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David Attenborough encourages boy to stage anti-cycle lane protest, as veteran broadcaster weighs in on plans to “sacrifice 26 irreplaceable trees” for new bike route

More than 1,200 people have signed a petition urging the council to stop the cycling infrastructure project “immediately” – but the local authority says new trees will be planted in their place

A campaign to put an immediate stop to the final phase of a cycle lane project in Coventry has garnered support from an unexpected quarter, after Sir David Attenborough wrote to an 11-year-old boy advising him on how to stage a protest to halt the protected bike lane’s construction and save 26 trees that are earmarked to be felled along the proposed route.

The veteran broadcaster and environmental campaigner was responding to a letter from a Coventry schoolchild, who said it would be a “shame” if the city council went ahead with plans to cut down 26 trees on Clifford Bridge Road, to make way for construction work on the last stretch of the Binley Cycleway.

According to the local authority, the 6km-long protected cycleway, which will link the city centre to University Hospital Coventry, was “developed and designed to accommodate the needs of people that do not usually cycle” by reducing concerns about safety and lack of confidence.

However, despite the council’s ambitions to promote sustainable travel in Coventry, the project has been the subject of intense scrutiny and criticism from locals in recent months.

In fact, the council has been forced to redesign the scheme three times, after feedback from locals revealed concerns about reduced parking provisions along the road, the proposed narrowing of lanes for motorists, and the potential danger for drivers “reversing blindly” across the bike route.

Clifford Bridge Road trees anti-cycle lane campaign (Save Clifford Bridge Road Trees)

> Hundreds sign petition slamming decision to “sacrifice 26 irreplaceable trees” to make way for “dangerous, little used” cycle lane that “adds to pollution” – but council says more trees will be planted in their place

Last month, we reported that a petition was launched (which has now been signed over 1,200 times) urging the local authority to stop the cycleway scheme “immediately” to save the “irreplaceable” trees on Clifford Bridge Road, despite the council pointing out that, if the plans are approved, the 26 felled trees are set to be replaced by 32 saplings and a range of low growing plants.

One of the locals opposed to the scheme is 11-year-old Reuben, who wrote to Blue Planet narrator Attenborough in the hope that he could influence the council’s decision, the BBC reports.

“They’ve been there for a long, long time,” Reuben told the 98-year-old broadcaster, biologist, and natural historian. “It would be a shame to see them go.”

Sir David Attenborough (World Bank/Simone D. McCourtie)

To the schoolboy’s surprise, Attenborough sent him a handwritten response, wishing him every success in his bid to save the trees.

“I can well understand your reaction on hearing of the council’s plan to fell the trees you describe,” the 98-year-old told Reuben, before suggesting that he contact the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust for help with his campaign.

“They may be able to advise you on how to organise a protest,” Attenborough concluded.

Despite Reuben admitting that he was unable to read the broadcaster’s “olden days” handwriting, the boy’s dad Gopal said they were “taken aback” by Attenborough’s response.

“He generally likes writing letters to football players and he thought he could use those transferrable skills to contact somebody with a lot of influence,” Gopal told the BBC.

“We were really taken aback and really proud of Reuben when he received that response. He’s such a kind, caring boy and he shows so much humility.”

Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry (Google Maps)

> Residents oppose cycle lane plans that would make cyclists “sitting ducks” for motorists accessing driveways

Gopal also claimed that residents on Clifford Bridge Road were really “passionate” about saving the trees, and that they were “just really worried the impact it will have, not only on the natural environment, but also on the residents as well”.

As noted above, earlier this year Coventry City Council announced a revised set of plans for the final Clifford Bridge Road stretch of the Binley cycleway, following feedback from locals which has led to the scheme being redesigned three times.

The latest revised proposals for the Clifford Bridge Road section mean that the road will no longer be narrowed to accommodate the cycling infrastructure, while more parking spaces will be made available in comparison to the original plan, with a kerb now separating the cycle lane from the pavement for much of the route.

