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Cyclist riding through pedestrian area - image via Graeme Paterson on Flickr.jpg“They will just not listen nor learn”: Council proposes all-out cycling ban in town centres to tackle “nuisance within communities”
North Lincolnshire Council has cited “zero tolerance to anti-social behaviour” as it suggests a complete cycling ban in parts of Brigg and Scunthorpe town centres that could come into effect from next year.
The consultation, which ends on March 27, has proposed “no cycling or riding a motorised scooter” in a number of streets of the two North Lincolnshire towns, under the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO).
A PSPO, according to the council, enables them to take action against “anti-social behaviour” and “protect vulnerable people by targeting those who continue to be a nuisance within communities”.
The council already has a PSPO since October 2021 that an officer can ask a cyclist to dismount if they ride in the pedestrianised areas of the town centres. Now, it seems that are trying to get rid of cyclists from these areas completely.
North Lincolnshire Council leader Rob Waltham said: “Residents are fed up and we are fed up with that small minority of people who think the rules do not apply to them.
"We have taken a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour, and we have spent a great deal of time - and taxpayers' money - to crack down on these people already. Despite this, they just will not listen nor learn.
The fight against anti-social behaviour across North Lincolnshire looks set to be boosted further as the council strengthens its powers to fine people. https://t.co/HmF74lLz7y
— North Lincs Council (@NorthLincsCNews) March 23, 2023
Waltham said that the council had to go back to the 2021 order and strengthen it further so they could be able to fine people if they are on a bike in the prohibited areas. Since the introduction of the PSPO in 2021, thousands of fines have already been issued for public order offences and littering.
Cllr Waltham added: “This PSPO has enabled us to protect vulnerable communities by targeting anyone creating a nuisance or putting themselves and others in danger - the new measures will enhance those protections and I make absolutely no apologies for doing so.
“We are committed to keeping North Lincolnshire peaceful and safe and the strengthening of the PSPO is a significant part of this.”
> “Why is cycling discouraged?” asks councillor as Stafford introduces ban when renewing its PSPO
Besides being keen to banish cyclists from town centres, the council is now also proposing a ban on drinking alcohol (or even being in possession of an open bottle), as well as loitering or begging in almost the entirety of Scunthorpe.
In neighbouring North East Lincolnshire, a similar PSPO ban on cyclists in Grimsby’s town centre has been in place since 2019, with over 1,000 fixed penalty notices issued as of last year targeting “anti-social and dangerous” behaviour.
Victoria_Street_West,_Grimsby_-_DSC07296.JPG, by Will Bolton
One target for such behaviour was 82-year old Barrie Enderby, who was fined £100 for slowly cycling through the city centre. To his credit, Barrie did have a scorching reply for the council: “Stick it up your a*se”.
The move drew a lot of ire from residents, as unhappy locals complained that council officers are not imposing the cycling ban in pedestrianised zones fairly and rather than cracking down on anti-social behaviour they are seemingly "targeting" people "they can get away with doing so”.
These orders have also been criticised by Cycling UK for the way in which they target cycling as a whole rather than only those who cause a danger or nuisance through the manner of their cycling.
In February last year, cyclists in Bedford also came together to protest a 'discriminatory' ban on cycling in the town centre using a PSPO, with residents pointing out the irrelevance of these bans.
> Bedford cycling ban to remain despite consultation showing most people want it scrapped
As recent as January this year, Hammersmith and Fulham Council also proposed a £100 ban on cyclists using the Thames Path, along with banning e-bikes and e-scooters.
In Brigg and Scunthorpe, cyclists already can be slapped with a £100 fine if they fail to get off their bikes when asked by a police officer, with the penalty cost likely to rise if unsuccessfully disputed or not paid and taken to Magistrates' Court
In Brigg, the proposed areas to stop cycling are the Market Place and the adjoining parts of Wrawby Street and Bigby Street, while in Scunthorpe, the no-pedal zones extend all the way along the High Street till Church Square, as well as adjacent roads like Market Hill and Jubilee Way.
The council said that all comments will be analysed and considered before a final decision is made on the proposed changes.
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
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78 comments
Presumably they'll just issue warning letters to the cyclists who endanger pedestrians, and for others they will do nothing for several weeks and then say the time has expired for any action to be taken against the cyclist or advise that they couldn't determine who was actually riding the bike. Oh hang on, they only do that if you are driving.
GOOD - hope many more follow.
They already charge heavily polluting vehicles for driving in some city centres - I don't recall mass protests...
As for the ban on cycling in pedestrian areas - the cause isn't cyclists, the cause, as always, is the minority. The few people out there that like to weave between pedestrians at high speed. They are most definitely causing a nuisance, but they should be dealt with. Far too many times the majority are punished for the minority.
I'm guilty of it too - "all drivers don't know how to drive near cyclists" when what I actually mean is "most drivers are okay, but there are a minority who give the rest a bad name"
You should come to London and spend the week as a pedestrian.
I'm sure you'll be a supporter of this plan before the end of the week.
If such a ban was proposed for cars, there'd be wackos bussed in from around the country, and abroad, to protest against a leftwing, Jewish, communist, pedophilic conspiracy to deny the human right to pollute.
As a Marxist/Leninist/Fascist/Neo-contrapuntalist, I wish to complain at your cancel culture.
Would you believe it, they are a Conservative Council....... well if market forces dictate that people want to cycle there, then they should!
This is a reminder of the old line "If Paxo put the stuffing back in Britain... Then who put the c*** in Scunthorpe?"
But to appreciate that, you have to have a decent recall of early 80s TV advertising.
