Frequently asked questions
What is the Brentwood Cycling Charter?
The cycling charter is a statement of support for cycling as a safe, natural choice for a large proportion of everyday journeys. This frees up road space for essential journeys that support the borough’s economy and helps us tackle pollution, congestion and unhealthy lifestyles. It outlines the benefits cycling can bring to our borough and is something that businesses, schools, the health sector, shops and individuals can readily support.
What are we trying to achieve with the charter?
The charter enables organisations and individuals across the borough to express their support for everyday cycling, showing they understand that cycling is good for business, good for our health, good for the local economy and helps make Brentwood a better place for us all to live and work in.
Charter signatories demonstrate to Brentwood and Essex’s leaders that there is wide support for cycling and a growing consensus for investment in better cycling infrastructure.
Why doesn’t the charter talk about detailed proposals for specific transport infrastructure improvements?
The charter is about the principle of enabling cycling rather than specific road design solutions.
The wording deliberately stays away from stating specific design or policy measures that will encourage people to cycle (eg. segregated paths). These design discussions will come from engagement with council officers and councillors.
Is the charter just for businesses or can individuals support it too?
The charter was created to enable organisations and individuals to show their support for cycling. Organisations can include businesses large and small, shops, schools, colleges, health practices, gyms, churches, youth clubs and the emergency services, but we also want individuals to voice their support.
By signing the charter are organisations and individuals showing support for Cycle Brentwood or other local cycling groups?
No. We recognise that many organisations will be happy to support a call for better cycling provision without needing to align themselves with the cycling campaign.
I want to sign as an individual, how will my details be used?
We very much hope that individuals want to show support for improved cycle provision by signing this charter. You can add your full name to the signatory list or just include your initials if you want to remain anonymous. By listing signatories, we can show the level of support we have to promote local cycling.
We do ask that individuals include an email address, just in case we need to verify signatures, but this information will not be shared with anyone other than Cycle Brentwood who will offer you the option to join our separate mailing list to receive updates on our campaigns.
Will the organisations that support the charter be made public?
Yes. The purpose is to enable organisations to visibly support the charter’s aims. Organisations may also wish to issue a press release and tweet to express their support for the charter. Individuals can add their full name to the signatory list or just their initials if they want to maintain anonymity.
The charter will echo many organisations’ sustainability policies and we anticipate most organisations will welcome the opportunity to publicly support this initiative.
How do organisations and individuals indicate their support for the charter?
There are three ways:
- ONLINE: use the links on this page to register your support for the charter.
- VERBALLY: Speak to the person who brought the charter to your attention and indicate your support. They will then register this on the website.
- GO PUBLIC: draft a press release indicating your organisation’s support for the charter. Some suggested wording for a press release can be found here. Tweet out your support by including #BrentwoodCyclingCharter or add @CycleBrentwood if you want to include Cycle Brentwood.
Quotes and copy for press releases can be made available by emailing us.
How will the support for the charter be publicised?
As organisations indicate their support for the charter this will be shared through social and other media. There may be charter events to create newsworthy interest in the growing support for the charter. To express our thanks for your support we may occasionally quote your organisation as a signatory and use your logo, asking for permission each time.
Let us know by email if you’d rather we didn’t do this.
Is the cycling charter evidence based?
Yes. The supporting research and council/government strategies are summarised in the links below.