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On Thursday (Oct 18th) attendees at the Love London Go Dutch conference heard calls for London’s politicians to back and lead a genuine cycling revolution for the city.
The London Cycling Campaign’s (LCC) conference brought together a broad range of attendees – the largest concentration of cycling expertise ever seen in London, according to the advocacy body.
The conference was part of the LCC’s tong-term drive to see walking and cycling get priority over motor traffic, as in the Netherlands.
LCC chief executive Ashok Sinha called on London Mayor Boris Johnson to move towards his mayoral promises backing Love London, Go Dutch.
Sinha said: “We’re delighted to have played our part in bringing Transport for London, national and local UK politicians and civil servants, and Dutch politicians, business people and infrastructure experts together under one roof for the first time.
“London cycling needs political leadership , and we’d like the Mayor and Transport for London to build on the positive aspirations generated of the conference and explain exactly how they plan to implement their three Love London, Go Dutch commitments.”
In a letter to LCC dated October 3rd 2012, Mayor Boris Johnson reiterated his commitment to his election three promises, saying: “Following my commitment during the election campaign, I asked Transport for London to review the London Cycling Campaign’s Love London, Go Dutch to ascertain how the principles it establishes can be incorporated into the design and implementation of cycling schemes in London, taking into account the UK legal framework and regulations, the physical characteristics of London’s streets, and the needs of all road users.”
The mayor’s letter also says Love London, Go Dutch will be considered by the Better Junctions review team and the newly established Roads Task Force.
Conference attendees included:
· Transport Minister Norman Baker
· Dutch Ambassador to the UK Laetitia van den Assum
· Alderman of City of Amsterdam Jeanine van Pinxteren
· Philip Darnton, former chair of Cycling England
· Representatives from the All-Parliamentary Cycling Group of MPs
· Transport for London and Department for Transport civil servants, including TfL director Ben Plowden
· Borough officers & councillors
· Experts from the Dutch Cycling Embassy
· Dutch business representatives
· British Cycling, CTC, Sustrans and CEoGB representatives
· National newspaper journalists and bloggers
The Dutch Cycling Embassy facilitated a ‘A Love London, Go Dutch workshop’, where representatives from Transport for London, local councils and cycling and walking campaigns worked together to produce a people-friendly redesign of Lambeth Bridge and its approaches.
Presenting the outcome of the workshop at the conference, Dutch Cycling Embassy expert Marjolein de Lange agreed with an earlier call by the LCC for a Dutch-style roundabout at the northern approach, while the recommendation for the southern approach was for a cycle-friendly cross junction with traffic lights to replace the current signalised roundabout.
The three Love London, Go Dutch conferences are the result of LCC’s successful 2012 mayoral election campaign, which gained support from all five of the leading candidates.