The late great Humphrey Lyttleton on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: "You join us this week from Nottingham. Nottingham has a long history, being originally known as Snottingham, meaning 'The home of the people of Snot' - Snot being an Anglo Saxon king in these parts.* Over time, however, speech patterns change and the initial S was dropped and the name became Nottingham. Something that fortunately never happened with Scunthorpe."
*This is true, by the way!
My Hump favourite about the celebrity chef who had his own brand sausages, with a picture of him in the kitchen on the label: underneath it said prick with a fork.
My Humph favourites - anything preceded by "Samantha tells me she has to leave now..."
"...to meet her new gentleman friend who works in the butcher's trade. She says she's always enjoyed Mr Sainsbury's beef in Guinness but tonight she's going to try Mr Dewhurst's tongue in cider."
Outrageous and so perfect delivered from the deadpan as if he had no idea what he was saying.
Yes, it was Antony Worrall Thompson as I recall!
There was a whole sub-thread in this comment section that's now vanished. Has another one of the blatant PBUs been canned?
Looking at this and back at the map book thread it looks, praise be, as though DJChadders has been shown the door. Not before time either, given that he was making absolutely no secret of the fact that he was Nigel, Rakia, The Accountant et al. Wonder how long it will be this time before he makes another comeback.
Looking at this and back at the map book thread it looks, praise be, as though DJChadders has been shown the door
I will have to defer to your scholarship on the matter of previous identities, but it is indeed a matter for rejoicing that another of the tedious pillocks has been disappeared.
Yes! I see his stupid comment polluting my Lies, Damn' Lies... topic has gone
1 day last time? Or was it less?
Maybe he'll go for another "comedy" persona again though? He's done "foreigner" and at least one other more recently IIRC...
Ignore 'em once, then the practice gets easier with time!
Is there a prize for the first to identify a likely reincarnation and then ignores whatever rubbish he writes?
You'd have to give it to yourself, as to win it you need to not respond.
Anyway, I'm off to cycle about my local town (city) centre and - to borrow a phrase - be scrupulously polite and courteous to all other users of the space...
You'd have to give it to yourself, as to win it you need to not respond
No, you respond to a 'dummy' message and refer obliquely to the offending message!
I do... and I suspect I shouldn't!
Between the fact that he was using the same verbatim catchphrases as the last (at least) four times he's been banned, and that HiVis comment he made on the Dan Walker live-blog story, I assumed he was just baiting the mods this time around.
Maybe my calling out the use of "leading road safety expert" did the trick 🎉
As a long suffering resident of Scunthorpe this is all very confusing. Since 2022 North Lincolnshire Council's enforcement goons from (I think) Kingdom Enforcement have regularly been seen shouting at and stopping people cycling in the town centre. It isn't the hooded yoots they've been going after but people cycling at not much more than walking pace. If cycling isn't covered by the PSPO why have the council allowed them to stop cyclists and enforce a non-existent law? As they are not police officers they can't be enforcing the existing TRO that prohibits cycling in this area. Perhaps road.cc need to seek yet further comment from North Lincolnshire Council.
For those fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with Scunthorpe, this isn't really about cycling in a town centre. It's about a populist, authoritarian council leader playing the hardman in the context of upcoming council elections. The warlike language and crackdown on cyclists is the complete opposite of the council's non-enforcement of parking restrictions in cycle lanes. The council regard no pavement as too narrow when they expect pedestrians to share it with cyclists. Council vans are regularly seen obstructing pavements and cycle lanes/paths. Scunthorpe town centre is in a sorry state not because of delinquent cyclists, as the council like to call them, but because too much controversial out of town retail has helped decimate the town centre. Oh, and as much free car parking as you like didn't bring the shoppers back either. Rather than take responsibility for the outcome of his council's policies, Cllr Waltham prefers to blame people who are not like us. Unlike cracking down on cars in cycle lanes, or, heaven forbid, taking space from cars for cycle lanes, he knows this won't cost him any votes.
In general, I'm ambivalent about cycling in pedestrianised town centres because it can be annoying and feel threatening to more vulnerable people. Yet nearly all of the pedestrianised bits of Scunthorpe town centre are dual carriageway width. Pedestrian footfall is so dramatically reduced due to shop closures that for most of the day responsible cycling probably could be safely accommodated.
I grew up in Broughton, and went to school in Brigg. When I go back to see family, I can't believe how grim Scunthorpe town centre is now. As you say, too many out of town retail parks pushed by successive generations of councils.
It's a bit rich for them to now try and pin the blame on cyclists for the woes of the town centre.
It seems to me that what’s being proposed is to transform what was once a road into a wide pavement.
I’ve no problem with legal enforcement of not cycling through “pedestrianised” shopping areas.
Whether I cycle in an anti-social manner or not, I don’t seek the right to cycle through the local indoor shopping malls nor the right to cycle on pavements.
Those that express the opinion that shared use paths are unsatisfactory should be able to comprehend the benefits to pedestrians of not having to mix with bike riders (and e-scooterists).
We're back in the position of keeping cyclists out of 'pedestrian areas' to protect the pedestrians, but not putting in 'cycle-dedicated' areas to protect the cyclists, which forces cyclists onto the (as someone else has said) big and busy circular roads.
Many “pedestrianised” shopping areas around the country are happy to let cyclists pass through - why are these North Lincs ones so vulnerable?
(Not) welcome back, Martin.
Who's Martin?
(Not) welcome back, Martin
Yes, this disingenuous 'Who's Martin?' is very reminiscent of the pathetic pretence at being a foreigner. Another one to avoid!
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