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Sustrans at the Meadows -- what are they hoping to achieve?

(18 posts)
  • Started 5 years ago by lingcat
  • Latest reply from gembo
  • This topic is not a support question

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  1. lingcat
    Member

    Hello CCE! Long-time lurker, first-time poster here. I stopped for the second time today to chat to some Sustrans folk at the Meadows, and was wondering about others' experiences of them and if anyone knows what they're trying to achieve with this.

    Both times I've stopped for a chat, I've got the impression that the people I was talking to weren't fantastically well-informed (today, I was told the planned Meadows to New Town route wasn't going to be segregated ... but also that there would be a barrier between the bike path and the road -- and also that fewer women bike because of the kind of clothes they wear!), and didn't really have any particular questions to ask other than "Do you know about Sustrans" and "Have you heard about the NCN".

    Just curious, really! Find it a bit baffling as I can't work out what their goal is here.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  2. wingpig
    Member

    I passed them several times over the course of several years before one hailed me when I went past. I was disappointed that they knew nothing of the locality and were basically just trying to get personal info, not collecting opinions. I provided some anyway, particularly about Gilberstoun/Paddockholm-style convolutions.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  3. lingcat
    Member

    Ohhhhhhhh, they're trying to get members? She did ask if I was already a member, and I said yes, so I guess I scuppered the main point of the interaction.

    By that stage she'd already asked if I felt safe cycling in Edinburgh and received an earful (not an aggressive one, but one with Opinions), so I guess she was a bit sorry she didn't ask the most important question first.

    Not sure why they're not providing their (presumably) volunteers with a passing knowledge of the local bike issues. It was a frankly weird interaction, just constantly feeling like I was waiting to get the point of why I'd been stopped.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  4. neddie
    Member

    Yep. Same thing happened to me when I was stopped at 5-ways

    They had no clue the council were about to spend £900k on the North Edinburgh Path Network

    They were only interested in if I’d “heard of Sustrans” & if I’d seen their “amazing” map showing how Sustrans had grown* the National Cycle Network

    *Mostly paths & minor roads that were already there

    Posted 5 years ago #

  5. ARobComp
    Member

    I was at the playpark this morning and the two ladies by the tennis courts tried to flag me down on my way to coffee.

    I say flag me down... one of them reluctantly raised an arm and mumbled something about "NCN".

    Maybe it was too early.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  6. gembo
    Member

    I was flagged down by Sustrans at Harrison park once. I said this flagging folk down must be tricky, they said yes. I said why don't u go along the towpath a bit to The Canal Festival where Sustrans have a lovely stall. They had no idea. Maybe this flagging bit of Sustrans are just Charity Muggers with Sustrans t shirts today, oxfam t shirts tomorrow?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  7. Nelly
    Member

    I spoke to the Meadows sustrans lot last weekend when out with my son - asked if I had a couple of minutes to answer questions.

    Was a bit disappointed that, when asked the questions about commuting, my opinions on cycling in Edinburgh etc etc.........none of it was recorded.

    She was, of course, quick to record my details in order that Sustrans could sign me up for a minimum of £5 a month.

    That one went straight to Spam when it arrived. It might have had a better chance of success if it had been a bit more apparent from the off what this was about.

    Also, it grinds my gears that representatives from Sustrans are clearly less interested or knowledgeable about their subject than I.

    Sadly, I think they are only there to sign up bodies and it feels no different to the "got a few minutes for Oxfam" bods on MMW, Princes Street etc.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  8. lingcat
    Member

    Them being charity muggers makes so much sense. Thanks for solving my wee mystery!

    This explains all the blank looks when I mentioned the Innertube and the delay on the canal-Meadows link -- and also the weird comments on things like showers being super-important, and the whole women-don't-cycle-because-of-skirts thing (said by a woman, to a woman, wtf).

    "Also, it grinds my gears that representatives from Sustrans are clearly less interested or knowledgeable about their subject than I."

    Yeah, and it seems like a poorly thought-out strategy, given that the people who are most likely to stop are probably the nutjobs like me who just want to talk about transport policy all the time. I'd love to see some data on how many people they sign up that way, compared to how many cyclists they send off with a terrible impression of Sustrans.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    At best I assume it’s Sustrans members volunteering, though ‘professional charity collectors’ seems more likely.

