Cycling to the fore

In Leicester

Bikes4All is a community bike enterprise which aims to encourage people of all ages to enjoy healthy and pollution free transport. Leicester residents have been donating their old bikes to Groundwork Leicester, which is reconditioning them. 

The project was set up in September 2003 to prevent bikes going to landfill when they could be refurbished, and sold to families in deprived areas at prices ranging from £16-£40 for children’s bikes and £60 for adults.  

A team of qualified bike mechanics and trainers now delivers accredited and bespoke training programmes. Left: Matt Winning, Groundwork Leicester. Tel enquiries: 0116 2420800

 

In Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield

Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative, which opened as a co-op in Edinburgh in 1977, is experiencing a period of expansion with stores opening in Aberdeen, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield as well as through a successful online operation.

This expansion is said to be another sign of the continued health and growth of the UK cycling economy. A report by the London School of Economics  has estimated the UK’s ‘Gross Cycling Product’ contributed £2.9bn to the UK economy with the retail sector turning over £2.47bn annually.

The Co-operative News reports that at the Scottish launch of the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives, Jeremy Miles, the Managing Director of Edinburgh Bicycle Co, said that the co-operative plans to double in size by 2017, increase its workforce from 160 to nearly 300 (all with a share in the company) and increase turnover to £20m.

And Birmingham

Some time ago we gave a link to to the Birmingham Press for news about the Birmingham Bike Foundry – a new co-operative which is trying “to develop a cycling culture within our city:

“a city with serious health problems and a toxic addiction to motorised transport”.

A new manufacturing project in Walsall & established sustainable housing in Wolverhampton

In August Antidote readers were cheered by the news that the social housing Accord Group – Accord, Ashram, Caldmore and Moseley & District Housing Associations, Fry Housing Trust and Redditch Co-operative Homes – had bought a derelict Walsall factory on a five acre site on which it is to set up a timber frame assembly plant to manufacture low-carbon timber houses, which it had previously imported from Norway. 

During a web-search for news of Accord’s progress, another West Midlands achievement came to light. 

The Bromford Group, Cross Street South, Wolverhampton, won the Inside Housing award for a sustainable larger social housing project (25 homes or more) in 2008

 

Its energy efficient homes have been built on a brownfield site, with grass roofs, water recycling and a woodchip boiler. The homes use up to 50% less energy than standard homes, only needing 2 kilowatts of heat as opposed to the usual 8 to 10. A range of low maintenance materials such as cedar cladding and recycled wood in its kitchen units were used.

The grass roofs provide good insulation and keep the homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter. 

The recycled wood chip boiler – ‘space age’ design – provides all of the heating and hot water for the homes.

They have low energy lighting, composting, recycling bins, water butts and high performance softwood and double-glazing.  Cross Street South has its own park with ponds, wetland, a board walk and fountain and residents’ allotments. More detailed information can be seen on the website of Sustainability West Midlands.

The Diagonal Lock: moving towards a more productive, environmentally friendly canal system

On October 15^th the writer visited the ‘Diagonal Lock Roadshow’ in Knowle, meeting Terry Fogarty, a design engineer, company director and canal enthusiast. Mr Fogarty was presenting a model of his invention: a diagonal lock , which works on the principle of a sloping tube, cutting out time spent by canal users negotiating flights of locks. 

“This is a radical alternative that could help to alleviate transport problems on the motorways,” he said. “You could install freezers in a wide-beam boat so you could even transport food.”  

The Diagonal Lock is a new technology devised as an alternative to traditional canal locks, enabling boats to ascend/descend an incline whilst floating securely inside a watertight, concrete chamber.

It has many other advantages: 

1. The Diagonal Lock eliminates 100% of the pollution created by navigating traditional locks.
2. The Diagonal Lock is calculated to be at least ten times faster than any other lock design.
3. The Diagonal Lock can open up hitherto inaccessible areas
4. Building costs are slashed: building one Diagonal Lock costs one-third of the traditional lock
5. Safety is a fundamental part the design and safety precautions found in the Diagonal Lock are not found on any other waterway in the world.
6. The Diagonal Lock recycles all water used.
7. Much lower maintenance costs.
8. Has other applications, including cliff top marinas and reservoirs.
9. Increases the chances of freight returning to the canals reducing pressure on roads.

