Freedom of Information, Velo South cycle race and local council Options

[Harnes]

Hi,
Can anyone advise on FOI rules.
I have just discovered that there is to be a 100 mile cycle race going past the end of the road where I live and they intend to close that road off for 8 hours, 7.00am-15.00pm on a Sunday 23rd September.
I didn't find out by notification of the council or Velo South !
Apparently the council have agreed to 100 miles of road closures without any consultation with residents or business's.
I was told that Velo South should have done a leaflet drop to all residents/business's on the route and no one I have spoken to have recieved anything ! (my area and others)

Velo South Route

Where I live there is no other way to get out but by vehicle and they are intending to close that option off.

There are lots of business's, stables etc that require staff to come and go ! A first responder who lives in the area has said that the emergency services haven't been properly briefed about the closures !

My question is, can I do a FOI request to the council to get any/all information passed between Velo South & the council ?
If I can, is there a form to request or do I just send a letter - do councils have FOI dept ?

Thanks for reading

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[Fredd]

Yes, you can request information from the council under the FOIA. It's generally sensible to limit what you're requesting to information that's relevant to your query, as just asking for "any/all information" might result in it being rejected as being too costly to provide. There's no need for a form, a letter or email should suffice. Even if you don't mention the FOIA they should still treat it as an FOI request, but it's still best to make it clear to avoid any confusion about it on their part. Your council may have a specific contact for FOI requests (check their website; if it's West Sussex you're referring to they have an FOI page) and if they do it's probably sensible to use it, but again it's not essential.

[Harnes]

Thanks Fredd, gave them a call and they gave me an email to write to and have asked for information regarding the application and the decision and reasons why there was no consultation.

Regards
Dave

[The Rookie]

I have just discovered that there is to be a 100 mile cycle race going past the end of the road where I live and they intend to close that road off for 8 hours, 7.00am-15.00pm on a Sunday 23rd September.

While that is what the road closure order probably says, you'll find that they will only close the road just before the first arrivals and reopen once its clear (better to be on an early part of the route when they are all together!).

We recently had a similar issue with a local half marathon, the night before we parked one car the other side of the route (we were 'inside the loop') so we could walk to it across the route and drive off.

I would imagine the leaflet drop is planned nearer the event, most people can't remember stuff after 2 days, let alone 2 months!

[Harnes]

I've had an email from Velo confirming the road will be closed from 7.00am - 3.00pm.
Leaflet drop was supposed to have already been done ! with another one supposed to happen in August.
Everyone who I have asked so far who either lives or works on "my" A264 road were not aware of it !

[The Rookie]

I've had an email from Velo confirming the road will be closed from 7.00am - 3.00pm.

As I said above, that's what the closure order will say and allow that to happen, in practice it doesn't happen like that.

If they are meant to have leafleted and haven't that could get them in a bit of trouble!

[notmeatloaf]

Indeed, as Simon says like roadworks they apply for a worst case scenario, not least because applying and advertising dozens of TTROs. Then once they are sure there are no clashes with other events they advise residents of the likely closure time, which is a fraction of the full day.

The stewards then close the road shortly before the race passes, and open it after the last riders are through.

If there is a genuine emergency they will let someone through but it might be pragmatic for him to park on a different road.

Cycle races are typically a lot less disruptive than marathons and the like. I think you are lucky, I would love to have it pass the end of my dead end road!

[Harnes]

NML,
I'm afraid I don't feel lucky, having 15,000 cyclist's decide how I spend my day ! they have velodromes for cycle races !

Regards

[emsgeorge]

This is happening in my neck of the woods.

If you want a chuckle, facebook group 'stop velo south' has some really amusing posts from people who seem to have little thoughts for what they write.

'If I cant get out I will run over the barriers and just go'

'I will put tacks on the road to shred their tyres'


The police have taken a great interest in the things these people are writing. Only a matter of time until they decide to lift a few of them to send the message out that those sorts of comments aren't acceptable.

Silly comments win silly prizes.

[Rallyman72]

For Englands first closed road rally the advertised closure order was 00:01 to 23:59 on the 22nd April. The road actually closed at 08:00, allowed access for residents twice between competitive runs and re-opened before 17:00. The longest anyone was 'locked in' was about 90 minutes.

