Bike Week in Cobourg, May 28 to June 3
(PRESS RELEASE: Cobourg—May 16, 2011)
Cobourg Council has declared May 28th to June 3rd as BIKE WEEK in Cobourg, and Sustainable Cobourg’s Bicycle Action Committee has been busy getting ready.
“Everyone is invited to be a part of the activities during Bike Week,” says Randy Albon, Chair of the Bicycle Action Committee. “We will be kicking off Bike Week with the 3rd Annual Bike-for-the-Planet ride on Saturday, May 28th starting at 10 AM at Victoria Park band shell. This easy 12K ride is suitable for all ages.”
During Bike Week, people are encouraged to cycle to work, school, and shopping. Monday, May 30 has been identified as Bike to Work and School Day. Bike Week activities will include cycling films and interviews on Cogeco TV (Channel 10) and three Community Bike Rides during the week. Details on all the Bike Week activities can be found by going to the Sustainable Cobourg website www.sustainablecobourg.ca.
“Bike Week will be great fun. We hope people who have not been biking lately will use Bike Week as the opportunity to get back into cycling,” says Sustainable Cobourg President Rick Nonnekes. “It’s healthy and fun. With gas prices these days, cycling will save you money at the same time.”
Sustainable Cobourg to Hold All-Candidates Meeting
(PRESS RELEASE: Cobourg—September 21, 2010)
Sustainable Cobourg will be holding an All-Candidates Meeting Thursday, October 7th at 7:00 PM in the Cobourg Library Meeting Room. All candidates for Cobourg Council have been invited to present to the audience. The focus of the meeting will be environmental sustainability issues. All candidates will be asked how they will promote sustainability in Cobourg over the next four years should they be elected.
“The key issue in this election is environmental sustainability. Without a healthy environment nothing else is possible. Politicians talk a great deal about the economy, but a healthy economy depends upon a healthy environment. The Gulf oil spill told us this message loud and clear,” says Sustainable Cobourg President Rick Nonnekes.
“Municipalities can do a great deal to promote sustainability,” says Sustainable Cobourg Secretary Gigi Ludorf-Weaver. “Cobourg Council can protect farmland, conserve and protect our water sources, promote energy and water conservation, design our town for cycling and walking, and support the development of renewable energy. We just need politicians with vision, and a passion to do the right thing.”
Cobourg Council candidates will be asked to address a number of questions, both at the All-Candidates meeting and in writing. Their written responses will be posted on the Sustainable Cobourg website (www.sustainblecobourg.ca) immediately after the meeting.
“This is an opportunity to hear from our candidates on some of the toughest and most important issues they will face,” says Mr. Nonnekes. “We urge Cobourg residents to attend.”
2nd Annual Bike for the Planet Event to be held in Cobourg
(PRESS RELEASE: Cobourg—August 24, 2010)
Sustainable Cobourg and Go Green Together will be holding the 2nd Annual Bike for the Planet event on Saturday, September 11, 10:00 AM, starting and ending at the Bandshell in Victoria Park in Cobourg. The event is being organized to raise awareness of the benefits of cycling. The ride will celebrate recent road improvements which make cycling safer and more enjoyable, as well as propose further changes which could be made.
“This our second annual ride. We hope to more than double the number attending this year to 200 riders. More and more people in Cobourg and Northumberland County are biking. It’s also becoming a real tourist attraction. With the Bike for the Planet ride we want to celebrate this progress,” says Sustainable Cobourg President Rick Nonnekes.
“Biking is fun and healthy. We want to make it as safe as possible so that more people will take up biking as a regular activity—shopping, errands, biking to work, whatever. During our Bike for the Planet ride we will identify the progress and improvements that have been made since last year, and we will highlight the additional work needed to improve cycling safety and enjoyment in Cobourg, “ says Bicycle Action Committee Chair Randy Albon.
The 2-hour 13K Bike for the Plant ride will include participation by Northumberland Hills Hospital CEO Robert Biron and Cobourg Deputy Police Chief David Cromlish. The stops on the ride will look at recent improvements to biking and will consider other possible additional improvements as part of contemplated future road construction. The Cobourg Police will be engraving bikes to help prevent theft, and Canyon Mountain will offer free chain lubrication.
“We want Cobourg to become one of the best cycling towns in Canada. And we can do it,” says Cobourg cycling activist Stewart Richardson.
Citizens for a Sustainable Cobourg proposes sustainable approach to Official Plan
(PRESS RELEASE: Cobourg—February 4, 2009)
Citizens for a Sustainable Cobourg (CSC), a community group promoting sustainability in Cobourg, presented its recommendations for Cobourg’s Official Plan Review to Cobourg’s Planning Advisory Committee last night.
CSC is proposing a shift toward transit, walking, and cycling by using land more efficiently. Based on its own analysis and the analysis of Cobourg’s Official Plan Review consultant, CSC believes that future development in Cobourg can be accommodated mostly within the existing built boundary providing significant infrastructure savings as well as environmental benefits. The move toward walking and cycling would also have enormous health benefits from more active lifestyles.
CSC’s approach to planning is based on ten proposed Sustainability Objectives. These objectives are used as the basis for its recommendations for revising Cobourg’s current Official Plan. These objectives include sustainable carbon emissions, reduce and ultimately achieve a Zero Waste Economy, promote access while reducing vehicular traffic, use of local and renewable materials, local and sustainable food production, water source protection, natural habitats and wildlife protection, culture and heritage conservation, equity and fair trade, and health and happiness.
Additional new urban design principles were also offered by CSC, including creating and celebrating public spaces, creating beautiful and vibrant public streets, promoting access while reducing traffic, and promoting healthy lifestyles and well-being. CSC argues that these principles can be best achieved by focusing planning at the neighbourhood level. Neighbourhoods need to be diverse, contain mixed uses, allow people to meet their daily living needs mostly within their neighbourhood, and be designed with beautiful streetscapes and lots of trees.
CSC latest submission builds on it earlier proposal to the Planning Advisory Committee for a New Urban Design Vision for Cobourg. All of CSC’s Official Plan Review submissions can be viewed at their web site www.sustainablecobourg.ca.
About Citizens for a Sustainable Cobourg
Citizens for a Sustainable Cobourg (CSC) is a community organization which organizes and participates in local environmental projects, educates and increases the public’s understanding of the environment and its importance, develops and offers programs promoting the protection and preservation of the environment, and conducts and disseminates research relating to the environment. It is based in Cobourg, Ontario
