The MAG Western Region Annual Group Meeting, takes place on the 29th January 2012, at the Royal British Legion Club, Rodway Road, Patchway, Bristol, BS34 5PE. All Regional members are welcome. Please remember to bring your current membership card or you will not be able to vote. Light lunch. Drinks across the bar. Registration 12.30 for 1.00pm start.
North Somerset CC have five anti-skid inspection covers to be trialed on North Somerset’s roads, the first of which, has now been installed in Nailsea on a sharp bend.
The covers are of a slightly different design to the one we were originally shown at the meetings with the Councils highways department.
It is to be hoped the trial of these inspection covers goes well and further covers are installed in the near future.
More excitement in Europe
The 23rd November saw the start of a new Impact Assessment into the EU Type Approval Regulation. This has been demanded by the European Parliament following the incredible amount of work which has been done by every one of us who wrote to our MEPs or who rode in the protests of the 25th September.
We knew that the IMCO vote (Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee) on the Regulation scheduled for the 22nd November would be delayed again, as MAG, FEMA and the UK Gov among others, battled to secure another, more robust Impact Assessment (IA) of the Regulation that could see the sealing of power-trains and compulsory ABS for all.
The vote had already been postponed twice, before it was rescheduled for the 5th December. Now we have very good cause to believe it will be moved yet again, as there is no way the IA can be completed, a report prepared, and the Committee members have time to read it, before the 5th December.
Remember, every delay is a minor victory, as it ensures more time and effort is being expended examining this proposed legislation. You may remember a year ago, when I wrote that what we needed to do was get our MEPs to read it and make sure it wasn’t just rubber-stamped, as so much legislation is. Well we’ve certainly managed that- there aren’t many pieces of EU legislation that are delayed this long.
I may be proved wrong, but I suspect IMCO won’t be able to vote before Christmas, meaning the whole Parliament can’t take their advice and vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ until the Spring.
The full EU Parliament only meet to vote about 5 or 6 days in every month and at this rate it is unrealistic to assume they could be presented with ‘our’ Regulation till the Spring, at a Strasbourg meeting.
That’ll be our time to get out on the streets again and because it’ll be all our UK MEPs who are voting, whether they sit on IMCO or not, I hope you’ll help me ensure they hear our opinions before they vote.
The great news we hear from IMCO is that the more outrageous proposals, like giving the police the powers to stop and check bikes, have now been thrown out. There is even a chance that the controversial article 18 (the dreaded ‘anti-tampering’ measures designed to prevent us modifying the power-train: engine, transmission, final drive) may be thrown out. This would be a massive victory, but is still something for which we have to wait and see.
As soon as I can I’ll pass on details of what I can confirm has definitely been side-line. Rest assured, MAG in the UK and FEMA in Brussels are monitoring every move.
In the meantime, be ready to get out on the streets again in the Spring. Paddy
Weston Bike Nights
Lyn and Ray would like to thank all the People that took part in Weston Bike Night this year, Marshal’s, Rider’s, Traders and spectator’s. We have had a Fantastic year with entertainment from various artists including Bikerrockradio who have supported us every week. This year’s final cheque to the RBLR is £11,437-12. Once again thank you all Lyn & Ray.
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