After the Spending Review....

We still haven’t received a written answer from the Council about the Marple Dale bridge. The word is that Sustrans, because they are duty bound to spend the Lottery grant, will pull out of some ‘Connect 2’ projects and support the full cost of others. It also sounds as if the Council are stalling over the provision of upgraded paths leading to the bridge. Following the spending review the Council will try to minimise its commitments and it seems very possible that Sustran will indeed pull out of this particular project.

The Council are due to publish their;
‘Local Strategic Partnership Climate Change Strategy, updating the 2009 Stockport Climate Change Strategy’.
The draft document outlines the possibilities for reducing CO2 emissions in the borough up to 2020. Cycling is referred to once (as ‘making a contribution’; advice on not over filling the kettle is more detailed).
To their credit house insulation improvements have been costed and according to their figures, an investment of £600 per person yields a yearly saving of 600kg CO2.
(Total emissions of CO2 per person per year in the UK is 11,000kg!).
As is often pointed out, improving home insulation is a cost effective way of saving CO2. It beats micro-generation schemes hands down. The Otterspool micro hydro generator will cost £7 investment per kgCO2 saved per year.

So how does cycling, the Cinderella of sustainable investment, compare?
Petrol produces 2.3kg CO2 per litre (it also produces respiratory irritants that foreshortens the lives of 24,000 people per year in the UK).
In rush hour conditions the average car will produce 0.26kg CO2 per km.
So over the course of a year I could equal the 600kg CO2 saving by cycling 4 miles per day (I actually average more than 10 miles per day) for which I have benefited from £1 of investment per person per year spent on cycling provision.

The Council’s estimate for improving house insulation across the borough is £153.9M and even the six micro hydro generation schemes will cost about £3M. These are big investment decisions so it is amazing how cycling is virtually ignored by local government planners. In Manchester it seems even the green cycle lanes painted along the sides of the road that cost £40,000 per kilometre, will now be too expensive.
_______________________________________________

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the A555 extension to the airport and the A6 has been shelved. But what has surprised the local politicians is the ‘slap in the face’ from Whitehall for the A555/A6 bypass project. The Government have drawn up a list of 130 road schemes. The top five are fully supported and will go ahead. The remainder are under review. But A555 extensions to join the A6 at Hazel Grove to the airport is not even listed. To add insult to injury, in a reply to David Rutley in the house regarding the scheme, the Transport Minister, Philip Hammond said the situation was somewhat different in that it was to be part supported by PFI (private finance initiative). This was true of the existing central section opened in 1996 but this is not the case for the proposed extensions East and West. The minister’s inaccurate brief is another indication of the priority Whitehall puts on the scheme. The Council were considering spending £2M on consultants to work out a PFI supported road. Now the Council are looking at other sources of public funding to finance the road. They are even considering raiding a 'Local Sustainable Transport Fund'. Nice try!

What’s this got to do with cycle provision? The bottom line is that all three main parties have doggedly supported the scheme as the principal way to alleviate congestion in the area. Like Mom’s apple pie this has an implied general public support. If you commute by car in the area you will appreciate the very significant improvement in journey times during the Summer holidays and the abrupt worsening when the schools go back. The statistics bear this out with the Summer drop in car journeys reaching 30%. So we know that congestion is solved by removing 30% of car journeys. Cycling could and does remove this number of cars. UK, Italy and Austria are at the bottom of the league table with a cycle usage of less than 5%. Oxford, Cambridge and York touch 20% but the high proportion of impoverished students always helps the statistics. The problem is that UK cycle usage is ‘sub critical’ in the sense that cycling becomes less risky and more attractive the more cyclists there are. At an intermediate, ‘critical’, level drivers take more account of cyclists and modify their road craft to make cycling safer. This makes the top three countries, Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden four times safer for cyclists than the bottom three. Another comparison is the per capita yearly expenditure on cycle provision; £10 in the Netherlands compared to £1 in the UK. Yet another indicator that the UK is unnecessarily locked into car use is that Germany has a higher car ownership but also a higher cycle usage.

Stockport Council General Meeting 9th September

Update 10th September.

The question 'When will the bridge be built' was put to the executive councillor for transport at the general council meeting. His reply was that he did not know but that it would be 'soon' and that he would confirm the start date in a written reply.

