WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THE BIKE? CIWEM URGES GOVERNMENT TO BACK BORIS’S VISION FOR CYCLING

Cycling is one of the fastest growing modes of transport in Britain. It is clean, healthy and good for the environment. CIWEM has joined cycling groups in calling on the government to back the London Mayor’s vision for cycling, invest in his proposals for an unbroken network of cycle routes in London, and roll it out across Britain.

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is pleased to support the London Mayor’s proposals to “de-Lycrafy” cycling and bring it to the masses. A new London cycling super-highway to encourage commuters on to bikes will bring huge benefits. It will improve London’s environment, improve people’s health and wellbeing and bring new investment and jobs.

The forthcoming publication of a report by the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group is likely to bring pressure on the government to support the London Mayor’s plans, and to find the nearly one billion pounds needed to fund the scheme. CIWEM urges the government to follow the Mayor’s lead and roll out similar proposals to other cities and towns across Britain. The health, environmental and economic benefits would be significant, and lead to a transformation of our transport systems. CIWEM believes this one infrastructure plan that makes sense and is genuinely sustainable.

CIWEM Executive Director, Nick Reeves OBE, said: “It’s time to change our transport habits and learn to love our bikes. Boris Johnson’s vision for an unbroken network of cycling superhighways across London is the perfect infrastructure project that is also genuinely green. It will democratise cycling, improve our health and our environment, create jobs and launch a transport renaissance that could be introduced to all our cities and towns. In a time of austerity, this is just the sort of investment the country needs to get Britain working, clean up our urban centres, and get us fit.”

CIWEM’s vision for sustainable, local transport and infrastructure will soon be outlined in forthcoming policy position statements.

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is an independent professional body and a registered charity, advancing the science and practice of water and environmental management for a clean, green and sustainable world. www.ciwem.org

The All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group is a cross-party group of MPs, is co-chaired by Ian Austin, the MP for Dudley (Lab) and Julian Huppert, the MP for Cambridge (LD). It has conducted an Inquiry and taken evidence on cycling and will publish its report with recommendations in April 2013. http://allpartycycling.org/

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