The Advisory Group 

Staunch support has been given by a number of people, in particular the advisory group: 

• Terry Fogarty, inventor of the Diagonal Lock.
• Phil Sharp of Battus Associates , a consulting engineering practice specialising in water and environmental Engineering. See their very interesting project list
• Caroline Spelman: Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and MP for Meriden well-positioned to advise the Diagonal Lock team on how to advance the Diagonal Lock project within the political arena.
• Roger Herrington, Managing Director: Roger Herrington & Associates, an experienced management consultant with specialist knowledge in canal regeneration and development. and productive partnership with Roger Herrington & Associates.
• Roy Pulley, specialist product innovation advisor, Manufacturing Advisory Service (West Midlands), whose support and involvement of enabled Coventry University students to take up the concept as part of an engineering project, producing a 3d model and developing a feasibility study.
• Earle Wightman, Managing Director: Sherborne Wharf in central Birmingham, whose support illustrates the appeal of the Diagonal Lock technology to the waterways leisure industry.
• Mike Lewis, electronic engineer and senior lecturer at Coventry University, whose knowledge spans electronics, dynamics and statics, thermofluids and time reduction technologies. His initial involvement began as a project supervisor to a team of students studying the Diagonal Lock as part of their Masters degree.
• Graham Freeman, technical head of the British Boating Federation & managing director: Tayman Services [marine surveyor and safety secialist], who has helped to identify some potential locations for the first Diagonal Lock.
• Alasdair Crichton, web designer, has over 10 years experience in IT, developing software and websites across a range of industries. He has maintained and developed the website ensuring the Diagonal Lock technology is promoted to as wide an audience as possible. 

* 

Mr Fogarty wrote to the compilers of the Big City Plan blueprint for Birmingham outlining his proposals for the ’diagonal lock’ scheme, which he said would wipe out long delays at flights of locks:

 

 One of the Camp Hill locks from a website with many other excellent canal pictures 

“At the moment you can only get narrowboats along it. There has been years of neglect and the network cries out for improvement. Nowhere is this more apparent than at Camp Hill locks, where the 300-year-old narrow lock flight meets the Grand Union Canal. This offers the potential for wide beam boats to move down to London. The shame of it is that at present a wide-beam boat coming from London is prevented from entering the canals of Birmingham, which is a tragedy. The diagonal lock would create worldwide interest as it would be the first new canal lock of its kind anywhere in the world. I believe a new lock system for Camp Hill would cost £6-7m - a fraction of the cost of the £18bn high speed rail link.”  

In July the Birmingham Mail reported a vote of confidence from British Waterways Head of Engineering George Ballinger, after meeting Mr Fogarty. Although British Waterways is currently unable to contribute to any funding package, it is fully supportive of the initiative and will assist in any other way to further the creation of ’such an iconic structure’ on the waterway network. Mr Ballinger expressed the need for the council to play a major part in taking things forward by looking at the overall development plan for the area. 

Mr Fogarty said: “It’s great news that British Waterways are backing the scheme. I believe a new lock system for Camp Hill would cost between £6 million and £7 million, a fraction of the cost of high-speed rail.” 

Reassurance for the non-technical reader 

At the exhibition the writer had the advantage of independent input from a visiting engineer.  He assured me that it would certainly work and recommended the animations on the website which explain all in five clear steps. 

Environmental advantages 

During a follow-up email exchange about upward journeys which are powered by pumping water into the tube once the bottom gate is closed, he added: 

“They could use side ponds to conserve water and then very little power is needed to pump it up, but it would be very slow. I think the simpler option – to let all the water out and pump it back – is better as they can generate electricity from it on the way down and use it on the way up. Essentially as the water runs out they pump it up to the top from where it came.The national grid uses pumped storage to smooth out the peaks and troughs of demand, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinorwig_Power_Station
. 

“Apart from inefficiencies it will not use water or energy, and the inefficiencies and technology are well understood.” 

It would be cheering to see the work of Terry Fogarty and his colleagues come to fruition – perhaps substantially funded by the Brummie Bonds advocated by Councillor Clancy.

Low carbon housing with low energy bills

Local agencies will be producing low carbon housing for local people that is cheap to run.