    Either way it would seem they are getting inadequate training exampled by exaggated claims eg ‘responsible for creating NEPN’ (post on different thread).

    Has to be assumed ignorance rather than deliberate, certainly unfortunate.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  10. paddyirish
    Member

    Not wishing to defend this, especially any false claims of creating paths, but what proportion of cyclists in Edinburgh are genuinely aware of the innertube, spokes maps, current campaigns and the great work that campaigners do?

    A disproportionate people of this parish are deeply aware of all issues affecting Edinburgh Cycling, but Sustrans resources will be spread thin nationally and only skim the surface. That said, if I was wanting to ask locals for funding, I'd want at least a basic knowledge of the key local issues.

    As an analogy, if you read an article in a "quality" newspaper about something you have little knowledge of, it seems useful. That is, until you read an article on which you have more knowledge than the journalist and suddenly you spot all the mistakes, and wonder how accurate their articles are on issues you are not up to date on.

    Sustrans are working on the lowest denominator and trying to reach cyclists who know little of these efforts, so they will not add anything for those who are already knowledgeable or active campaigners.

    Most of the routes I cycle I heard about first through Sustrans. Now I'm much more aware of the resources out there and the power of local groups, they are less useful to me, but they did get me started and if I moved to a new area, especially wanting to get between towns, they would probably still be the first place I looked.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  11. DaveC
    Member

    Sustrans had 'charity recruiters' Chuggers at the 5 ways junction all summer. I stopped once and was given the blurb and asked to donate regularly. I declined as I have a couple of charities I have signed up for this year. It is really off putting when charities put the recruitment out to 3rd party professional companies. I know everyone has to earn money but I prefer not to be recruited by a paid employee who is not part of the organisation.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  12. crowriver
    Member

    "Most of the routes I cycle I heard about first through Sustrans. "

    That's interesting. For me, it was Spokes and their wonderful maps (and the wee booklet "My Favourite Edinburgh Bike Rides") that alerted me to various off-road routes I had no idea existed. Sustrans came afterwards, as they advertise(d) in the Spokes newsletter. The Sustrans site, and the waterproof maps they produce, are very useful for touring, family cycling, even audax route planning.....helping one avoid that busy A road in favour of a quieter NCN unclassified road or surfaced path.

    I've been approached in the past by Sustrans chuggers at 5 ways and by Glasgow Green. In both cases I answered their questions but declined to take up membership. Surely it's useful for them to know that folk have actually heard of them, the NCN, etc?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  13. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Given that 98% of Sustrans' funding comes from Transport Scotland what on earth would anyone 'join' for?

    Sustrans is the civil service without the disclosure or accountability.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  14. neddie
    Member

    @IWRATS

    Agreed. Active travel needs to be seen as mainstream, a 'must do' not a 'nice to have' and certainly not as a charity.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  15. threefromleith
    Member

    Given their driving and parking a 4x4 on the Chancelot Path by the junction, and standing interviewing in the middle of the path at the busy Fiveways junction, I really don't think much of the chugger volunteers at all.

    Rather than endear Sustrans to cyclists, they just turned this one right off them!

    Posted 5 years ago #

  16. acsimpson
    Member

    Are they the same contractors who Sustrans blame for poor driving/parking of branded vehicles?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  17. Morningsider
    Member

    Sustrans have 85.9 FTE staff in Scotland - by far their largest office, employing 30 more people than their London area office. They may be a charity in the rest of the UK, but in Scotland they are better funded and staffed than most local authority transport departments - at the taxpayers expense.

    This isn't a criticism of what they do - but it is clearly false to portray themselves as a charity.

    I regularly see the chuggers about in The Meadows and on the canal. I stopped once and the conversation can be summarised as:

    Chugger: Do you know about the NCN?

    Me: Yes.

    Chugger: Have you heard about Sustrans?

    Me: Yes, I was chatting with (Sustrans bigwig) yesterday?

    Chugger: Who?

    Me: Bye...

    They do more harm than good, I reckon.

    Details: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/sites/default/files/file_content_type/sustrans_annualreview_2017-18_withaccounts_signed.pdf

    Posted 5 years ago #

  18. gembo
    Member

    Sounds like tyhe Sutrans Chuggers are raising money in this country for their less well funded sister down south?

    I would resist

    Posted 5 years ago #

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