LORD MAYOR LEADS MPs' CYCLE TOUR OF                                                MANCHESTER 

Manchester Lord Mayor, Councillor Carl Austin-Behan, joined forces with BikeRight! directors and local Councillors to greet the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group at Piccadilly Station on Friday 

On Friday 23rd September we bucked Manchester's poor weather reputation and ushered in a day of sunshine in which to showcase Greater Manchester's potential as a cycling conurbation.  Meeting the MPs from their London train, they had a taste of city centre traffic as the Lord Mayor led the way to the Town Hall. 

                  The Lord Mayor of Manchester, wearing his mayoral chain motif tee-shirt, leads cycling MPs and Councillors through Manchester City Centre 

            All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group members -  MPs Jeff Smith, Ruth Cadbury, Alex                    Chalk  and Baroness Barker - with the Lord Mayor, Sir Richard Leese and Lucy Powell MP at Central Library. 

 At the Town Hall, the delegation discussed how Greater Manchester can achieve its target by 2025 for ten per cent of all journeys - not just short trips - to be by bicycle. Presentations from Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Chris Paul, Transport for Greater Manchester's cycling champion, Martin Key, Campaigns Manager from British Cycling,and Pete Abel from Friends of the Earth/Love Your Bike laid out the challenges being faced.  The meeting was chaired by Councillor Mandie Shilton Godwin, Chair of Manchester Cycle Forum, with further contributions from local cycling experts.



Then it was off to find out for themselves.  First stop was St Margaret's Primary School in Whalley Range, where they watched children learn on-road cycle training at a Bikeability course near their school..Ruth Cadbury MP, co-chair of APPCG asked their children about their experience of the course.

Then a cross-town ride through Moss Side took the group to Rusholme Road........

......and the whole group had a taste of the new Wilmslow Road cycleway, along Manchester's curry mile and back towards the city centre. They saw at first hand how conflicts could occur on this new scheme: a small collision between a car and a regular cyclist happened almost in front of their eyes. 

Returning to the station at the end of the day, the delegation thanked BikeRight!, the City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester for an informative session, and promised to raise issues about Manchester's situation with ministers at a parliamentary level.