Bedford Borough Conservative Councillor Roger Rigby has urged residents to respond to a Council consultation on cycling in Bedford town centre. Under proposals put forward by the Borough Council the blanket ban on cycling at all hours on Midland Road, Allhallows and Silver Street could be reversed to allow cyclists to use these areas before 9am and after 6pm.
Cllr Rigby, who represents Bromham & Biddenham Ward said:
‘From my recent experience as a former business owner in the town centre I can recall the period before the current ban was imposed. It was the certainly the case that many elderly and vulnerable people and parents of young families were fearful of cyclists causing accidents. They were rightly concerned as for all the careful and conscientious cyclist there were also irresponsible ones and accidents did occur which was why the ban was imposed.
‘Although there are far fewer people visiting the town centre during the ‘out of hours’ period there may still be a safety issue in increasing the number of mounted cyclists in proportion with pedestrians. It may also be the case that bringing cyclists back into the town centre may encourage some of them to flout the ban during the daytime shopping hours through a lack of understanding of a partial ban.
‘The current ban has significantly reduced pedestrians’ fear of irresponsible cycling and this adds to the sense of safety that pedestrians currently feel in the town centre so any change should not be taken lightly. I would therefore urge anyone who uses the town centre to respond to this consultation. We must give added weight to the views of the elderly and vulnerable and their representative groups as they must not be discouraged from visiting Bedford town centre.’
The consultation will run until the 2nd May and can be accessed at the following link: http://apps.bedfordshire.gov.uk/comweb/