The West Berkshire Cycle Forum met on Wednesday 15 January. The next Forum will be on Wednesday 16 April. If there are any matters you would like raised at the Forum, contact wbc@readingcyclecampaign.org.uk
Pangbourne-Purley Cycle Path:
WBC is chasing contractors for a quote relating to vegetation cutting for a proposed topographic survey in the rural sector parallel to A329.
Theale-Calcot M4 Footbridge:
WBC officers have followed up with MP Olivia Bailey’s team, regarding lobbying for funding.
Newbury Festival of Cycling – Saturday 14 June 2025:
Three cycle clubs, NRC, Velo and Spokes, are collaborating closely to plan this free event, with backing from Newbury Town and West Berkshire Councils. The event will mark 100 years since the launch of Newbury Road Club.
A4/A340 Theale Green Roundabout
RCC has been contacted by a cyclist who, in early December, was travelling west from The Green on to the A4 towards Thatcham when he was hit by a car and badly injured.
He woke up in the Royal Berkshire Hospital the following day with a fractured pelvis and bruises and grazes to his left ankle, knee, hip, elbow, ribs and shoulder. His head was uninjured but the cycle helmet he was wearing was severely damaged on the left-hand side where it struck the car.
The cyclist contacted WBC about his concern about the safety of the roundabout, particularly as 325 new homes are being built on the land between The Green and A4 Bath Road.
WBC’s response was there were no plans for the junction despite the new development and simply quoted the hierarchy of road users from the highway code. RCC has subsequently been in contact with WBC, local Councillors and Olivia Bailey MP.
RCC has looked in Crashmap (publicly available data) for the A4/A340 roundabout, which records nine reported injury crashes over the five-year period 2019-2023.
Of these nine crashes, four involved cyclists, with most of the crashes at the A4 westbound entry to the roundabout. Given that cyclists probably represent less than 5% of total traffic flow, and were involved in almost 50% of total crashes, these figures indicate that there is a serious road safety problem for cyclists at the roundabout. These figures don’t include crashes that aren’t reported to the police or near-misses.
If anyone has any relevant information about this junction or ideas about how it could be improved, please contact wbc@readingcyclecampaign.org.uk
Rob Hill
WBC Campaigner for RCC