The Accord Group – Accord, Ashram, Caldmore and Moseley & District Housing Associations, Fry Housing Trust and Redditch Co-operative Homes – is one of the largest housing associations in the West Midlands, providing 11,000 homes and a range of services including care and support to around 40,000 people across the region.

In February, Timber in Construction reported that social housing landlord Accord Group bought a derelict Walsall factory on a five acre site on which it planned to set up a timber frame assembly plant to manufacture low-carbon timber houses, which it had previously imported from Norway for use in three of their developments.

Accord’s timber housing in Redditch

Mike Dell, president of Black Country Chamber of Commerce pointed out, in the Birmingham Post, that “ Energy bills for these homes, which are nationally acclaimed, cost on average 50 per cent less than traditionally-built properties of the same size. This sort of saving is a tremendous help to people who are struggling with the current cost of living in the tough economic climate.”

As the Construction Index reported, Accord Group chief executive Dr Chris Handy added: “Importantly the factory will contribute significantly to supporting the local economy, creating jobs for local people and reversing the decline in manufacturing in the region.”

Devolved government in Scotland improves rail and water transport

Many aspects of the devolved government’s practice in Scotland offer an antidote to gloom.

Caring measures taken for its young, elderly and unfit citizens have been widely recorded but in the following posts its good thinking on food, co-operatives, energy and security will be touched on. 

Today we look at public transport – the Scottish Government’s measures to reduce traffic congestion, fuel use and emissions. 

In June there was an Antidote post about a grant award of more than £800,000 from the Scottish Government‘s freight facilities grant scheme, which aims to take lorries off the road and have goods transported by sea or rail instead. The dredging work in Kirkcaldy Harbour [below] is progressing well.

 

Tim Hall, operations director of the beneficiary Hutchisons Flour Mill, explained that the project would allow the firm to bring in larger quantities of the different wheats it needs by sea rather than by road, adding: “We will also remove almost 250,000 lorry miles from Scotland’s roads.” 

RAILWAYS 

Despite calls in England for another Beeching, Scottish rail services are expanding. In 2006 the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament and passenger services will be reopened this year. The Borders Railway Project aims to re-establish passenger railway services cut in 1969 from Edinburgh through Midlothian to Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. 

Another grant to improve facilities at four sites is dependent on a four year long commitment to rail rather than road by Lafarge Cement, enabling the distribution of bagged cement by rail, generating an estimated £0.73 million in environmental benefits during this period. 

WATERWAYS 

Local government is also acting: in 2005 – as part of the Lowland Canals project – East Dunbartonshire Council used commercial barges on the Forth and Clyde Canal to ship tonnes of electronic and electrical waste from Glasgow and Bishopbriggs to Twechar. By 2010 it was reported at the Lowland Canals Customer Forum that freight on Scottish canals has removed 2 million lorry miles from Scotland’s roads over the last 3 years. 

The Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift, became operational in 2002, connecting the  Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. In operation below: half way round.

 

 A transport initiative involving the return of freight, after a lapse of 90 years, on the Caledonian Canal is being tested in a bid to reduce the toll of Scottish road accidents on the A82, one of the most dangerous routes in the country. A six-month trial, using a large barge operated by the Great Glen Shipping Co, is carrying timber from Loch Etive, near Oban, to Inverness in regular trips, taking 15,000 lorry trips off the road between Inverness and Fort William, where there have been many serious Scottish road accidents and a great number of fatalities, in the last few years.

Transport Scotland reports that this was assisted by Scottish Government grants of £255,000. 

Another Scottish Government Freight Facilities Grant award of £133,000 to Boyd Brothers (Haulage) Ltd supported the provision of a mobile floating pier on Loch Etive. This is now in use and is expected to transfer 108,000 tonnes of timber by water over the next five years.

It is expected the two grants will not only help improve connections between Scotland’s east and west coasts and beyond, but over the six month period of the pilot project will together remove up to 188,000 lorry miles, reducing emissions as well as congestion and wear and tear to roads.

Returning to the Big City Plan

A City Centre for the Future

 

John Newson’s analysis of the Big City Plan can be read in full on the website of Birmingham Friends of the Earth [BFOE].    

He opens by asking: “How can the city centre become a busy, but sustainable, heart of Birmingham: somewhere where people want to live, work and visit, and not just drive across?” 

