they decide a leader is going to cost them votes. They achieved an 80 seat majority when Boris was in his honeymoon period and Labour had Jeremy Corbyn. Every single one of them is aware of the size of their majority and that an unpopular Boris and a Labour party lead by Keir Starmer is a very different proposition to the people who put them in the House of Commons. Tory MP's who find their position under threat will treat Boris no more kindly than they treated Margaret Thatcher. The best case scenario is that no more embarrassing dead cats are lobbed over the wall by Dominic Cummings. If I was a gambling man, I'd not bet my house on that. My gut feeling is that no prospective leader will want to take over whilst there is still a risk of more variants and more lockdowns. The nightmare scenario for them is that they don't get rid of Boris and he sinks them. If Boris is still around for the May Council elections, we will see the true extent of the damage. I wonder how many have the balls to wait?
For those new to the discussion, the segregated lane along
part of the A1000 (from East Finchley to Tally Ho Corner) was put in as part of
the emergency transport measures during the initial phase of the pandemic. It
has caused much discussion amongst both supporters and opponents, and in our view
should be seen as a success.
The data shows that car journey times along the route are down,
and air quality has improved. This fits a pattern that has been repeatedly
shown wherever these schemes are objectively assessed – cycle lanes do not
cause congestion. We applaud the diligence of the data collection team and
thank them for their hard work.
At the same time, the report does mention some areas in
which the scheme could be improved. Better Streets for Barnet
highlighted some of these during the consultation and will happily work with
the council to ensure alterations meet the needs of all road users. We urge
those designing these changes to consider how shared use paths might cause
conflict between pedestrians and cyclists, and to avoid situations where
cyclists would have to move out of the safety of a lane into the main traffic
flow to avoid parked delivery vehicles.
During the trial period, several different points of view
have been raised – “why is segregation needed?”, “I support cycle lanes, but
just not this one”, “it is in the wrong place”, “it puts cyclists at risk
because of its design”.
Segregation is needed to address the fundamental problem of
our roads – that putting two tonne metal vehicles moving at more than 25mph in
the same space as 90kg bikes carrying humans with minimal protection is not
safe. Any hazard control strategy places elimination at the very top - if we remove
the risk, then we no longer need to worry about collisions occurring. Working towards zero collisions must be the
primary focus. We know by now that simple painted lanes do not remove the risk,
they are little more than a warning sign and crashes still occur.
So, Barnet are fulfilling promises in their transport
strategy by putting this lane in, and it is absolutely in the right place. The
A1000 is the number one desire route for transport in the borough. Starting
here is going to produce the most benefit, it will encourage more people to
cycle. Linking the main town centres in the borough will remove the need for
car journeys of less than 5km, which make up a disproportionate amount of our
trips. If we reduce the number of these short car journeys, the roads will be
freer for longer journeys as well as for the emergency services.
We are under no illusion that the lane is perfect, and the
report does mention improvements. Very few initial schemes of any sort are
ideal, but in assessing these kinds of change, we should not allow perfect to
be the enemy of good. We must work together to improve the lane, listening to
the concerns of all involved and establishing ways to make it better. Removing
the lane will undo the achievements of the past 18 months and will cause the Borough
to commit further to roads being overly dominated by cars with the knock-on
effect of dangerous air pollution being inflicted on Barnet citizens. The
councillors supporting the lane should all be applauded and praised for their
leadership, both in a time of crisis and going forward.
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Jon Klaff is a campaigner for sustainable transport and lives in the Borough of Barnet. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye
I was contemplating the question of how the money the government raises from road tax and fuel duties actually relates the cost to the government of the cost of maintaining the road network. There was a heated debate on our local facebook group about the resurfacing of Lawrence St by Barnet Council. One local claimed that roads that service the wealthier residents are given preference. It got me think as to who get good value and who doesn't.
There are two main elements tto the revenue central government makes from motorists. The first is fule duty and the second is the vehicle licence. There are many costs involved. These include maintenance and building of new roads and the associated infrastructure, maintaining lighting and paying for the electricity, costs of policing motorists and the cost of managing licences and driving tests.
Road tax rates are based on value and CO2 emissions. The fuel duty is fixed and the more fuel you use, the more money you pay. It got me to thinking just how fair this is. If you think of it logically, as the road tax is fixed, the more you drive, the better a deal you get. There is little account taken of how much wear and tear that driving your car does to the road. The heavier your vehicle, the more damage it will cause. I couldn't find an answer to the question as to whether these taxes pay in full for the upkeep of our roads.
The one thing which is not factored in, or even properly discussed, is the health care costs associated with car generated pollution and motor accidents. There is no financial incentive for motorists to drive in such a way that they produce less pollution or cause few accidents. Modern technology would make it extremely easy to charge drivers more if they pollute or drive in such a way that is more likely to cause accidents. Excessive acceleration and braking is a big cause of unnecessary pollution. We could also incentivise drivers to travel outside of rush hour. I used to have a job that involved driving around the UK to test new credit card soultions for retailers. I found that if I had to drive up to Manchester, it was far more pleasant to leave at 5am and beat the traffic. I'd find a cafe and have breakfast and avoid all the stress of heavy traffic. I'd also use far less fuel and create less CO2. Is there any way that we can justify defending the rights of inconsiderate drivers to cause asthma in other people's children. Logging our journeys, speed and driving behaviour would be easy for manufacturers to install in new cars. There is no reason that this couldn't be downloaded and drivers apply for a tax rebate for good driving practicies as well as driving greener vehicles. Each driver could have a personal driving tax statement. That way a driver who only uses the car occasionally, out of peak hours and drives considerately would get a rebate, whereas a driver who doesn't pays in full.
There are some precedents in transport for differential pricing. I was intrigued to find a spreadsheet that showed how much Network Rail charges train companies for using the railway I'd never really thought about it before, but every different type of vehicle and every different type of load has its own rate and charges. The Royal Mail, for example pays £6.185 per mile for a train hauled by a class 37/5 locomotive and £6.5872 per mile for a train hauled by a class 47/7 locomotive. I must confess that I have no clue how these charges are calculated, but one assumes that the different fees reflect heavier axle loads, which have higher wear and tear on the system. I was surprised that electric locomotives are even more expensive, a class 86/2 costs £6.8908 per mile. It seems there is no discount for greener propulsion, which I have to conclude is regressive. It seems to me that simply securing access to the rail network is very expensive for operators, which given the fact that rail is far greener than car travel seems very counter intuitive.
It is also worth mentioning the fact that bicycles attract no vehicle duty or fuel costs. Whilst many motorists complain about cycle lanes, they largely ignore the fact that cycle lanes are only really required because drivers pose a danger to cyclists. They are light and impose virtually no wear and tear on road surfaces. I wonder how long it will be before HGV's and cars are legally required to fit technology to protect cyclists. I used to cycle everywhere, this stopped when a frustrated HGV driver tried to run me over as we approached Fiveways Corner. The required evasive action wrote of my rather expensive bike and the bruises and truama has put me off cycling on A roads ever since. As the technology now exists to prevent such maniacs getting away with such actions, I'd like to see it become mandatory. I was OK, but I could have spent the rest of my life in a wheelchair, such costs are never discussed when we talk about the costs of driving.