In the city in which I live the local half marathon is far worse locking some folk in fo up to 7 hours whilst a local cycle event locks residents in, in local villages, for up to 14 hours at a time over a complete weekend as some roads are used by the event in both directions!

[big_mac]

As above, that’s the closure order, the road won’t be closed for that length of time, it will be closed as they approach and opened when they have passed, that happens all the time (apart from at the finish which is closed much earlier due to the infrastructure) on the women’s tour of Britain the closure order was for a similar length, where I was it was about 40 minutes actual.

That was for 200 cyclists, this is, apparently, for 15,000.

Looking at Vélo Birmingham for comparison, there are time gaps between first and last finishers of around 6 hours.

[jdh]

I know when my wife did Ride The Night last year from Windsor across London and back they were started in batches so there was a steady flow of cyclists on the early part of the course and they were given a certain amount of time to finish the course before the 'sweeper' van caught them. That was on mostly open roads though but I bet there was still a lot of disruption to regular road users.

[Sparxy]

Looking at Vélo Birmingham for comparison, there are time gaps between first and last finishers of around 6 hours.

Not living near the closures, and not listening to the radio, the first I saw of the birmingham closures was a sign "Cycle Race taking place x day between 8-6pm" 1 mile from the route.

A few grumbles: A one way road was shut, but the closure sign was only at the END of the one way road, forcing cars to reverse/turn round. A diversion down a road that is actually then part of the cycle route and thirdly I had to take a detour to avoid the cycle route at all which then turned out to be in excess of 15 miles to get to site... The marshals were not permitted to stop or cause the cyclists to slow down in order for a car to pass at all.

This post has been edited by Sparxy: Wed, 25 Jul 2018 - 20:46

[notmeatloaf]

As any road workers working on a closed road will tell you, as soon as you let one very important person through you have lots and lots of important people who also have very important things to do as well.

Otherwise you might as well just have an open road event and everyone can moan when it's gridlock because there are no professional diversions in place.

[The Rookie]

A few grumbles: A one way road was shut, but the closure sign was only at the END of the one way road, forcing cars to reverse/turn round. A diversion down a road that is actually then part of the cycle route and thirdly I had to take a detour to avoid the cycle route at all which then turned out to be in excess of 15 miles to get to site... The marshals were not permitted to stop or cause the cyclists to slow down in order for a car to pass at all.

So clearly those responsible for signage erred, that’s an argument for improving signage, not not closing the roads, as NML says, trying to let one car only through just doesn’t work, exception obviously for emergency services generally.

[Harnes]

This is happening in my neck of the woods.

If you want a chuckle, facebook group 'stop velo south' has some really amusing posts from people who seem to have little thoughts for what they write.

'If I cant get out I will run over the barriers and just go'

'I will put tacks on the road to shred their tyres'


The police have taken a great interest in the things these people are writing. Only a matter of time until they decide to lift a few of them to send the message out that those sorts of comments aren't acceptable.

Silly comments win silly prizes.

Since when could you get "lifted" by the police for making comments on Facebook !! unless there racist comments obviously !

It looks like this race will go ahead no matter what - palms have been greased (IMO)

[Richy320]

NML,
I'm afraid I don't feel lucky, having 15,000 cyclist's decide how I spend my day ! they have velodromes for cycle races !

Regards

They do.

Velo South, however, is not a cycle race, it's a sportive, which is just a mass ride round.

[The Rookie]

Since when could you get "lifted" by the police for making comments on Facebook !! unless there racist comments obviously !

Action likely to incite, credible threats of violence, there are lots of things you could do to get you lifted, withered it results in a charge or not is a different matter.

[southpaw82]

Since when could you get "lifted" by the police for making comments on Facebook !! unless there racist comments obviously !

The Malicious Communications Act covers a multitude of sins. Not sure why only racist comments should get you lifted.

[Harnes]

It was one example I could think of, that lately would upset the BIB.

I had emailed my local councillor, still waiting for a reply - but have seen since that she has supported a motion not to cancel the bike ride so thanks all for replying to my post, I will just have to "suck it up" and let em get on with there bike ride.