However, the City Council have now agreed that it isn't a secret after all. You see the information was made public back in September 2010 on the British Cycling Web Site.
The reply from the Council gives the full deleted text:-
I have made further enquiries and found that the deletion of the length of the agreement from the Memorandum of Understanding that I sent with my message of 15 February was a mistake as this information is not commercially sensitive and is already in the public domain.
I apologise for this error.
The relevant paragraph in the document is:
8. Duration
8.1 The duration of this Agreement shall be 10 (ten) years from the date of this Agreement.
This means that Manchester is stuck with having the BCF acting as the "voice of cycling" in Manchester until 28th September 2020!
So what are we going to be landed with as a result of this agreement? Well apart from the £28 motorway cycling tax being tried out in June this year, you might like to take a look at item 7.3 below...
It seems that Manchester City Council will be prioritising issues such as cycle racing on the public highway.
Which leaves me to wonder whether the council spends more money on cycle sport in this city than it does on providing for cycling on the streets. It's time for another FoI enquiry...
Fascinating article about complexities of politics going on behind the scenes. Never knew the British Cycling Federation was such a vociferous lobyist, let alone purely on racing and 'safety', presumably to the detriment of efforts just to get more people on bikes. This is surprising giving its aim of "providing the support and encouragement people need to get riding their bikes for the first time". http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/at_a_glance
ReplyDeleteSlightly less surprising when you look at their website home, which is stuffed full of corporate sponsors links and race results http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/ and their member's sign-up page which seems intent on grabbing money: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership