Celebrating a year of local campaign wins with the Cycle Advocacy Network

Four years ago, Cycling UK launched the Cycle Advocacy Network. Since then, we’ve worked hard to build a community of more than 300 local representatives across the four nations that is going from strength to strength.

The Cycle Advocacy Network – or CAN – brings together campaigners with a shared interest in creating the conditions that enable more people to cycle, including better infrastructure for cycling and safer roads. This includes a publicly available suite of resources including a campaigning handbook and toolkit.

Here, we highlight some of the great results gained in 2024 by CAN representatives across the UK.

Removing barriers

The campaign group Together Creating Communities, alongside Paul Bevan, an active CAN rep based in North Wales, have been successful in pressurising Flintshire County Council to remove barriers on the Coastal Path, making the popular walking and cycling route accessible for all.

Cabinet member for Economy, Environment and Climate Change, Councillor Chris Dolphin, said: “This is a great step forwards for inclusivity. The Dee Estuary is a fantastic natural asset for our communities in Flintshire and I am really pleased after months of work and planning, we can now make this decision to ensure everyone can enjoy it.”

Work to remove the barriers will be done in phases, beginning in Saltney before Christmas and then moving on to Connah’s Quay.

New CAN rep Laura Pringle, Chorley, uses a recumbent trike. She took a local borough councillor for a ride on a permissive shared path between a local country park and Buckshaw village in early November. She demonstrated how badly degraded surfaces, barriers and route diversions prevent people from being able to access green spaces and get from A to B.

Since the bike ride, Laura has managed to secure a commitment from the local council to upgrade the path to a bridleway.

Taking elected representatives for a ride

This year could be looked back on as the ‘Year of the Cycle Infrastructure Safari’.

The idea is simple: invite your elected representatives on a bike ride around your local area, allowing them to see and experience firsthand the joys of safe, protected cycling infrastructure, such as CYCLOPS junctions, cycleways and SUDS drainage, as well as the bits that could be improved (I’m looking at you, painted cycle lanes!).

CAN rep Nick Hubble, based in Greater Manchester, recently shared his experience of an infrastructure safari in Bury during a meet-up of local campaigners.

After years of persuading, badgering, coaxing and cajoling, Nick managed to convince a group of councillors, council officers and other cycling stakeholders from the borough of Bury in Greater Manchester (GM) to emerge from the behind the screens of the sporadic Walking & Cycling Forum meetings, swing a leg over a bicycle and take part.

While Bury has historically been less active in building active travel infrastructure, other parts of the GM city region (notably Manchester, Salford and Trafford) have been pressing on with more-or-less decent cycle projects. Nick has also kindly offered to help organise a similar safari for any Cycling UK local reps who may be keen to see what’s been going on in GM – watch out for details in the new year!

CAN rep Barbara Ann-Brown, Ely, took two local councillors, Ross Trent and Will Novick, on a tour of bike parking provision – including almost-ready bike racks at a local NHS hospital that fail every criteria.

With the support of Cycling UK’s Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns, and Andrew McClean, Northern Ireland advocacy lead, Barbara has written to the NHS Trust to offer ways to improve their offering to those who cycle to the hospital.

Reflecting on the ride, Barbara shared: “The message to Cycling UK local reps is clear: continue rejecting duff, tokenistic provision. Once you’ve read the LTN and canvassed people, get your councillors away from their desks and campaign for something better.

“You’ll be surprised by what you find.”

In Hampshire, Alex Baker MP joined Rushmoor Cycle Forum on an eight-hour bike odyssey, exploring cycling infrastructure across Farnborough and Aldershot.

CAN rep Sarah Wood encourages everyone to invite their elected representatives out on a ride in their local area: “It was a great way to talk to and get to know our newly elected MP. It’s early days still but we are hoping that Alex Baker will help push active travel and public transport forward in Rushmoor.”

Starting up new groups

CAN reps have also been building new campaign groups across the UK this year.

In North Yorkshire, Ian Suckling is a part of the newly formed Whitby and Esk Valley Active Travel campaign group. Having only launched in January, the campaign has already been working closely with North Yorkshire Council and the North Yorkshire Moors National Park on their respective LCWIPS.

The campaign has also raised an incredible £9,000 for an e-assist Fun2go adaptive trike to enable disabled visitors to explore the local Cinder Track and beautiful North Yorkshire coastline.

Festive Christmas fun

Christmas came early this year in Inverness as CAN reps donned their finest festive garb to celebrate the opening of Riverside Way. This excellent protected cycle lane is the culmination of four years of hard work by local campaigners and the Highland Council active travel team.

Fighting unjust PSPOs

Over the summer, local CAN reps such as William Bramhill, together with Colchester Cycling Campaign and Manifesto Club, successfully fought for the city council to review fines handed out by WISE, third-party ‘fine for profit’ wardens hired by the city council to enforce a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) against cyclists.

Under the guise of the PSPO, WISE wardens wrongly hit more than 60 cyclists with egregious Fixed Penalties Notices for up to £100 for ‘cycling in a dangerous manner, likely to cause harm or intimidation or damage’. This included riding with consideration for pedestrians on a footway to avoid a busy, fast roundabout, going through bollards and in one case riding on a marked cycleway.

Without workers great cycle lanes would not be possible

It’s important to recognise the hard work that goes into building high-quality protected cycling infrastructure.

In Brighton, Bricycles thanked local contractors and councillors for starting work on the first phase of the A23 Active Travel scheme by bestowing them with a festive feast of cake, mince pies and (alcohol-free) prosecco – what a treat!

When you’re out on annual ride over the holidays, think about all the work that has gone into building your favourite cycle path that runs alongside the river and that shiny new CYCLOPS junction that makes that once horrible junction so much easier, and maybe leave them out a mince pie.

CAN events

To support local campaigners to take action where they live, we set up online gatherings, including monthly meetups and surgery sessions, webinars and campaign briefings. These events proved popular, having been attended by over 250 campaigners across the UK.

In June, the Cycle Advocacy Network hosted an online gathering focused on removing barriers on cycle paths. Cycle champions from organisations such as Leigh Day, Wheels for Wellbeing and Active Travel Merthyr came together to share how they’re campaigning to make cycling, walking and wheeling, whether by foot, adapted bike, trike or wheelchair, accessible for all.

In October, more than 30 campaigners attended an online meeting focused on getting campaign groups off the ground and winning change.

Groups from across the UK including Camcycle (Cambridge, England), Vale Veloways (Vale of Glamorgan, Wales), Spokes (Edinburgh and the Lothians, Scotland) and Belfast Cycling Campaign (Belfast, Northern Ireland) shared their stories of how they have become established, grown their membership and built imaginative, impactful campaigns.

If you’re looking to kickstart your campaigning next year, keep on an eye on the Cycle Advocacy Network for more events coming up in 2025, including tips for getting your stories in the news and designing websites and flyers that catch the eye.

Speak up for cycling

Ready to speak up for cycling and get stuck in? Become a local representative today and we’ll support you to kick your cycle campaigning into gear.

You may already be part of a local campaign or group, speaking up for cycling in your community, or perhaps you are in the process of starting one up. The Cycle Advocacy Network can be a resource for you, too – partner your campaign today.