Cyclists v Motorists

In our city there is a war of words on the local paper's letter column between cyclists and motorists. The motorists (and pedestrians) accuse the cyclists of the following:

• Riding on pavements
• Going through red traffic lights
• Riding without lights or any illumination

The cyclists accuse the motorists of the following:

• Driving dangerously close
• Trespassing on cycle lanes
• Turning left without regard to cyclists inside them

I am both a cyclist, a pedestrian and a motorist. By and large my sympathy is with the cyclists. I only know of one fatality caused by cyclists whereas motorists kill five people a day.

Getting planners to act

Say you live in a beautiful listed building. conservation area and all that. Your neighbour, equally protected, starts tearing down parts of his house and erecting monstrous carbuncles.

Your local Council, the guardian of all this protection, says,"Ho hum. We're too busy to do anything about this flagrant breach of the law."

What can you do to make them act? (My view is that a court won't allow you any leverage to make them exercise their discretion unless it's Wednesbury unreasonable - the traditional "high hurdle")

Cycling on footpaths

On footpaths around most towns in Britain you will find red-ringed "No Cycling" signs, theatening offenders with all sorts of criminal penalties.
My hunch is that these have no force or effect in law: they are put up to molify local councillors who "want something done about" cyclists terrorising their neighbourhood.
I don't confuse these with the footpaths alongside roads which unquestionably are covered by the Road Traffic Act 1980.
I've tried without success to get an answer to this from local councillors and the local highways chiefs. If you have better information, please let me know.