However, after residents again raised concerns in January about the prospect of cyclists riding into drivers reversing out of their homes, another petition was launched in August calling for an “immediate” halt to the project in order to save the 26 trees earmarked to be cut down as part of the scheme.

Clifford Bridge Road cycleway tree petition

Will Delieu, who set up the change.org petition, argued that the plan to cut down the trees as part of the cycleway’s construction comes at “too high a cost” and will “cause irreversible damage to the local environment”.

“These trees have stood for decades, providing shade, cleaner air, and natural beauty to our community. Removing them would not only destroy the green character of our neighbourhood but also cause irreversible damage to the local environment,” he said.

“The proposed cycle lane may seem like a step forward for sustainable transport, but it comes at too high a cost. The loss of these trees would have long-lasting negative effects on our ecosystem, local wildlife, and the well-being of residents.”

One of the signatories to Delieu’s petition, Ann Wilson, the vice chair of Coventry Tree Wardens, also claimed the trees along Clifford Bridge Road are “irreplaceable”.

“These trees and the benefits they provide to local people are irreplaceable,” Wilson wrote. “They should not be sacrificed for a cycleway that is already dangerous, causing traffic congestion, adding to pollution, and is little used.”

> “Our roads will be safer if we all look a bit more”: Cycle lane plans “a recipe for disaster,” say residents – because reversing motorists can’t see cyclists “aiming at you at 30”… due to parked cars on road

The petition to save the tree isn’t, of course, the first public attempt to halt the cycle lane’s construction on Clifford Bridge Road.

In January, resident Dawn McCann launched another petition against the revised plans, which she said was based on safety concerns about the lane’s proximity to homes on the road – claiming that cyclists “aiming at you at 30mph” would pose a threat to motorists reversing out of their drives.

Clifford Bridge Road driveways, Coventry (Google Maps)

“I think they keep tweaking it to try and fob us off and not tackle the actual issue of safety,” McCann said at the time.

“No one who lives on Clifford Bridge wants to run a cyclist over, nobody would intentionally injure anybody, but the way the cycleway is being designed at the moment, all of those cyclists are sitting ducks.”

But while opponents of the scheme are vocal in their concerns about cyclists riding at 30mph and potentially crashing into unsuspecting drivers, perhaps the most shocking incident to have taken place on the Binley cycleway so far involved a Ford Puma driver undertaking another motorist by speeding along the protected bike lane last July.

Driver speeding on cycling lane in Coventry (Twitter: @adamtranter)

> "Traffic on road? Just use a cycle lane": Motorist facing court after speeding through segregated bike lane

Responding to Reuben and Attenborough’s intervention, Coventry City Council have said that their consultation into the scheme closed on 12 September, and that a meeting will be held later this year to address the concerns raised in the public petition and consider feedback from the consultation.

“No work will commence on the project until a final decision is made at the cabinet member meeting,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Gopal added that he and Rueben have emailed the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to ask for support and are currently waiting to hear about dates for a residents’ meeting on the matter.

Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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38 comments

Avatar
JohnP_SM7 | 2 weeks ago
4 likes

So Dawn McCann is 'claiming that cyclists “aiming at you at 30mph” would pose a threat to motorists reversing out of their drives.'

Silly me...  There I was thinking that is was motorists reversing (carelessly) out of their drives that posed a threat to cyclists - almost none of which are likely to be going at anything close to 30 mph.  

