I am delighted that Edinburgh City Council has accepted my recommendation to establish a ‘Sir Chris Hoy cycle network’ in the city as a lasting legacy and a fitting tribute to our country’s most successful Olympian. The Green motion was passed unanimously at full Council today, with the detail on how it will be rolled out passed to the Council’s Transport committee (on which I sit), working closely with cycling groups. That means some of the specific points that I raised in my original motion have been passed over to be debated later but I felt that it was wise to accept that for the sake of keeping all-party support for what should really be a consensus issue. All of these detailed points and more can now be raised at Transport Committee.
Sir Chris Hoy’s Olympic success has been an inspiration to us all, and Greens support granting him the Freedom of the City, but I argued that we should also build a lasting legacy to his achievements. A truly gold-standard network of safe cycle routes around the city would help to do that: it would encourage more physical activity; help to tackle rising rates of obesity, reduce traffic congestion and cut air pollution – and, who knows, might even foster future Olympians? A cycle super ‘Hoy’-way will let the whole city strike cycling gold.
Today’s decision could mean a big step forward for cycling provision in Edinburgh, but it could not have happened without the good ideas and ceaseless energy of groups such as Pedal on Parliament, Spokes, CTC and Greener Leith. All councillors have been receiving lots of emails from members of those groups, relating personal experiences and with thought-provoking comments. It works! These groups, and others, have worked hard to encourage politicians across the city and beyond to share their vision of a cycle-friendly city.
Together we need to keep up that pressure as we move from principle to design.
The amended motion agreed by the Council is below:
Council:
1) Congratulates Sir Chris Hoy on becoming Britain’s most successful Olympic athlete with six gold medals in addition to his eleven World Championship titles;
2) Believes that his success will act as an inspiration to would-be Olympians throughout Scotland and the world;
3) Notes the calls from Spokes, Pedal on Parliament, the Cyclists’ Touring Club and others to honour Sir Chris’ success and build a lasting legacy for cycling.
4) Agrees in principle that the creation of a city-wide network of safe cycling routes would boost physical activity; help to tackle rising rates of obesity; reduce traffic congestion and cut air pollution and would be a positive lasting legacy for the city.
5) Notes however that the creation of such a network would need to overcome considerable technical and logistical challenges.
6) Therefore agrees to remit the proposal for a Sir Chris Hoy cycle network to Transport, Infrastructure and Environment Committee who are asked to bring forward a report, prepared in close consultation with Spokes, Pedal on Parliament, Greener Leith and any other relevant stakeholders, within one cycle to examine the feasibility of a lasting legacy for cycling in Edinburgh.
Chas Booth is the Green Councillor for Leith and has been a community campaigner / environmental activist for more than a decade. 
This is excellent news!
I’m all for more spending on cycle routes etc but please please draw up a long term plan of what the network should look like in the future so we actually end up with routes that join together and are useable
Thanks for the comments Jayne and Bob.
We agree that the network needs to join up and actually go places that people want to be – which is why our original motion urged the creation of a network that is connected to other traffic-free paths and routes on less-trafficked roads. Unfortunately that got dropped when we accepted the administration amendment, but we’ll continue to push for it. Original motion can be read in the agenda for last week’s meeting:
http://bit.ly/RrkoT5
Very good news. The Roseburn Corridor and other routes need to be supplemented with more dedicated cycleways, which will definitely increase ridership and, more importantly, safety, all the while cutting down on pollution. It would be great for Edinburgh to be a scottish (and UK) leader in this, to show what can be done.
Great! But only if it actually means new cycle routes and not just a rebadging of existing ones into a ‘network’. And a plea not to forget the outlying areas … And the airport!
good news that what is already a fialry unique piece of infrastructure may have a chance to fulfill its potential. I’d like to see even more ambitious plans – how about an edinburgh version of boris’ bikes with a depot at each entrance to the cycle paths?