As the new Big City Plan from the City Council looks like the right vision for the future, Friends of the Earth has welcomed it. 

After urging the planners to go further, John notes that the latest version includes more environmental measures than the draft plan: better walking routes and bicycle hire points, more public green spaces and some emphasis on energy efficiency of buildings. 

BFOE rightly presses for implementation of these measures and states that the approach should become mandatory. 

This interesting and valuable report is informed by the author’s visits to continental cities and his interest in transport systems. As it is detailed and substantial, any attempt to summarise it would fail to do it justice, so do follow the link in the first sentence and read on. 

A copy of The Birmingham Big City Plan can be studied here:
http://bigcityplan.birmingham.gov.uk
. 

NOTE:

Some time ago, an unofficial ‘plain English‘ version of the Big City Plan ‘Work in Progress’ document was made by a group of volunteers from the Birmingham Bloggers’ Group who wanted a place to discuss the issues and options and help each other (and everyone) understand the Big City Plan.

Stourbridge Special! The McNulty report commends Parry’s passenger service

Quiet, light, fuel efficient and reliable – public transport for the 21^st century 

 

Readers new to the subject can  read a brief account here. 

A few days ago Parry watchers received a press release about Sir Roy McNulty’s report which was published on 19th May.  It found that Parry People Movers’ lightweight rail technology, successfully introduced into full passenger service in 2009, has proved itself to be fully in line with the proposals for Britain’s regional rail system contained in the report’s section: ‘The lower-cost regional railway’. 

This section recommended maintaining services while reducing costs, recognising the potential for different operation and engineering approaches for lines that combine the features of relatively low speed and relatively low passenger numbers.  Its suggestions include the use of different standards, lighter rolling stock and new approaches to operation on suitable lines.
 
Parry People Movers railcars offer a two-year example – “a template to be used for wider replication”. Used by half a million passengers annually, its lightweight rail services on the short branch line between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town have reduced operating costs by half and cut carbon emissions by two-thirds. The press release explains: 

“Each railcar weighs just a quarter of the heavy diesel trains that used to provide the same service (albeit less frequently and considerably more noisily than now), giving a benefit in reduced damage to the track, leading to lower maintenance costs. 

“The railcars are kept running by a specially created subcontractor to London Midland, Pre Metro Operations Ltd, operating with procedures which are appropriate to the simple, low risk nature of a short branch line operation. 

“Reliability and punctuality of the Stourbridge Town service has consistently been better than industry norms: In the most recent full operating year passengers have experienced almost 100 percent dependability including during periods of extreme winter weather, seen as a remarkable achievement by industry experts.”  

The Chairman of Parry People Movers Ltd, John Parry MBE, welcomed the McNulty report as a perceptive and timely confirmation of this technology from an authoritative source.# 

Parry’s website also relates to instances of the company sharing environmentally friendly technologies with developing countries – another story.

COMMENT BY EMAIL FROM MECHANICAL ENGINEER

Good news. I hope it is adopted elsewhere – there must be a town somewhere on a branch line that wants a service that is better than a bus and currently has a local bottleneck on the roads to avoid. 

I remember helping organise a seminar in Derby a few (3?) years ago on the subject of saving weight in trains as this saves not only fuel, but also wear and tear on the rails. The worn rails then damage the train and hence they in turn are designed to cope and become heavier – a vicious circle.

We had 2 young engineers from the automotive and aviation industries to speak on how they save weight. They were very good but sadly the rail industry is very conservative and introspective. The comment below “the use of different standards” is necessary and sadly far to close to the truth, otherwise they will still make trains with a coal tender and a spare seat for the fireman. The usual knee jerk reaction is that they can’t change the standards as they affect safety.

Somehow cars are much safer and structurally lighter than they used to be !

People Power in Balsall Heath

Many years ago the Edward Road area was familiar to the writer, a volunteer at Trinity Centre with Sr. Magdalen of Mary Road. She remembers returning at night and seeing very young girls on the streets, also watching Christine Parkinson’s valiant years setting up the Jericho Foundation and being given a tour of the ‘positives’ in the area by Dick Atkinson, who was a co-founder of Balsall Heath Forum. Most notable was the city farm and St Paul’s School, which was particularly impressive in the way it inspired children who had not prospered in other schools.

