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Prom wars: Ipswich Star calls for cycling to be allowed on Felixstowe prom

Sudden outbreak of common sense

Like many seaside towns, Felixstowe has a bylaw prohibiting cycling on its promenade. And as in many seaside towns, the rule is ignored because the prom is often quiet and provides a route across town free from motor vehicles.

Now local paper the Ipswich Star has called for a change to the by-law to permit cycling at quiet times.

In a feature on the paper’s website, it says: “It’s time cycling along Felixstowe prom was permitted. So many people are now doing it, it doesn’t make sense for it to be outlawed – just controlled properly.

“Most cyclists don’t even realise they are breaking a by-law.”

It’s hard to tell that there’s currently a by-law, the paper says as there are no signs at the points where cyclists are likely to enter the prom. As a result, the rule is not so much treated as a guideline as ignored completely.

The paper says: “During our almost daily walk along the prom – we do it at least four or five evenings a week – one night last week we spotted 15 cyclists and six barbecues on the beach (also banned). Walkers? Around a dozen.

“The prom is wide enough for sensible cyclists and walkers, and most riders would not be reckless on such a route.

“Most are cycling at times when there is no-one, or very few people, walking. I know several people who work at the port and use it as their route for an early morning shift.”

The reasoning and fear behind such by-laws is always of people riding bikes recklessly through crowds of holidaymakers. But the paper realises very few people on bikes are that daft.

“I cannot believe anyone would cycle the route on a Sunday afternoon when it is packed with people enjoying a post-lunch stroll. Or while there is a major event taking place. There would be no fun cycling then anyway.”

The article closes with the suggestion that the by-law be amended so that cycling is allowed on the prom before 9.30am and after 4.30pm, and that riders should be required to cycle at a moderate or slow speed and keep well clear of  pedestrians.

However, one commenter on the story points out that no-one pays any attention to the existing by-law, so why would new one be any more effective?

It might be simpler just to allow cycling and let people’s commonsense take care of the rest.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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3 comments

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IanW1968 | 11 years ago
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There's no problem with the status of the prom, occasional cyclists/kids use it without problem.

Not sure what the evening star is up to, probably trying to put restrict cycling to certain places. It's a horrible local rag run by a few opinionated old boys constantly banging on about hard done by motorists.

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LegalFun | 11 years ago
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Having walked the prom at felixstowe a few times, it is rarely busy enough to warrant a ban.
The only times it is really busy is July and August during school holidays, and even then you could in theory cycle it by using caution.

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cbrndc | 11 years ago
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My understanding is that because this area is not alongside the carriageway so is not by default illegal to cycle on it(Highways Act 1835) so a bylaw is required which the article states to be the case, however, I thought it is required to display signage to show that cycling is not allowed citing the bylaw that makes it so. No sign means the bylaw is surely unenforceable as how is anyone to know?

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