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Muddy Ford replied to JohnP_SM7 | 1 week ago
3 likes

I want one of those bicycles that poses a threat to drivers ensconsed in 2 tons of metal because there has never been an incident where a cyclist injured or killed a car passenger when the cyclist hit the car they were in. If that even happened once it might make the c&&ts be a bit more observant of cyclists

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hawkinspeter replied to Muddy Ford | 1 week ago
2 likes

Muddy Ford wrote:

I want one of those bicycles that poses a threat to drivers ensconsed in 2 tons of metal because there has never been an incident where a cyclist injured or killed a car passenger when the cyclist hit the car they were in. If that even happened once it might make the c&&ts be a bit more observant of cyclists

//onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Maxim-Machine-Gun-Tandem-Tricycle-25.jpg)

https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/1899-military-tandem-tricycle-with-maxim/

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chrisonabike replied to Muddy Ford | 1 week ago
2 likes

They pose a threat to drivers... to:
- their ability to not be momentarily slowed down by anyone (until they meet other drivers)
- their ability to manoeuvre without having to be fussy about proper observation (until they run over an a animal or a pedestrian or get really lax and are hit by another driver)
- their ability not to be stuck in congestion (except that caused by other drivers)
- their freedom to use all the road space "stolen" by cyclists (until more drivers come along and use it)

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meursault | 2 weeks ago
2 likes

Always thought Attenborough was a hippocrit. It's ok to jet all over the world with a film crew to disturb nature, but advises anyone else not to fly. Useless waste of space.

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hawkinspeter replied to meursault | 2 weeks ago
6 likes

meursault wrote:

Always thought Attenborough was a hippocrit. It's ok to jet all over the world with a film crew to disturb nature, but advises anyone else not to fly. Useless waste of space.

At least his jetting around the world ends up producing documentaries that get people interested and possibly more involved in nature and conservation. If it wasn't for him, we'd be a lot less clued up on our environmental destruction and species being driven extinct.

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Rendel Harris replied to meursault | 2 weeks ago
6 likes

meursault wrote:

Always thought Attenborough was a hippocrit. It's ok to jet all over the world with a film crew to disturb nature, but advises anyone else not to fly. Useless waste of space.

He has never told "anyone else not to fly"; he has, like any sensible person, urged people not to fly just for the hell of it so they can have five foreign holidays a year or whatever. Clearly some people are always going to have to fly for work purposes, he and his team obviously can't film blue whales sitting in Bristol. His work has done perhaps more than that of any other single person, and certainly more than any other broadcaster, to open people's eyes to the wonders of our planet and to the need to preserve it. There's only one useless waste of space here, and it isn't Attenborough.

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mdavidford replied to Rendel Harris | 2 weeks ago
3 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

he and his team obviously can't film blue whales sitting in Bristol.

Because of GDPR?

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chrisonabike replied to mdavidford | 2 weeks ago
1 like
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eburtthebike | 2 weeks ago
3 likes

Will Delieu, who set up the change.org petition, argued that the plan to cut down the trees as part of the cycleway’s construction comes at “too high a cost” and will “cause irreversible damage to the local environment”.

Says the man who undoubtedly drives a car which pollutes the atmosphere, takes up huge amounts of space, imposes unacceptable risks on others, destroys the community and causes climate change.  But it's the cycle lane that's the problem, and presumably he is convinced that he is right.

           "O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!"

We have reached such a state of motonormativity in this country, it is hard to see how we recover, and achieve an element of rationality.  Sad to see Attenbrough joining in, but then, I expect the plea to him was couched in very simplistic, misleading terms.  Has road.cc approached him for comment?

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Rome73 | 2 weeks ago
4 likes

The 'irreversible damage to the environment' is being caused by motor traffic - so deal with that before complaining about trees being replaced. 

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Car Delenda Est | 2 weeks ago
9 likes

looking on streetview i see an unused wasteland of parking spaces outside of people's driveways.
filling those gaps in with trees would do a lot psychologically to slow people down, as well as providing a more significant amount of shade and cooling than what's provided by the isolated trees.
i also see a median that encourages people to speed without fear of crashing into oncoming traffic. bringing the car lanes together would reduce speeds as well as perhaps giving enough space for a cycle track.

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kingleo | 2 weeks ago
9 likes

They are not very worried about the trees being removed - I wonder how many trees were cut down to build their homes, it's their car parking space being removed that they are concerned about.