This is a fairly positive reply. The council are trying to push through very significant cuts and closures in an unfortunately autocratic manner. At the meeting, there were a hundred plus residents complaining about the closure of the Avondale Leisure Centre for which the council have just given two weeks notice of closure. The group quickly filled the public gallery half an hour before the meeting and then spilled into the councilors seats. This lead to something of a noisy standoff which delayed the start for the next half hour. The immediate outcome was that the council reiterated the procedure for the scrutiny of the executives decision. This would be in an open meeting but the public would only be observers. Tha back story is that if the centre was closed the new academy on the site opposite would take over the leisure centre and also that the council are building a £2m leisure centre elsewhere. Overall it was quite an impressive example of people power.

Good provision for cyclists is an easy, low tech way of contributing to green house gas emission targets.; compared to solar panels supplying the grid it is very cheap and the contribution is immediate- solar panels will take 5 years to pay back the emissions caused by their manufacture. The council are currently failing to meet the targets for 2010 (NI 186)

Steve




Dear cycling friend,

I expect it will surprise you that the government are promoting the subsidy of micro-generation (that is solar panels on your roof feeding into the national grid) to the extent that cyclists would have to be paid 98p per mile for the same energy saving. In fact the oil they save is a more precious resource than the mix of fossil fuels and some sustainable resources that supply the national grid. (see calculation below)


Councils now have an obligation to reduce green house gas emissions by 34% by 2020; not just those generated in the course of the council’s business but from all emissions in their area. This will be a very tough brief for councils and they will have to be very resourceful if they are to succeed. So one has to ask why so little effort is given to improving conditions for cyclists and to addressing the low cycle usage compared to other countries!

It now looks as if the cyclist’s bridge across the Goyt proposed by Sustrans just upstream of Otterspool is being shelved by Stockport Council. (Planning application 043362) Hang on! This was going to be supported by Lottery money that Sustrans secured in a National vote! It now looks as if the Council went halves on the cost of a rather posh version of the bridge (£500,000) and now they have planning permission but no money to pay their share. Stockport are already falling short of their targets. Ironically the 'Vierendeel truss' bridge is probably not well suited to the application because it does away with the usual bracing struts to give travelers an uninterrupted view. The basic framework is therefore more expensive. Great for railway passengers, but not so good if you are on horseback and your hack gets spooked by mountain bikers sporting the latest 100W bicycle headlights and makes a jump for it into the Goyt!



The Goyt valley into Stockport is a unique asset, totally unspoilt by 20th century development although reserved as the route for the A6 bypass which would cross the valley on a 200ft viaduct 60ft above the river, Fortunately central government has always declined to support the immense cost of the full scheme (currently £1000M). However costly development work on the project continues year after year; money that would have financed a first class cycle route through the valley, many times over.

On the 9th September, myself and some friends are going to put the question to the Stockport Council general meeting if only to vent our frustration. If you could join us there it would add immensely to our argument. The meeting convenes at 6:00pm and question time is usually finished by 6:30pm.

Please also keep in touch, through email, or this blog.
a6bypass@googlemail.com


Or even pop into the Stockport Friends of the Earth meeting (which I chair and meets third Monday of each month at 7:30pm at the Arden Arms, Stockport.

Hope you can make it!

Steve Houston


Photovoltaic Micro-generation Feed-in Tariff v Going by bike instead of by car

Refined Petrol 9.6 kWh per litre

Adding production energy cost 1.4 x 9.6kWh per litre

Rush hour petrol consumption of average car, 25mpg x 1.6 / 4.5 = 8.9Km per litre

Hydrocarbon energy cost saved per km

9.6 x 1.4 / 8.9 = 1.5kWh per Km

Solar Micro generation feed in tariff £0.41 per kWh

Equivalent subsidy if applied to commuting by bicycle is 1.5 x 0.41 = £0.61 per km
or £0.98 per mile.

Feed in tariffs are not subsidies from the Government but have to be paid by the energy companies and as a result they are essentially funded from everyone's electricity bills. Generally we pay about 13p per kWh but the energy companies would normally pay about 3p for electricity supplied to the grid. So as a solar generator you are getting thirteen times the going rate! Of course large wind farms are also receiving subsidises but at nothing like these levels.

