Green campaigner slams the ‘barking mad’ bicycle policy

Thursday, 25 August 2011

Cycle support: Jenny Jones has called for a more bike-friendly attitdude in Barnet

By Daniel O’Brien

A LONDON Assembly member has described Barnet Council’s attitude to cyclists as “beyond old-fashioned” and that more should be done to make this a bike-friendly borough.

Green Party member Jenny Jones went on a fact-finding mission around Barnet to discover how the Smarter Travel scheme, aimed at converting drivers into cyclists and pedestrians, would work in the borough.

After her visit on Wednesday morning, Ms Jones said: “Barnet’s a beautiful borough but conditions for cyclists are so unwelcoming – it’s not fair.

“I gather Barnet has taken cycle lanes out, which is so regressive. It’s beyond old fashioned. It’s barking mad, basically.”

She said it was a missed opportunity that Dollis Valley Green Walk, which runs from Brook Farm Open Space to Brent Park, did not permit cyclists.

“It’s quite possible for pedestrians and cyclists to share the space,” she said.
The Smarter Travel scheme has been judged a success in Sutton, where there has been a 75 per cent increase in cycling and 16 per cent in bus journeys since it was launched in 2006.

Ms Jones added: “Smarter Travel is a brilliant thing to do. Apart from anything else it would make people aware of their options. It can be done – it just needs a bit of political will.”

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