Since then we read:

•  Crime is down by 45%
• Street corner prostitution has ended.
• 66% of residents say the quality of life is improving.
• House values have risen.
• Businesses are thriving in Ladypool Rd, Moseley Rd and Edward Road
• There are 22 residents groups, 50 voluntary organisations and half the population participates in voluntary activity.
• Service providers from the statutory and voluntary sector have formed a Neighbourhood Strategic Partnership. 

However, it is pointed out that Balsall Heathans still die seven years sooner than the Birmingham average and educational and other statistics show there is still a mountain to climb. 

Dick Atkinson said, memorably, that Birmingham should be divided into its original ten villages and his thinking might well have influenced the council’s decision to devolve key services such as parks, leisure and housing from the centre to each of eleven districts – and, beyond them, to neighbourhoods like Balsall Heath. 

More information can be found on the Balsall Heath Forum website, though its ‘Last News’ section is dated 2006 . . .  

                                                                                                                                                        

John Newson, who recently advocated safe cycling corridors, also sent good news about an enterprise there: Balsall Heath is Our Planet [BHIOP] which lists the forum as one of its partners. 

BHIOP, a community initiative that aims to cut the carbon emissions of our inner city neighbourhood, has an Action Plan for reducing the environmental footprint of the area and John is its Development Officer, based at Jericho Foundation. 

Its objectives for Balsall Heath include: 

• Reduce the emission of carbon dioxide from our burning of fossil fuels, as a contribution to a low carbon Birmingham, Britain and world.
• Help those who suffer from cold, hard-to-heat homes and fuel poverty to gain control and become comfortable at an affordable cost.
• Demonstrate the use of renewable energy sources in the area, e.g. solar power.
• Assist community organisations to make their buildings and operations more energy efficient.
• Encourage low impact means of transport; walking, cycling, public transport and responsible car use.
• Reduce the problem of waste by re-use, composting or recycling, and by using wastes to make fuel/ generate energy.
• Grow more food in gardens. 

 

Read more about the project here:
http://balsallheathisourplanet.wordpress.com/about/

A hemp-insulated eco-home

A hemp-insulated eco-home, developed by the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, was presented earlier this month at the Ideal Home Show in London. 

Carbon savings are built into its design with the roof, walls and floor highly insulated with lime hemp and sheep’s wool. The walls are solid clay blocks that trap pockets of air to keep the home warm in winter and cool in summer. They can be seen in a video made whilst the house was being built.

It is made from natural materials that can be easily produced in Britain and designed to be as energy efficient as possible so that central heating won’t be needed, just a single wood burning stove.

The prince said in an article last week: ’As our planet becomes overwhelmingly urban, and resources become scarcer . . . we need to rethink the way we plan our homes, shops, schools and their relationship to one another. Such eco-engineering can learn from Nature, from traditional communities and from the best of contemporary technology.’

The Scottish Government is taking measures to reduce traffic congestion, fuel use and emissions

The Scottish Government aims to take lorries off the road and have goods transported by sea or rail instead. Its agency, Transport Scotland, gave a Freight Facilities Grant to enable Forth Ports to develop a greener supply chain for Hutchison’s, the Fife miller. 

The Fife Courier reports that dredging work has begun in Kirkcaldy harbour, which was closed to main traffic in 1992.  It will become a working waterfront once more  — with the first cargo of wheat expected in the summer.

Hutchisons Flour’s operations director Tim Hall said that the project would allow the firm to bring in significant quantities of the different wheats it needs by sea rather than by road, giving the company more potential to supply customers with consistent quality flours through difficult conditions of climate and volatile commodity markets. 

Hutchisons [Carr’s Flour] uses high quality imported wheat and locally grown soft milling wheat from which the famous Scottish Shortbread Biscuits are made. 

Nik Scott-Gray, the business development manager of Forth Ports is  delighted that Kirkcaldy harbour will become a working quay again: “The location of Hutchisons at the harbour ensures that this coastal shipping initiative will deliver a continuous product supply to the mill while reducing the lorry journeys by around 4000 per year.” 

News of this and other initiatives, which will remove thousands of lorry miles from Scotland’s roads each year, are indeed an antidote to gloom.