Various

The CTC and Charity Status
The resolution to convert the CTC to a single charity was passed at their agm in May, but a further resolution relating to the implementation of this change was not. It remains to be seen what happens next.

Amazon Roundabout
The danger to cyclists using NCN 4 to pass this roundabout, especially to the east bound, featured on this page soon after it was opened in the Spring of 2008. Wheelrights then prepared a one page report (April 2008 report) to draw attention to this danger. This was sent to Neath Port Talbot County Council with the request that appropriate action be taken. Nothing was done.
Early this summer (2009) we received e-mails from cyclists expressing concern about the junction. This prompted us to raise the matter again with NPT. After several e-mail exchanges we received a brief response from the designers. This did not accept that there was a problem and informed us that the design had had three safety audits. They did however indicate that there were plans for future cycle provision but it was not clear what this would be.
At the time of writing we are considering how to follow this up. In the meantime we have produced three further one page reports. The first report is a safety assessment and is similar to the April 2008 one but goes into greater detail about the nature of the danger, not only around the junction but also at the entrance to the Shell filling station forecourt immediately to the east.
The other two outline what we think needs to be done: namely two new routes which will enable cyclists to avoid the roundabout.
The first, which is our top priority, is a northern route. This would continue the dead end spur of NCN 4 near the Tennant Canal to connect with the existing route at the underpass just west of Briton Ferry Bridge. This is essentially the route proposed by Sustrans in the late 1990s but which was blocked by land owners.
The second is a southern route. This would link the easterly end of the existing cycle path on the south side of Fabian Way to NCN 4 where it emerges from the underpass near the Briton Ferry Bridge. It would eventually form the eastern part of a cycle route running all the way from Swansea to the underpass, entirely south of Fabian Way.

Newsletters
To view/download the latest or earlier Wheelrights Newsletters ('WRNL'), or the last Swansea Sustrans Rangers Newsletter ('SSRNL').click it in the table.

Wheelrights meetings
These are held bi-monthly. We do not have a formal committee and any Wheelrights member sufficiently interested is welcome to attend. Notes of previous meetings can be viewed/downloaded as a .pdf file by clicking the entry in the table.

Wheelrights 'Wish List'
To assist the Council assign priorities to make Swansea County more cycle friendly Wheelrights have produced a list of what they consider needs to be done. To view/download this click Wish List.

John Grimshaw's Seminar In 2009 Mr Grimshaw, Sustrans founder and President, came to Swansea twice: first for two days in April for meetings with Wheelrights and Swansea Council and then on 19 October to give a Seminar to Council Officers. John Grimshaw's visit is an account of the first visit. The photo, taken on 29 April, shows a group of us from Wheelrights outside the Civic Centre. John Grimshaw is on the right. On that day we were interviewed by the Evening Post and an article appeared the next day. To view this click Evening Post article Grimshaw Seminar provides a 9 page (5 MB pdf file) summary of his Seminar.

New path at Loughor

A shared path code
Wheelrights, in collaboration with Swansea's Cycling Officer, have prepared a sort of mini-highway code to encourage cyclists, pedestrians and other users of the Swansea Bay path to respect each other. It is particularly aimed at kids and uses as a theme the old Mumbles steam train on which a boy with a bell warned pedestrians of the approach of the train. The code is in the form of an A5 poster with a picture of the train and a poem on one side with the code on the back. To view/download it click Shared path code. It is intended for distribution at appropriate events. Copies can be obtained from the Cycling Officer. Enquire at the Civic Centre.

How it might be
The provision for cyclists is so much better in Continental Europe than in the UK that we need to look at how they do it both to get ideas and obtain a vision of how it might be here. This report by CTC's Steve Kinsella on good practice in the Netherlands: Netherlands report shows how they do it there.

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Page updated on 1 June 2010.