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.