NW Report December2010/January 2011

 

10th December 2010 Board meeting, MAG Central

            Set off for Board Meeting but MAG van broke down and returned home on back off breakdown truck

 

11th December 2010  NC Meeting-MAG Central

            Set off again in direction of Warwick and made it this time Minutes of meeting available on MAG UK web-site. http://www.mag-uk.org

 

8-9th January 2011: National Motorcycle Show, Manchester

The company that was running this event has apparently gone into liquidation, I say apparently as I have had no official word, but subsequently the show did not happen this year and so all the preparation work that had gone into running the MAG stall at this event was fruitless

 

12th January 2011 RideSafe BackSafe Hartwood Hall, Chorley

            I managed to get the “Get a Grip” campaign on the agenda of this meeting and presented it to an audience consisting of police, road safety and county council officers from Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester & Merseyside. I could have probably done with a bit more material as most had to make do with B&W photocopies but the presentation went well with a lot of interest shown. Feedback I have got back so far is that Rob Winn of Lancashire Road Safety has passed the literature onto the responsible engineer within Lancashire County Council and he in turn is discussing it with the procurement team, so who knows where it may go from here? M-Partnership who are responsible for the publicity of the RSBS initiative  have said they would detail the campaign in a press release and post the information onto the RSBS web-site.

 

2nd February 2011 Wirral & Chester Re-launch Crown Inn Birkenhead

Myself, Bill Green from Red Rose MAG and Andy Curry from Jesters MCC (MAG Affiliated) rode down to the Wirral on a wet and very windy night to give support to the re-launch of Wirral & Chester MAG. There was a good turnout on the night, considering the weather and the mail out that was done advertising the event seemed to have paid dividends.  Gordon Wheatcroft, the new rep has been rep before and has some local issues that need focusing on, and was discussed at the meeting.

  • There is a new toll bridge going to be built at Runcorn and we need assurances that PTW are going to be exempt from the tolls.
  • The Mersey Tunnel are currently monitoring the bike lane at both the Kingsway & Queensway tunnel exits. PTWs are currently exempt from toll charges but members are concerned that plans may be a foot to introduce tolls if it is seen that a lot of PTWs are using the tunnels FOC. The tolls for other road users has recently been raised
  • Parking in Liverpool City Centre is still a major problem for users of PTWs. A number of years ago LCC decided to ban all PTWs from using the pay and display bays, even if they were prepared to pay. I tried to reason with LCC over the situation as there is not adequate alternative parking for PTWs in Liverpool. Also, Bill Green put together a report to this effect which was passed onto LCC & MAG Central, but nothing came of it. Now that we have an active group in the area I am hoping that we may see some improvement in the situation.

 

6th February The 7th NW Fred Hill Run, Blackburn Cathedral

            On a yet another very wet and windy day, we managed to entice 50 or so members to come and show their respect for a man who died fighting for the right to choose. The 7th Fred Hill was well attended and it was great to see so many members and affiliated members showing their respect. The traditional ride through the Lancashire countryside was given a miss this year alas, as the heavens had opened and we all sped a quick retreat to the pub for grub and a chinwag.

 

Other news from around the region

            Manchester MAG has lost it’s meeting place as the Station Pub has closed for business after suffering a quite Christmas period.

            We have a willing volunteer in Red Rose MAG who has taken on the web-site and has enrolled at college in order to learn the required skills

            I seem to be standing in as Blackpool MAG rep as the position is still vacant although we do have a number of regular and active members who attend most meetings and are willing to help out at events.

            In between work and trying to get a new engine in the van, I have been busy getting some MAG MA1 jackets made up and took delivery of the first batch last week. There are two designs, the new logo and the pipes logo, and so far I have had good feedback about the quality of the jackets. They should soon be available for sale through the NW web-site at £25 with a large percentage of that going back into regional funds. If anyone would like more details of the jackets then please ask, and I will send photos of the designs. If I had more room this weekend I would have brought a couple of samples down to NC with me

 I am still busy getting information onto the NW web-site (including this report) and would appreciate any feedback?

            Staff working at the petrol forecourt the Tesco’s superstore at Blackpool has recently started to ask PTW users to remove their helmets before paying for fuel. When asked, members are being told that it is a new Tesco policy. I have made some enquiries with Tesco’s customer care services at Cardiff, and was told that this has been Tesco policy for a year now and it is down to individual stores as to whether they implement it or not. When I asked for the reasoning behind it, I was told that it was to prevent the face being covered in case the customer was to attack or rob the forecourt staff. When I asked if it was the policy to ask all customers to remove coverings from the face when making payments I was told it was not, e.g. an Islamic lady wearing a burka would not be ask to remove it before payment

. I am not sure if we can do anything about this policy apart from informing our members of the situation and letting them decide if they still want to use the Tesco facilities.

See you all at the weekend,

Tony Cox

NW Regional Rep.