MINUTES OF ICAG MEETING 12/9/2012
Present: David Lincoln, Stephen Taylor, Dick Vincent, Adrian Williams,
Keith Macfarlane, Bridget Peacock, John Ackers, Paul Standeven, Jon
Parker, Deborah Maby

Apologies: Rober Hartston, Mary-Anne Tarver

The meeting started with a talk from Dick Vincent of the Canal River Trust, to update us on the current issues surrounding use of the towpath and the Trust. 
He informed us that the Trust was no longer a government agency but a fully fledged charity. Most importantly for us, it had run a consultation in our area in February and March which concluded that Islington now has the busiest towpath in the country and at some times of the day 300-500 cyclists per hour use it. He also reported that 2 Tings no longer exists and is now called Share the Space, with a more generalemphasis on sharing the path rather than being focussed on cyclists as previously. He now has a network of 20 volunteer rangers across London, which he hopes to increase to 30 by the end of the year. He had recently taken the All Parliamentary Cycling Group on a ride in peak time which was an eye-opening experience for all as they began to realise that there is a problem with the heavy numbers of cyclists on the towpath. The Trust is
now of the opinion that if calming measures are not introduced inIslington as a matter of urgency, it will be negligent. These will be low-impact minor interventions, but the main thing is to encourage cyclists off the towpath and onto alternative routes, and the Trust is willing to assist by identifying funds available for the development of
these and it will very shortly be advertising to recruit a full- time cycle
routes co-ordinator specifically to develop the east-west route. 
The other interesting thing he told us was that in contrast to other councils,Islington council gave no money whatsoever to help with upkeep of the
towpath; Ealing and Hillingdon councils for example have funded the development of the towpath (approx £700,000 one-off payment from one borough) and Camden pays for a street cleaner , whereas Islington doesn’t even empty the bins along its sections of the towpath.

1). Matters arising from previous meeting
Cycle parking outside Arsenal station: number in favour at Gillespie Festival far outweighed those against though those against are more vociferous. General opinion of council officers is the councillors will be swayed in favour of the proposals.
Packington estate: no response so far. AD put a link on the e-list the previous day.
Car-free day: AD has not yet heard anything.
Inconsistent models of bike stands: AW still waiting to put questions to the mayor.

2). LCC campaigns conference
LCC would like a ‘cycling victory’ for every ward, as part of the Go Dutch campaign. JP and JA, who were both at the conference, not entirely
convinced how effective or feasible this is but it was agreed that as we
are a more politically savvy group than most we should do something in this direction. It was decided that we need a way of collecting contact details for as many people as possible by the run-up to the next local elections and a petition would be a good way to do this.
Action: BP to approach Lib-Dems to see if we can take on their petition to extend the Boris Bikes scheme to Islington.

3). Tufnell Park Cycles to school and cycle path upgrade
David Lincoln reported on his campaign to get children cycling and walking to school in Tufnell Park, which he said was progressing reasonably well. The idea is to have a route linking all six schools in the area with a cycle and/or walking route. Another aim in the area is to have cycle parking all along Tufnell Park Road by converting all car-parking signs into cycle-parking facilities. 
Action: when these start appearing, we should organise some sort of event to celebrate the fact.
DL also said he wanted to see a proper cycle path to the north of Tufnell Park playing fields similar to the one in Whittington Park, and to get rid of the cycle obstruction at the top of Huddleston Road where it meets Station Road.
Action: DL to continue to campaign for this.

4). Questions for James Murray, executive council member for housing and development , at next month’s meeting.
Action: It was agreed we should ask him for an update on 20mph, moves to remove gyratories in Islington, Highbury Corner, the Packington Estate and alternative towpath routes. 
JA to look at transport budget beforehand.

5). Highbury Roundhouse fundraising event
Action: AW to help; AD to be there; AD to get mechanic 

6). Collision between police car and cyclist on 28/8/2012
AW reported that this was not fatal though the man’s head had hit the windscreen. He noted that the reports in both local papers were misleading and not very informative and they had copied each other’s errors. The Evening Standard report was more accurate. As there have been other accidents involving emergency vehicles travelling at speed he advised cyclists to be cautious when in their vicinity.

7). ICAG newsletter
Action: KM to do it next week; subjects to include 20mph, canal festival and LCC conference.

8). ICAG priorities and use of funds.
Action: BP to investigate/order ICAG/LCC business cards. We will buy a pump and discuss best use of funds at the November meeting