Politically in West Yorkshire, on the Campaigns front We have made some great progress already in Calderdale and good things in the pipeline for Kirklees and Wakefield
We are looking to have a meeting in Leeds about improvements there, as after agreements were made to install more secure motorcycle parking bays, these have now been put on hold due to “improvements on some of the bus lanes”. The sighting of some of the secure parking will clash with the positioning of the bus lanes.
This came in the same week that “motorcycle enabled” muggings hit the streets of Leeds for the first time with eleven in one day.
The two are closely linked as the “motorcycles” used were stolen from central Leeds. We have complained to the council and been in touch with the police, who are livid as they’ve been advising the council for positioning and security measures of the secure bike bays.
Our advice is to be vigilant and secure your bike at all times when you leave it. It’s an ongoing battle with these thieving scum.
Bradford City Council, as part of the WYCA, are offering money to provide dedicated and secure bike parking bays throughout BD postcodes. We need members who either live in or travel to BD postcodes to let us know where you want secure motorcycle parking.
We put this out last year and got no response back and we can’t take it forward on an uneducated guess. Email me with suggestions at manny@mag-uk.org before the money put by for these improvements is redistributed elsewhere.
Bus lanes as ever, work in progress and is approaching a critical time.
I mentioned last time that at the AGC we discussed that Clean Air Zones were the biggest threat we face at the moment and right on cue Leeds City Council have had their application for extra funding has been rejected by the government. We await to see what will happen with this as the Leeds area has been told that it HAS to implement a CAZ but now the government won’t give full funding – it has to be paid for some how, so we await developments
Sheffield city council has announced its intention to implement a Class C charging Clean Air Zone, applying to ‘the most polluting buses, taxis, lorries and vans’. Currently it doesn’t include private vehicles but we’ll keep our eyes on this one.
Here is the link to the current “Network” which will keep you informed with MAG happenings around the country. https://wiki.mag-uk.org/images/3/34/Network_2018-11.pdf
A few weeks ago we had the Yorkshire MAG AGM at The Royal Hotel in Pudsey. It was a well attended meeting and you have a full committee for the next twelve months. Two notable additions to the committee are Marcus Houlden has stepped in to look after the websites and social media for Yorkshire and John Nettleship has stepped up to be Yorkshire MAG media liaison. I’d like to thank everyone that either re stood or stepped up to fill the positions on the committee. We need strong groups and willing volunteers for MAG to work, so thank you.
We had a roundup from all groups to keep us up to date with happenings around the county and everything seems to be going well apart from the need for a North Yorkshire Group. If anyone fancies starting or re-starting a group in North Yorkshire we’ll be happy to help in any way we can. Email me at manny@mag-uk.org if you’re interested.
Donations were received from most of the groups and a donation of £6000 was agreed to the MAG fighting fund. This means that Yorkshire MAG (including the rallies) have donated over £80,000 to riders rights in the last year and that’s something we can all be proud about.
In Hull, a local independent clothing and accessory dealer, Into Gear, recently suffered the theft of a Dane Gortex jacket retailing at £850. At the regular Easy Yorkshire MAG meeting last week, the group unanimously voted to contribute towards the loss in recognition of the support that Into Gear provides to MAG. Subsequent to this, Into Gear posted to Facebook on 13th November with the good news that the Police have recovered the jacket along along with an “Aladdin’s Cave” of other stolen goods with two people arrested.
If you are going to the NEC bike show on Sunday, Monday or Saturday, Ron Gillard and Pete Andrews from East Yorkshire MAG are manning the MAG stand at the NEC bike show on 19th and 20th November and on 24th November Mark and Glennys Scrivener from Huddersfield MAG will be there, so be sure to pop along and say “hello”
We’re still wanting to restart Scarborough MAG and York MAG or get a completely new group going in North Yorkshire. If anyone is willing to become a rep (it’s great fun and very rewarding) or even host a meeting, just to get a likeminded group of folk keeping in touch and pushing the MAG message, please give me a call (07867918722) or message me via email, text, Facebook etc. North Yorkshire is a big area and it’s a real shame we don’t have a North Yorkshire group or two, especially considering it’s a biking Nirvana.
We’ve got a few events coming up in the next few months that you may want to add to your diaries.
East Yorkshire MAG have arranged a trip to The Holpton RAF bunker. The tour is confirmed for this Sunday 18th November. The invite is open to all MAG groups and friends – if anyone missed this and would be interested, please contact Tony Allen through the East Yorkshire MAG Facebook page to see if there are any spaces remaining.
Wednesday 21st November – Wakefield MAG Biker quiz night. 30 general knowledge and 30 bike related questions. Always hotly contested and always good fun. The quiz starts at 8pm at The Grey Horse, Kirkgate, Wakefield, WF1 1JG.
There will be plenty of local “do’s” around Christmas and New Year so keep an eye on your local Facebook groups for details.
Tuesday 22nd January – Leeds MAG’s “Owl with laughter” 7th Comedy night @ The Royal Hotel LS28 8PR from 8. Limited tickets available soon. First come first served.
Sunday 17th March – Yorkshire MAG and MAP meetings at The Royal Hotel LS28 8PR from 10am. All MAG members welcome.
Saturday 23rd March – Leeds MAG presents An Evening With Ed March! Following the success of our previous motorcycle travel talks, we’ve managed to secure madcap C90 adventurer Ed March to come and talk to us. Check out his exploits on YouTube then come and meet the man himself
Finally if you want to get more involved at a local level (and to really get the most out of your MAG membership, I strongly recommend that you do) here are the meeting details of the five Yorkshire MAG groups – though we are looking to expand with more groups so if you haven’t got one close by and fancy getting together with like minded bikers, get in touch with me at manny@mag-uk.org
We’re very lucky in having some very strong groups in Yorkshire, but we need the members to join in, so pop along to your local meeting and help to make a difference
East Yorkshire MAG meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays from 8pm at The Forresters Arms HU17 0PR
Huddersfield MAG meet every Wednesday from 8.30pm at The Fieldhead HD3 4FB
Leeds MAG meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesday from 8pm at The Royal Hotel LS28 8PR
South Yorkshire MAG meet every 1st and 3rd Sunday from 7pm at The Ball,1 Hesley Bar, Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham, S61 2PW
Wakefield MAG meet every Wednesday from 8.30 at The Grey Horse WF1 1JG
Ride safe
Manny (Yorkshire MAG Rep)
