|
BREAKING NEWS
Ballarat Bike Strategy Reviewed
In an interview with The Ballarat Independent done in early Decmeber 2011, BalBUG chair John Barnes reflects on what has been achieved in the first three years of the Strategy and what remains to be done.
EVENTS AND RIDES
LOCAL
10 February 2013 Cycle Classic Ballarat, a fundraiser for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institiute. Choice of relay around Lake Wendouree, road over the Australian National Road Cycling course, rail trail and mountain bike rides. For details and registration go to www.ballaratcycleclassic.com.au
5 May 2013 Ballarat Autumn Day Ride (BAD Ride). 25, 50 or 100km routes all on sealed roads. Starts at Ballarat City Oval 9am. For details closer to the event, go to http://www.ballarat.com/bushwalking/
ELSEWHERE
For all the information you'll need on sports cycling in Victoria, visit http://www.vic.cycling.org.au/
NEWSLETTER
BalBUG Committee numbers have reduced and we find the task of getting out a regular newsletter beyond us for the time being. If you would like to get involved and help us produce one, email us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
For past BalBUG Newsletters, please click here.
HELMETS -ARE THEY GOOD FOR BIKE RIDING?
A health benefit model developed at Macquarie University and published in March 2009 suggests national mandatory all-age bicycle helmet laws incur a health cost to Australia of more than half a billion dollars every year. http://www.cycle-helmets.com/macquarie-study.html To follow a comprehensive debate on the effectiveness of bike helmets, including papers on the Australian experience that have been published in peer reviewed journals such as the British Medical Journal, go to http://www.cycle-helmets.com/index.html Alternatively, you could take a peak at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet
For information on a recent peer reviewed research which puts a contrary view, see http://www.bv.com.au/bikes-&-riding/42381/ for information on the study "The effects of provincial bicycle helmet legislation on helmet use and bicycle ridership in Canada", conducted by four health academics, steered by Jessica Dennis, of McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa. The study was peer reviewed and published in the Journal of Injury Prevention in June 2010.
For a look at what is happening around the planet on bike helmet laws, this 2012 article from the New York Times may be of interest: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/sunday-review/to-encourage-biking-cities-forget-about-helmets.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0
If you are more a visual person and have 16 minutes and 34 seconds to spare, take a look at this presentation by one of the fathers of Cycle Chic http://video.tedxcopenhagen.dk/video/911034/mikael-colville-andersen
LOBBYING
To peruse submissions made by BalBUG and to get an appreciation of our polciy positions, please click here.
View BalBUG's submission made on January 20th to the Ballarat West Precinct Structure Plan consultation. You can also see our earlier submission and other past submissions too. Covering the Planning Scheme Amendment C122: Alfredton West Precinct Structure Plan, Town Hall Plaza, CBD Strategy Plan and a vaiety of other topics including annual budget submissions advocating for increased bike expenditure in Ballarat.
If you would like to read a copy of the Ballarat City Council's Ballarat Bicycle Strategy 2008, adopted in August 2008, please visit http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/library/scripts/objectifyMedia.aspx?file=pdf/70/98.pdf&siteID=1&str_title=Bicycle Strategy.pdf
MEDIA CLIPPINGS
For interesting articles click on the links below:
European Public Cycling Schemes -Anything like what we can expect from the Victorian Bike Strategy? Melbourne Age 4 April 2009 http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/power-to-the-pedal-20090401-9j1h.html
European cycle-friendly cities. Melbourne Age 5 April 2008 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/03/1206851076964.html
|