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ROOTminus1 replied to kingleo | 2 weeks ago
0 likes

By the looks of it, the plans concern the southern half of the Clifford Bridge Road for which half of the trees are replanted saplings anyway. "Irreplaceable" is more than a stretch, the oldest tree in question cannot be any older than those houses

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Shermo | 2 weeks ago
11 likes

I'm confused about the issue of people dangerously reversing out of their drive into cyclists. They're clearly doing it wrong in the first place?

Highway code 201:
Do not reverse from a side road into a main road. When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can.

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E6toSE3 replied to Shermo | 2 weeks ago
3 likes

Try telling my wife! There's noticeably less fuel used by starting forwards instead of reverse. It's obviously safer for everyone. But local police, various Internet sites, and neighbourhood WhatsApp all say having to reverse out discourages car thieves.
I wonder if crashing while reversing out of drive, which, as you say, is contrary to HCd, affects insurance claim? Once she has a bee in her bonnet, I can't say otherwise!

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giff77 replied to E6toSE3 | 2 weeks ago
1 like

I used to have a big heavy duty chain and padlock wrapped round the base of the seat and steering wheel once parked up. This was recommended by the local RUC at the time and was an effective deterrent. On moving to Scotland you could tell which cars were owned by folk originally from Belfast as they had a big F off chain wrapped round the steering wheel. 

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duk31nlondon replied to Shermo | 1 week ago
2 likes

We live in a cul de sac and have a drive and we indeed reverse in, and drive forward out. Or previous car had a very wide angle reversing camera +rear side radar which was brilliant and allowed the opposite.
I don't understand how people are worried about being run into but a bicycle but not by a car, van or truck

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Barraob1 | 2 weeks ago
15 likes

Bet you they don't complain/protest when they chop down trees for a new road. Shameless hypocrisy

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E6toSE3 replied to Barraob1 | 2 weeks ago
2 likes

They would. That's the sort of comment that riles them as rude and wrong and reinforces the aggressive and unreasonable cyclist stereotype

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Pub bike | 2 weeks ago
12 likes

I couldn't find any detail on what kind of trees they are which is surprising given how much people supposedly care about them.

Trees don't live forever.  Cherry blossom trees for example which are planted in my street last for 15-30 years so definitely not "irreplaceable:", and the council would have to fell them and replant anyway soon.

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mdavidford replied to Pub bike | 2 weeks ago
7 likes

Pub bike wrote:

I couldn't find any detail on what kind of trees

Causis-trees?

Sophis-trees?

Whatabou-trees?

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Rendel Harris replied to mdavidford | 2 weeks ago
11 likes

Bigotrees.

Motornormativitrees.

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eburtthebike replied to mdavidford | 2 weeks ago
2 likes

mdavidford wrote:

Causis-trees?

Sophis-trees?

Whatabou-trees?

Son of a beech?

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chrisonabike replied to Pub bike | 2 weeks ago
8 likes

Nim-beeches.

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Pub bike replied to chrisonabike | 2 weeks ago
9 likes

I don't think Reuben's appeal to elder statesmen such as Attenborough is particularly effective.  They just look like a pear of idiots.  I think the cycle lane is a lot more poplar than they think.

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mdavidford replied to Pub bike | 2 weeks ago
3 likes

Maybe he was hoping he'd teak charge and 'elm the campaign, rather than just saying 'I'm right behind yew'.

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E6toSE3 replied to Pub bike | 2 weeks ago
2 likes

We've had good crops of pears two years running. Our 3-variety pear tree is in front garden next to pavement so folk can help themselves. Great conversation piece

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quiff replied to Pub bike | 2 weeks ago
0 likes

I was about to pull you up on the delicious irony of "pear of idiots". And then I got it...

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E6toSE3 replied to Pub bike | 2 weeks ago
1 like

While having sympathy with the tree folk, tree preservation and protection orders have hit a sort of religion status. It can cripple councils from doing what a big majority of people want... until trees are mentioned, when many change their minds. They don't trust councils to plant and maintain replacemts

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