Local MAG activists make a real difference


MAG is its members, and so much of what we achieve locally is when volunteer members do it.

Latest news is that Peterborough MAG have managed to convince Anglian Water and P’Boro Council to begin trials of composite non-slip manhole covers on June 25th, at sites chosen by local MAG members. This will have a huge impact in the region because so many of the slippery iron covers in the road are owned by the water companies. If Anglian Water are happy, and they see no reason why they won’t be, (they just said no one had actually highlighted the issue…) they may consider rolling out non-slip technology as part of their standard maintenance and replacement schedule.

The other great news from P’Boro is that having convinced Enterprise PLC (who manage the council vehicle fleet) to fit MAG’s ‘Diesel Spills Kill’ stickers to all their vehicles, Enterprise nationally asked for a meeting to see how they could roll out the scheme across the country and how they could, as a company, support MAG’s Get A Grip campaign. Well done Dave and Tink from P’Boro MAG. A bit of local campaigning can bring national rewards.

Meanwhile, in deepest Devon, Alan Langmaid has been beavering away to include motorcycling in local policy and as a direct result (apart from now recognising how biking can help improve traffic flow and the environment for all) Totnes council has decided to also start fitting composite non-slip covers there too.

Further north, though not much, in North Somerset, local MAG folk have managed to get motorcycle parking in the Melrose car park on the Weston Super Mare sea front and ensure that details of where all motorcycle parking is, can now be found on the North Somerset Council website
The convenience of parking your bike somewhere right on the sea front is bettered only by the fact that the same council, who have embraced MAG’s Get a Grip campaign, have now installed 8 more non slip covers in Aspen Park Rd in Weston.

Last night in Rugby, Warwickshire MAG met one of the Traffic Police team from the county. It was a great evening and something quite different: an open question and answer session. Everything you ever wanted to know about policing but were afraid to ask… Building a relationship with the police can prove very useful!

Add this to other recent local parking successes, access to buslanes and of course the removal of motorcycle tolls from the Tyne and Humber river crossings and you can see that local action really pays dividends. Don’t let anyone tell you MAG doesn’t make a tangible difference on the ground!

Have a good weekend and make sure you’ve got your waterproofs with you. 👍