NewcastleCycling Forum – Cycling Conference Working Group - 10January 2013

Present:Cllr Nigel Todd (Chair), Anne Clark, Jen Robson (both Newcastle City Council),

Heather Evans (CTC), Claire Prospert, (Newcastle Cycling Campaign), Paul Snedker (Cycle Hub).

NT explained that the purpose of the meeting was to start to plan for a CyclingConference which would focus on the economic benefits of increasing cycling in the City.

It was agreed that the first step was to commission research in to what the current economic benefits are for either Newcastle or Tyne & Wear. Obtaining a turnover figure along with numbers employed by cycling retailers would also be useful.

In 2010 a report The British Cycling Economy “Gross Cycling Project” was produced by LSE, supported by Sky and British Cycling. This concluded that the gross cycling product was £2.9b = £230 per cyclist annually, with 23,000 employed directly in cycling economy generating over £500m in wages and £100m in taxes.

Funding for the research may be available through Go Smarter to Work. They are already doing work to identify businesses in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland andWashington for Travel Plan support.If the research was to cost under £5,000, monies would be quicker to obtain. LTP and ITA Officers, and the University may also be able to help.The draft specification should cover everythingprior to costing. If too expensive, some sections may need to be deferred in order to speed things up. It should take 2 months to do the research i.e. by 5 April, and the Conference couldn’t be planned in detail until the research was available.

Sustrans also produced research on tourism in the North East in 2009. It would have been useful if this could have been updated.

The aim of the Conference would be to:

  • raise the profile of cycling and cycling related businesses
  • increase the number of cyclists and cycle trips
  • increase the number of jobs related to cycling e.g. college courses offering training in cycling related jobs
  • help to generate more sales of bikes from local shops, who are suffering from mail order competition
  • get major businesses to give a commitment to promoting cycling e,g, through Travel Plans
  • get major businesses to recognise the value of the cycling economy
  • clarify the role for the City Council
  • identify gaps/business opportunities
  • demonstrate why cycling commuters help the cycling economy

Invited could be:

  • politicians and major businesses who have still to be convinced of the economic benefits of cycling
  • local cycling businesses who would benefit from a growth in cycling and increased publicity

Suggestions for the Conference:

  • launching and presenting the research
  • presentations on cycling related jobs in the NE e.g. The Hub, BikeRight
  • ending with - how can you help to grow the cycling economy?
  • holding this at the start of Bike Month
  • asking invitees what would interest them e.g. cycle training, infrastructure, accessories
  • promoting cycling through networking sessions in between presentations
  • being able to attend for just part of the day i.e. ending and starting sessions over lunch
  • inviting cycle shops and others to have stands, although they would need to feel their attendance would be worthwhile

Next steps

  • AC to circulate the LSE report. All to come back to her with questions for the research
  • JR to circulate details of the specification she did for schools
  • AC to mention in Cycling News
  • JR to speak to the Go Smarter team, then possibly to Carlton Reid