Members of the public are being encouraged to attend the second Spalding Cycling Forum this week.
The town’s cycling action group Pedals is staging the forum, chaired again by local MP John Hayes.
As well as Pedals members David Jones (chairman) and Roger Smith (forum organiser), there will be representatives of Lincolnshire County Council, South Holland District Council, Lincolnshire Sport, Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, Sustrans and Spalding Cycling Club.
The first forum last June discussed what was being done locally in response to the government’s national initiatives to promote cycling.
This year’s event is entitled “Cycling is good for you” and will be a chance for last year’s delegates to report back on progress over the past 12 months.
Pedals says it hopes that the forum will give participants an opportunity to:
- share knowledge, experience, ideas, initiatives, and awareness of sources of funding
- explore opportunities for working together
A spokesman said: “We are looking forward to hearing about what is being done, what is planned, and what more could be done to encourage more people to cycle because of its benefits to their own health and the health of the environment generally.”
Speaking after last year’s event, Mr Hayes said: “This government has put more resources into cycling than any of its predecessors and this Prime Minister is one of the few in modern times who is a regular cyclist.
“As a local MP what I have learned today is just how much is being done by Pedals, by Spalding Cycling Club and the local authorities.
“The challenges are that it is communicated well and is co-ordinated. It needs a holistic approach to how we treat cycling, with the agencies and authorities working together.
“So what I suggested is that we should do this annually. I’m going to take back to the government what was discussed at the forum and I hope to be able to make Spalding a capital of cycling.”
The forum is being held in the South Holland Centre on Friday, June 12, from 9am to 1pm.
