This is a circular to all emailable Spokes members... A. THE NEW DECADE Had you noticed that the two '0's in 2010 look rather like the wheels of a bike? The '1' in the middle is you, and the '2' at the beginning is the snowplough attached to the front of your bike! If you're snowed in and would like to while away a few minutes, why not draw a cartoon of the above. Your cartoon may appear in the next Spokes Bulletin or Spokesworker. We'll give a Spokes map of your choice to the best cartoon to reach us by Tues Jan 12. For a reminder of the current range of maps (or to buy some!) see http://edinburghpaths.info/spokesmaps.htm Email your entry (maximum 2 entries per person, maximum size 1 MB) to spokesATspokes.org.uk or post to Spokes, St Martins Church, 232 Dalry Road, Edinburgh EH11 2JG. B. MORE SNOW There was an interesting article on cycling in snowy conditions in the Guardian. See the Guardian website link below. Thanks to Aberdeen Cycle Forum for spotting this... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2010/jan/06/tips-cycling-in-snow C. SCOTTISH BUDGET 2010-11 NO FURTHER PROGRESS - EMAILS STILL IMPORTANT There is no sign of the Scottish Government paying attention to the recommendations of the all-party Parliamentary Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee. In its report on the draft budget 2010-11 the TICC Committee recommended that the government urgently look into a transfer within the transport section of the budget, to increase investment in cycling and walking. Our website news item on this received widespread coverage. As a result many Spokes members and other cyclists throughout Scotland contacted their MSPs asking for the TICC recommendation to be acted on. So far the government appears to have ignored the recommendation – just as they did to a similar, though less strong, TICC recommendation last year. Several members have now forwarded us replies from MSPs, and these confirm the levels of concern. Mike Pringle MSP [Lib Dem, Edinburgh South] said “a considerable number of constituents are contacting me” and has written to Stewart Stevenson, Transport Minister. Dr Ian McKee MSP [SNP, Lothians] introduced his letter with “So many people have contacted me about this issue that I have drafted this response.” The fullest response was Dr McKee’s – and naturally he attempts [unsuccessfully in our view] to defend his government. We have therefore posted on our website Dr McKee's letter and our response to it. Dr McKee claims in his letter that the opposition parties are not that concerned about cycling and walking - is this some kind of justification for the government's own inaction on funding!? The budget process now enters its final stage. The political parties at Holyrood are in last-minute behind-the-scenes bartering. The SNP government will soon publish a final Budget Bill which it hopes includes sufficient concessions to other parties to get through the Parliament in a vote later this month - and last minute amendments may be added just before the vote to try and ensure sufficient support. What concessions the parties demand in this behind-the-scenes argy-bargy are likely to depend on what they think constituents want, so letters are still very worthwhile. In our website article we give more detail and suggest one or two points you could make. Most importantly, ask whether in the final budget negotiations their party is making cycling investment one of their conditions for supporting the budget. Find the full story here... www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2009/12/scottish-budget-2010-11-no-progress-yet D. TRAMLINE TRIBULATIONS, DOCUMENTS AND ADVICE Our website now has a page of links to various local tram/bike documents - including a Spokes advice note on cycling in Princes Street (and other roads with tramlines) and a video of the recent 'tramline tryout.' http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2009/12/tramline-tribulations-advice-documents/ E. SPOKES PUBLIC MEETINGS There's also a new web page with reports on all our public meetings from the last 3 years, including the unusually controversial recent meeting on the future of Princes Street. http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2009/12/spokes-public-meetings/ F. SPOKESWORKER 28.12.09 The top item on the website at the moment is a link to the latest Spokesworker issue - including more on several of the above items, and some interesting Q&As on coloured surfacing and on the future of Princes Street from a recent Edinburgh Council meeting. www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/2009/12/spokesworker-28-12-09/ G. EMPLOYER CYCLING The Bike Station has received a major Climate Challenge Fund grant for a project to promote greener commuting with Edinburgh's small and medium size employers (up to 200/300 or so?) They are now looking for employers to join the pilot phase of the project, and for employees interested in pushing this with their employers. See Spokesworker 28.12.09 (above) for more details and how to volunteer YOUR EMPLOYER OR BUSINESS for the project - at no cost to them. H. SPOKES WEBSITE All the above, and more, can be found on our website, the current address being... http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/ Look through the news items there, and/or click the relevant tabs at the top of the page (especially 'downloads'), to find the above and much other interesting info. I. TENEMENTS BIKE PARKING PROJECT Our application [Spokesworker 5.12.09] to the Cycling Scotland Innovation Fund failed - We had excellent feedback from them, and we suspect we failed largely because the size of the fund is now just 30% of what it was last year - we believe it is in total now just a few £10k for the whole of Scotland [another sign of declining national funding]. We are keen for the project to go ahead, so if anyone has ideas on other places we could apply for funding (ideally around £5k, though less would be useful) please contact katherineATtusks.org.uk. Best wishes Dave du Feu for Spokes