In the spotlight: Anne Scott, Allan Taunt and Fiona Bennetts

Among the many people helping to make Christchurch a great place for cycling are those who put a lot of time and effort into making submissions to improve the cycling environment. Three of those people – often fronting up to present submissions to community boards and councils in person – are Anne Scott, Allan Taunt and Fiona Bennetts. (Others are involved too and I hope to highlight their work in future posts.)

I talked with each of them about cycle advocacy and what improvements they’d like to see in the environment for cycling in Christchurch. But first, here’s some background on who they are, what motivated them to get involved, and their own cycling.

Anne Scott

Anne Scott is a retired librarian and submissions coordinator for cycling advocacy group Spokes Canterbury. She’s always been interested in cycling and biked as a youngster and at university but not for the next 15 years. She considered biking when she started working at the University of Canterbury but, having been knocked off her bike while cycling through the Creyke/Ilam Road intersection in her student days, felt it was too dangerous. It was only when the roundabout was replaced by lights that she was prepared to give it a go. And she enjoyed it. She found cycling to work was good for her health, allowing her to unpack the stresses of her day before she got home. And being able to park her bike “virtually at the door” meant she got to work faster by bike than she had by car.

Anne has been biking ever since, increasing the distances she bikes as the city’s cycle infrastructure has improved. She lives with her sister, and they will often bike out to New Brighton (from the northwest of the city), to Kaiapoi and Rangiora, or elsewhere in the city for coffee. They sometimes make use of the bus, which gives them another option for coming home after a longer ride. Further afield, Anne and her sister like to hire bikes when they are travelling in New Zealand or overseas. She’s a member of the Wednesday Wheelies and recently bought an e-bike to make sure she can keep up with other (mostly e-bike riding) members of the group.

Anne has been a member of Spokes and the national Cycling Action Network (CAN) for more than fifteen years and started to get more involved about eight years ago. She was interested in, and appreciated, the work Spokes was doing and wanted to help. At first, she went along to monthly meetings to see how it works, then became a committee member and started commenting on draft submissions. Two years ago, when she retired and had more time, she took on the role of submissions coordinator. She estimates she spends about two days a week on the role, working with others to keep an eye on what’s happening and prepare submissions on behalf of Spokes.

While she’s become a more confident cyclist, Anne says she’s always aware of the safety issues. She’ll ride on the road to inform her thinking on a route for a Spokes submission, or to get to a Spokes presentation. But, when she’s got a choice, she’ll pick the safest possible route and get off her bike to cross the road if necessary. She brings a “where can a child go” perspective to her advocacy, and says one of the strengths of Spokes is that members think in different ways.

Allan Taunt

Allan Taunt has been a cycle advocate for about ten years and a Spokes member for the last three. He contributes to Spokes submissions but likes to make his own submissions as well, drawing on his personal experiences as a cyclist. He cycles with a camera so he’s able to provide short videos of the issues that arise for cyclists every day – such as cars parked in cycleways, close passes, and drivers turning across the path of cyclists. (You can see examples on his YouTube channel, Support Vision Zero.)

Allan says he was motivated to get involved in cycle advocacy out of empathy for others. He’s a confident cyclist, having biked to school along an eight-kilometre stretch of State Highway One as a child in Taranaki, and on busy urban roads at university. He keeps himself safe by being constantly alert and watching what others are doing on the roads. But he’s aware that cyclists have varying abilities and children biking to school, for example, don’t always see potential hazards. The death of a young girl biking home from school in Inglewood several years ago made a particular impression on Allan. He says people can make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes have serious consequences – so safety needs to be built into our transport system.

Allan is also a member of CAN and is active on social media. He likes to bring attention to the positive things that are happening, and he’s careful to frame his comments in a positive way that will draw people in, rather than alienate them.

A software engineer by trade, Allan works from home most days, but heads out on his bike each morning to keep heatlhy and replicate “going to work”. Cycling is his thinking time, and he takes the opportunity to do a bit of research while he’s out and about – cycling along Harewood Road to inform his thinking on the Wheels to Wings cycleway, passing by St Albans School to check out the Westminster Street crossing over Cranford Street, talking to teachers outside the new crossing on Heaton Street and so on. (At the other end of the day, he heads out for a big walk – keeping an eye out for issues faced by pedestrians.)

Allan’s family members all cycle to varying degrees. Sometimes they cycle together using the shared pathway by the Christchurch Northern Corridor to go to Kaiapoi. His wife uses the northern corridor pathway to bike to work at a nearby primary school. One son uses the North-West Arc on his route to university, and Allan hopes his other son will also cycle when he starts university next year too. He also has a daughter who, he is proud to say, specialised in transportation for her civil engineering degree.

Fiona Bennetts

Fiona Bennetts is a competitive track cyclist and a member of Spokes and many other groups – Greater Ōtautahi, CAN, and Cycling Canterbury, to name a few. Fiona recently completed a Masters of Sport Science (to follow up earlier Arts and Science degrees) and is interested in a career in sport science.

Fiona started track cycling in 2002 after having watched the Manchester Commonwealth Games and thinking it looked cool. They joined a local club (Canterbury Track Cycling), went to their first nationals later that year, and have been competing ever since. Fiona is a sprint specialist and very good at it – winning five of seven events this year and “smashing” their own records. They are keen to attend the World Championships too, but a shoulder injury has ruled that out this year.

Fiona trains on the roads so, as you might expect, is a “brave and fearless” cyclist. They have done some bikepacking and would like to do more, but the best weather for it (over summer) is also the season for track cycling. For winter training, Fiona does cyclocross – which they describe as high intensity but fun cross-country circuits with mud, gravel, sand and small obstacles to negotiate (check out Southern Cross Cyclocross Club).

