In this issue:
- Beryl Bikes
- A Carbon Footprint for Headingley & Hyde Park
- 2 grants programmes
- Consultation on the ‘Woodhouse Gateway’
BERYL BIKES
Our Northern Special Agent takes one for a test spin:
I’d seen the new electric bikes lined up in Headingley – and elsewhere in Leeds – so I jumped at the opportunity to take one for a spin.
First thing you have to do is download the ‘Beryl-bikes & e-scooter’ app. It checks your identity and you have to register a method, e.g. bank card, to make the payments. Then it was fun time to get on the bike! Holding the phone up to the bike starts the unlock process, then there’s a slide type lock on the back wheel and big yellow lock on the front wheel. Once it’s unlocked … I’m off!
The bikes are simple to ride and there’s 3 speeds or gears – speed 3 is the fastest and with just a little gentle pedalling … I’m zooming! The power comes on very smoothly and the acceleration is good – up to the official maximum speed [16 mph?] .
The ride is good although fairly hard, I tried to avoid lumps and potholes but altogether it feels very stable and safe. The bike is fairly heavy when stationary but you don’t notice that once you’re moving and the brakes are great – smooth and powerful.There’s two racks with bungee cords to hold small bags etc. There are lights that come on automatically front and rear.
Cost: It’s £1 to unlock the bike and then it’s usually 16p a minute to ride [there are better rates if you ride one regularly]. After the trip you have to get it back to one of the Beryl bike parks, and preferably dock it back into a stand. There’s big extra charges if you leave it somewhere else – check the details in the app for all the charges. You can contact the Beryl people easily by text if you hit problems, they reply quickly and seem very helpful.
Altogether a fun ride, but read the blurb about the extra charges. The bikes seem a great idea but you do have to think ahead a bit about where you’re going to pick up and leave the bike, so maybe better suited to planned trips or when you know where the bike parks are.
More info re Beryl here: https://beryl.cc
From: Mike – Northern Special Agent for Transportation Systems
A CARBON FOOTPRINT for HEADINGLEY & HYDE PARK
What is a Carbon Footprint? Well, it is a way of estimating an individual’s or a community’s contribution to climate change and is often measured in terms of tCO2eq (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) that they produce.
The Centre for Sustainable Energy and the Centre for Energy and the Environment at the University of Exeter have provided the online Impact Community Carbon Calculator (ICCC)– which is available from the website at https://impact-tool.org.uk/.
Basically, footprints are calculated from direct emissions due to fuel consumption and from the generation of electricity and heating and from the consumption of goods and services for geographical areas (such as Headingley and Hyde Park Ward).
Two types of footprint are calculated: a Consumption Footprint:: which includes emissions from residents’ consumption of manufactured goods, food and their own transport activity, regardless of where the emissions occur (i.e. in or out of our area), and a Territorial Footprint: which includes all emissions generated within our geographical area.
A detailed definition of territorial and consumption-based footprints is given in their methodology paper. Here are the results obtained recently from the ICC for our Ward:
The figure below shows the Territorial Footprint for Headingley and Hyde Park:
The above indicates that the biggest problem we have is the footprint generated by road transport – i.e. emissions from fuel used by passing road traffic. These emissions have been calculated from emission data within the local authority area obtained from the National Atmospheric Emission Inventory (NAEI). If we think of the amount of traffic travelling on the A660 and the results of the Otley Road HGV Count carried out by ZCH and HDT two years ago (see: https://hdtleeds.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ZCH-A660-HGV-Count-Jan-2020-v1B.pdf) then we do recognise this and we experience it every day.
We hope to comment more on the reports produced for our area in future editions of the newsletter, but we also need to remember another thing from the web-site: “The Impact footprints have been developed with the intention that they are as useful as possible, but remember to take them as a guide, not as gospel.”
See also, our carbon footprint page for updated information.
GRANT PROGRAMMES
There are 2 grant programmes open for environmental and sustainable projects.
Matthew Hill Sustainability Fund
The latest round is now open for bids from community groups and projects in Headingley/Hyde Park and Weetwood Wards. Grants are quite small. The expectation is that applicants will be seeking sums of up to £1000. What projects are trying to do is more important than the size of the project, so if in doubt, ask!
Projects will need to show how they:
- Have a positive impact on climate change and the local environment
- Engage and involve people who live or work in the area in their creation and implementation
- Benefit people living or working in the area by improving the well-being of local people.
Deadline for bids is 30th April 2024
More Information and an application form can be found here
CLIMATE ACTION LEEDS COMMUNITY SMALL GRANTS
Together for Peace are running Climate Action Leeds Community Grants in partnership with Leeds Community Foundation. From March 2023 to March 2025, we are awarding grants of up to £5,000 to support neighbourhood-based climate action projects, with a total budget of £150,000.
Key information
- We encourage applications from under-served and/or under-represented communities across all our funding opportunities
- Funding can support projects and activities that reduce carbon and/or are nature friendly
- Organisations and activities must be based in Leeds
- Applications are welcome from small constituted groups as well as registered community organisations, with income of under £150,000 in the last financial year
More Information and an application form here
THE WOODHOUSE LANE GATEWAY CONSULTATION IS NOW LIVE.
Have your say on issues relating to transport and place around the Woodhouse Lane Gateway, which connects the city centre to the Hyde Park and Woodhouse areas.
By letting us know what you think the current issues are, we will be able to prioritise improvements to make the area a more welcoming gateway for travelling through and spending time in. Have your say before 19 February.
Have your say before 19 February