Not surprisingly there is a lot of comment about the value of micro-generation and its likely contribution to the bottom line- decarbonizing our economy! Here is fairly non partisan account. Domestic Solar Panels supplying the Grid.

The question is, if this level of financing was thrown at cycling would the decarbonizing function be more efficient? If it resulted in a shift to continental levels of cycling the contribution is considerable and would dwarf solar panel generation. It is not impractical to implement 'negative congestion charging'; that is paying people not to congest the roads and at 98p per mile, I predict a large number of car commuters would give it a go!

It is just the sort of thing where local government can make a difference. There is a flag/banner on the A6 near Stockport town hall proclaiming the work done by the council enhancing foot and cycle paths in the borough.
I think they should be paying far more attention factoring in cycling's contribution to achieving their mandatory emissions targets.

Dear Fellow Cyclist,

If you are familiar with the roads around Otterspool and the nearby Marple Road I am sure you will agree that it is not safest area for cyclists and conditions like this go a long way to dissuading more people to cycle to work.

Infrastructure for cycling is a chicken and egg situation. UK cycle use is very low compared to the continent making provision for cyclists sound a poor investment and biasing it towards recreational schemes. But there is a new argument for cycle provision based simply on the energy savings from converting car commuters into cycle commuters. From 1st April this year the Government are subsidising small scale electricity production. As in Germany a large part of the subsidy will go to photovoltaic solar panels on house roofs but it also includes the hydroelectric scheme to be built next to the bridge at Otterspool. The amazing fact is that the subsidies are such that the equivalent for leaving the car at home and getting on your bike is 60p per mile! There are no subsidies for cycling but the argument for a 'modal shift' as the traffic engineers call it, is now very persuasive.

We are proposing to lobby for a 3 mile metalled cycle way from Marple to Stockport along the traffic free Goyt valley to carry between 112 and 925 cycling commuters. (112 equals the investment and energy equivalent to the Otterspool hydroelectric scheme and 925 is equivalent to industrial scale sustainable electricity generation that the Government proposes to meet the legally binding 34% reduction by 2020 ).

The local campaigner who secured the nature reserve at Otterspool will be putting the following question to the next full meeting of Stockport Council. We are not quite sure when this will be because of the election but please come down to the Council Chamber, Stockport Town Hall to show your solidarity. Usually questions are taken between 6:00 and 7:00pm.

Keep in touch via this blog or email A6bypass@googlemail.com.

Kind Regards,

Steve Houston
Poynton

______________________________

Question to the Stockport Council;

By 2020 each man woman and child in the UK will have to use 40kWh per day less energy to meet the government's much vaunted 'legally binding' target.

The 80 year old A6 bypass/A555 project that will complement the expansion of the airport as a regional hub now that Heathrow expansion looks unlikely, has dominated the future of the Goyt valley and usurped alternative schemes for furthering the amenity of this beautiful area for the people of Stockport.

If a modal shift occurred from car to bicycle to the extent enjoyed on the continent, on the Marple Stockport route, the energy savings would equate to 700 people meeting their 2020 target.

For comparison purposes the Otterspool hydro electric scheme costing £300,000 will equate to 10 people meeting their 2020 target.

Will the council give up facilitating unsustainable trends in energy usage and start planning for a low carbon future,; in this case a first class cycle track through the Goyt valley from Marple to Stockport?


______________________________




SEMMMS an out of date solution

I have been cycling this route for through Otterspool for 14 years. The congestion, narrow roads and poor road maintenance should be a matter of civic shame. In fact local government aspire to spending £860M on a new, near motorway standard road through the Goyt valley and on to the Airport. I am not criticising a transitory condition because unbelievably, the route has been protected since the 1930s. The aspiration and actuality are so far apart that the politics can only be described as dysfunctional.

Microgeneration, an inefficient investment in renewables

Now Stockport Council are promoting a micro hydroelectric scheme to supply electricity to the grid by an archimedian screw parallel to the weir. The power supplied is a modest 20kW and for the installation cost of £330,000 which is 14 times the equivalent cost of off shore wind power. Another comparison is the contribution it will make to meeting the government's undertaking to reduce green house gas emissions by 34% by 2020. The government estimates this will cost the UK £160B or £2,300 per person. This hydro scheme will allow ten people to achieve the 2020 target- 14 times more expensive than industrial scale sustainable energy. Amazingly this scheme is going ahead and the land by the Otterspool bridge has already been up for compulsory purchase.

