Present: Claire Pascoe (chair) Alastair Smith (minutes) Jill, Patrick, Eleanor, Peter, Reuben, James, Gottfried, Maurice, Phaedra, Emma, Don, Sridhar, Howard, Dolores, Frank, Alex, Kate, Claire, Jon, Brian; Councillors Andy Foster, Bryan Pepperell, Justin Lester.

Go By Bike Day

The meeting started with a showing of the GGBD video.

Guest speaker 1: Councillor Andy Foster: Portfolio Leader, Transport (Public Transport and Roads)

Andy reported on the success of the Mayoral Cycling forum, which attracted 200 people, a contrast with numbers attending forums on the annual plan. Councillors and officers are going through the suggestions made at the forum. Hope for quick wins. Once the Tawa shared path is complete, significant cycling budget will be available for projects in the central area e.g Bunny Street, Thorndon.

Island Bay to CBD cycle route: will consult later in year about options for the best route.

Great Harbour Way: WCC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NZTA on their approach to the Hutt road cycle route (Ngauranga to Thorndon). A likely solution is a two way cycle route, separated from road traffic.

There was discussion of which route should be selected for the Island Bay to CBD: for example a central route on the Kent/Cambridge Boulevard would be preferable to Tory/Tasman St. However there is a problem of who CAW advocates for: current users or newbies. Andy sees a project such as the Island Bay to CBD as transformative, noting the impact of cycle routes in Nelson and New Plymouth.

Andy discussed funding issues: councils now tend to set a maximum level of rates/debt, and have to fit expenditure within these parameters. Advocates for cycling may have to specify what they want to drop from council funding. Patrick pointed out that current cycling expenditure (approximately $3/person) is small compared to London or the Netherlands.

Claire asked about staff capacity in WCC for cycling projects, suggested that CAW advocate for a specific cycling role in WCC.

Andy mentioned that WCC is looking at improving cycle usage statistics with permanent loop detectors in addition to the current annual cordon count.

Patrick asked about getting the email address list from the Mayoral Cycling Forum.

Andy emphasised the importance of making submissions on the Annual Plan, due 16 May, oral submission more effective. He also suggested CAW get onside with Living Streets, particularly with regard to shared paths.

AGM

Membership report (attached)

Emma reported that CAW has 71 financial members (64 last year). There are also 533 members of the Friends of CAW email list, 228 members of the CAW facebook group (up from 153 last year) and 82 followers of the Twitter account @CycleAwareWgtn.

Emma is relinquishing her membership role, and was thanked for her work.

Financial Report (attached)

Alastair presented the financial report that had been prepared by Tom and reviewed by Community Accounts Mentoring Service Trust. CAW has a healthy financial position, with a balance at 31 December 2012 of $6778, a slight increase from the previous year. Major income has been from grants from WCC and GWRC, along with some generous donations and membership fees. Major expenditure includes running Go By Bike Day, the production of the Friendly Cyclist Videos, and conference subsidies.

The financial report was approved by the meeting (moved Alastair, seconded Sridhar)

Annual report (attached)

Claire presented her report, highlighting activities for the year: production of the Friendly Cyclist videos, promoting safe and responsible cycling; use of social media (Facebook, Twitter); cooperation with Police and WCC in the cycle lights campaign, Go By Bike Day; Roll on Wellington Awards; advocacy and discussions with NZTA, Opus, WCC, GWRC on projects such as Petone-Nguauranga and Basin Reserve/ Memorial Park; representation at Active Transport Forum and SASTRAG.

Claire thanked everyone who contributed to the years activities. Report accepted (moved Claire, seconded Phaedra).

Elections:

The following people were elected as the 2013/4 CAW committee

Chair: James Burgess 

Secretary: Alastair Smith 

Treasurer: Tom Halliburton 

Membership: Phaedra Upton

Submissions: Eleanor Meecham, (Brian Wolfman will help out)

SASTRG reps:  Jill Ford, David Laing, James Burgess

Active transport forum: Craig Lucena, Tom Halliburton

Wellington Trails Alliance Rep: Ian Bennett 

Other committee member: Sridhar Ekambaram

Guest speaker 2: Councillor Justin Lester (Northern Ward)

Justin spoke as a councillor and a commuting cyclist. Justin is keen to see a move of funds from the general roading budget, and small increases in rates, to the cycling budget to achieve transformational change, creating the perception that it is safe to cycle. 

Councillor Bryan Pepperell (Portfolio Leader: Walking, Cycling, Motorcycling and Safety) also spoke: has been talking to new WCC Chief Executive, who may be more positive about cycling. 

Other issues:

Seaview Road speed reduction : CAW will submit in support, but the whole route should be 50km/hr. 

Cycle Lights Campaign: Claire recruited volunteers to help with Police/WCC campaign.

Solistice ride consider at next months meeting

WCC annual plan submission - Phaedra is preparing. 

Eleanor moved thanks to the Committee, especially Claire.