In the Beginning...

WHY LIVEABLE WHITCHURCH?

The idea bubbled up while attending a talk by Danish urban cycling advocate Mikael Colville-Andersen from Copenhagen when he was giving a presentation on increasing cycling levels - it was entitled Bicycle Culture by Design.

Make your towns "liveable" for all and everyone will benefit - pedestrians, drivers, mums with buggies, shoppers, children going to school and yes, those who want to ride a bike. That word struck a chord, and although used elsewhere it could also be applicable to Whitchurch.
So on that wet October evening in Chelsea Old Town Hall, while enjoying Danish nibbles and hospitality, Liveable Whitchurch became a seed to be sown.

So what can make a community more 'liveable'? It seems the biggest block so often cited is 'fear of traffic', yet traffic has a rightful place in our society. But traffic also frightens people from walking, cycling, letting their children out to play, or crossing the road to visit friends.

This blog will focus on related issues; why cycling and walking is presently a poor relation, why facilities are under-provided, what could be improved and how in creating a 'liveable town' we can all benefit, whether driving to work, cycling to the shops, or walking to school.

Expect some tangential thinking too, maybe some sideswipes - like a wheel on a bicycle, revolving and throwing out its personal thoughts about the journey it travels along.