Of course the fact is that 'micro generation' has been incentivised by government. This April generous 'feed in tariffs' were brought in for various types of small scale electricity generation of which hydro is one (the tariff for hydro is around 18p per kWh) They expect to spend £8B over the life of these schemes in subsidies on the basis that it kick starts a sustainable small scale electricity generation industry. Germany has done this for a decade to mixed reviews.

Cycleway provision as an alternative/complement to sustainable generation

For me this begged the question how these inefficient forms of investment compare to a modal shift from car to bicycle. Journeys by bicycle in the UK account for between 1 and 3% of all journeys. In Copenhagen it's 53% (and 40% of commuting journeys).

One litre of petrol contains 9.6kWh of energy. Let's say the car does 40mpg or round it to 10 miles per litre. So for a modest 6 mile commute between Marple and Stockport we use at least 6KWh. At 18p per KWh the government should really be subsidising the Marple cyclists £1-08 per day minimum. It might also be argued that it is better to save oil than replace fossil fuelled electricity generation.

Actually £4 a day is more realistic because the car probably averages 20mpg in heavy traffic and hydro only receives half the feed in tariff that photovoltaic solar panels do. PE or photoelectric generation is expected to be the main recipient of these tariffs.

Some people walk six miles a day to work and most cyclists I know commute far further than this. I cycle 22 miles per day so that's £15!


What this is really establishing in figures is the very high subsidies for sustainable energy and what a minor role cycling currently plays in energy saving. We need the political will to bridge that gap. Congestion, poor road maintenance and lack of provision suppresses cycle usage in the UK.

A metalled Cycleway Marple to Stockport

The Goyt valley has a designated cycle route which Sustrans intend to link to the Middlewood way via a new bridge off Vale Road. Last year their estimate was that work would start on the bridge this June. The new Toucan crossing at Otterspool is part of this route. I use this daily. Sustrans tend to be route designators rather than builders. They work very closely with local government . Their stall at the Chadkirk Fete last year was manned by to council employees. Am I being unfair? I expect left to the council and Sustrans the route will be no more than the existing rutted track that sprays our bikes with fine sand grind and reducing the service life of the components. That's ok for weekend recreational use but not for daily commuting.

Cycleway compared to micro generation

Using the Otterspool hydro as a yard stick how many Marple to Stockport weekday cyclists equate to the average power output of 20kW. Assuming 40mpg it is 112 cyclists.
If the surface was metalled I am sure 112 cyclists would be delighted to speed through this beautiful valley to and from work. I am going to hazard a guesstimate that 3 miles of metalling would cost £300,000. I will be shot down by the council over this- they are experts- after all the SEMMMS road estimate rose fourfold in four years!

Cycleway compared to the best sustainable generation

So an investment in a cycle way would certainly be no worse than 'micro generation'. The next hurdle is can it be justified against the best sustainable generation investment. I can estimate this from the government's £2,300 per person to achieve 34% reduction. It is fairly well established we each use 125kWh per day (the average American twice this) so 34% is 42.5kWh. The investment is therefore is £54 per kWh per day. and the equivalent number of cyclists is 925 -based on 40mpg. I reckon at a modest 12mph you can easily get a thousand cyclists through single file, in 30 minutes.

We are comparing our cycle way to an off shore wind farm to justify the investment but there are less tangible and quantifiable benefits that promote it way beyond some remote industrial installation. The investment is local, it involves communities, it is a meeting place, it is a green conduit through a diverse natural world, it is a civilised alternative to the race to the bottom of an oil barrel, it empowers the young, and works away the aches and pains of their grandparents, it simply works at every level.

A thousand cyclists sounds a lot but it probably is still considerably less than 40% of the commuters on this route. I am therefore proposing 'negative congestion charging'. That is paying cyclist to use the route. It has the same effect because at these levels of modal shift the Marple Road becomes less congested. A monitoring station at each end would identify a personal transponder, and credit a valid journey. The technology is potentially quite cheap and in fact many amateur running and cycling events now automatically monitor progress around the course even using disposable wireless transponders.