Fiona is a self-described political person, having become a vegan and committed cyclist at the age of 13. They have been getting Spokes newsletters for the past 20 years and became more actively involved in 2020. Fiona goes to the monthly meetings and contributes to Spokes submissions as well as making their own submissions. Fiona says they bring a younger perspective to the group, as well as experience living in part of the city with no cycle facilities (Harewood) and experience riding on rural roads – which is helpful when making submissions outside of Christchurch city. They also help Spokes with social media, working with a few others to make sure that Spokes is using all available social media platforms to reach people of different generations.

Fiona was a candidate for the Harewood ward in the 2022 local government elections, motivated by the desire to see someone advocating for cyclists in the area. While unsuccessful, Fiona says it was good experience and they will stand again next year.

Advocating for safe cycling and healthy communities

Anne, Allan and Fiona each bring different experiences and perspectives to their cycle advocacy. But they all share a commitment to making the city a better place to live, walk and cycle. They emphasise the benefits that come from cycling for people’s health, for neighbourhoods and for the environment.

Allan describes advocating for cycleways as advocating for social justice – because not everyone can afford a car for travel – and for stronger communities. He says people are more likely to talk to others when they are walking or cycling, and gives examples of when he’s been able to help people in distress (as well as lost dogs!) that he would not have noticed if he’d been travelling by car.

When asked about the achievements and ‘wins’ resulting from their advocacy, Allan identifies specific projects as highlights. These include the Christchurch City Council’s decision to go ahead with the Wheels to Wings Cycleway, the temporary Park Terrace cycleway and the Papanui Parallel cycleway. He says people really stepped up to advocate for these projects and he acknowledges Councillors for their bravery in supporting them. Complementing this, he points to events like Biketober’s “Dogs on Bikes” and other social rides as a great way to connect with the community and enjoy cycling.

For Anne, success is not one thing, but rather an accumulation of little wins over time. She says the city council has developed a respect for Spokes and Spokes views over time, and Spokes has been heavily involved in the Major Cycleways Programme. She says sometimes the ‘win’ isn’t seen immediately but, when you look at the big picture, there are now more people cycling and the council is considering the needs of cyclists in its wider planning (for example, when upgrading intersections) which was not the case ten years ago.

Likewise, Fiona points to the relationship that Spokes has built with the Christchurch City Council. As a result, council staff will often do “pre-consultations” with Spokes to get a base level of understanding what the issues are before consulting the community. Living in Harewood, Fiona is frustrated with the ongoing struggle to get the Wheels to Wings cycleway built. But, overall, they are philosophical about the impact their submissions have – sometimes they see their proposed changes incorporated into plans and sometimes they do not.

Anne, Allan and Fiona agree on the importance of presenting submissions in person. For Fiona, it’s an opportunity to express support for other submissions and give councillors the chance to ask questions. Allan says councillors are interested in personal stories and Anne suggests that presentations by school groups and local residents are particularly influential. She says she is driven by research and data but, in her experience, how people feel is more persuasive than the data.

Looking ahead, the trio have a clear idea of the improvements they’d like to see to the environment for cycling in Christchurch. For Anne, it’s important to start with schools and make sure everyone can travel safely and independently to school. She’s also keen to see the city get to the point where cycling is just accepted, and there’s no backlash. She’s travelled a lot overseas and has seen cities make significant changes so that cars are no longer dominant. She firmly believes Christchurch can do that too. She says Spokes made a concerted effort to submit on long-term plans for districts across Canterbury, placing particular emphasis on reducing speeds and getting some cycle infrastructure in place.

Allan is keen to see the Major Cycleways Programme completed, including a commuter cycle route to New Brighton, and connections to the cycleways. He’s also a strong advocate for safe pedestrian crossings and would like to see more narrowing of intersections (as is happening on Innes Road) so drivers naturally slow down rather than speeding around corners leaving pedestrians little opportunity to cross. Anne also mentions pedestrian refugees, suggesting we should be thinking about who uses them and making sure they are wide enough for cyclists, mobility scooters and pedestrians.

Fiona would like to see slower speed limits and a culture shift that involves everyone – drivers, cyclists, scooter riders, and pedestrians – looking out for one another. Fiona says we can’t build separated cycleways down every street, so we all need to do what’s right to make streets and roads safe for all forms of transport. They also want to see Christchurch grow upwards not outwards, so it’s feasible to bike everywhere. Fiona “desperately” wants equity across the city, so people living in the northern suburbs are as well-served for cycleways as those in the south and have choices about how they get around (with more frequent buses too).

Want to get involved?

There are lots of ways you can get involved in cycle advocacy, and Anne says every little thing makes a difference. Here’s her suggestions:

• Encourage other people to cycle (and support your own family members to cycle too).
• Make your own submission – this can take as little as five minutes online. Anne points out that councils often count submissions for and against, so it’s worth making your views known.
• Join Spokes, which increases the number of people that Spokes can say it represents when making submissions – it’s free and you can sign-up here. (You can also subscribe to the free monthly newsletter.)
• If you’re on social media, follow Spokes on Facebook and ‘like’ the posts that appeal.
• Talk to your local councillor or community board about what you’re passionate about.
• If you’re on a school board, think about how children are getting to school. Ask to see the school’s travel plan – or create one. (The Christchurch City Council can help and has resources on its website.)
• Write a letter to the editor.
• Join your local residents’ association and bring a cycling lens to their work.
• Just cycle and enjoy it.