Camcycle: More cycling for a better future

Camcycle’s vision has recently been updated to show how a thriving, sustainable region goes hand in hand with more, better and safer cycling (Image: Camcycle) 

Camcycle is very clear about how, when more people cycle, life is better for everyone, even those who don’t ride themselves.

Camcycle works closely with Cycling UK, who similar to Bicycle NSW, offer insurance, legal assistance, access to retail discounts, and the opportunity to support cycling advocacy and community initiatives. 

An inspiring presentation at Sydney Town Hall

Roxanne, originally from the ‘1980s car-oriented suburbs’ of Perth, began her talk with a heart-warming story of her journey in cycling advocacy. She began riding a bike whilst working in Melbourne in about 2010, and quickly developed a passion for the benefits that 'everyday' cycling can bring to people and the places they live. 

That passion led to a new career in a new country. By 2015, Roxanne had been appointed CEO of Camcycle in Britain’s cycling capital, where there are more bikes per head than anywhere else in the country! 

Roxanne de Beaux spoke to a full house at Sydney Town Hall at the April 2025 event hosted by Better Streets and Bicycle NSW. The Camcycle CEO has been recognised as one of Cycling UK’s 100 Women in Cycling (Image: Bicycle NSW)

Roxanne shared powerful lessons in how storytelling shapes public perception. Rather than speaking only to ‘cyclists’, Camcycle tells stories that resonate more broadly — with parents, workers, students, and communities. Many people in the community have similar reasons to support cycling. Building a coalition of different groups focused on the same goal has made the call for change much louder.

Never underestimate the power of hopeful, strategic action

The audience learned the importance of being ready to take advantage of leverage moments. Australia has a very significant one of those coming up! The 2032 Brisbane Olympics offer a once-in-a-generation opportunity to plan for a different way of moving people around a large city.

Camcycle has a new focus: proactive advocacy to influence urban planning that supports a future with fewer cars. Recent success ensured a new urban growth area outside Cambridge had high-quality cycling and walking paths in place before the residents moved in. Sustainable transport is the norm for the growing community at Waterbeach. This has reduced the need to invest in expensive, and ultimately futile, road expansion projects –good for the developer, the council, the existing community and the environment.

It is an approach is particularly relevant to Australia where sprawling growth areas are failing to deliver viable alternatives to driving. Advocacy must begin early in the masterplanning process to turn the trajectory around.

For those who couldn’t make it, watch the video of Roxanne’s talk and or check out the presentation slides. In addition, Better Streets has posted an excellent write-up here.

With nearly 60 people attending the event, it was a great opportunity to celebrate all things bike and chat to like-minded community, including many Bicycle NSW Members.

But the Town Hall event was only one part of a very busy day learning about Roxanne’s work at Camcycle.

Coffee at Town Hall Expresso

During Roxanne’s visit, Bicycle NSW’s Bike Planner Sarah and Membership Coordinator Yvonne were grateful for the opportunity to catch up over coffee. 

Yvonne Poon, Bicycle NSW Membership Coordinator, Roxanne de Beaux, CEO Camcycle, and Sarah Bickford, Bicycle NSW Bike Planner (Image: Bicycle NSW)

Our wide-ranging discussion covered many aspects of building a membership organisation - from community engagement to building our impact and defining our strategy.

Of course, Cambridge is much smaller than Sydney and the demographic is very different. However, there are many translatable lessons for both peak bodies.

The key is to really focus on why Bicycle NSW is here, working for our Members. And with that clear vision and focus, we can inspire and bring our Members along with us.

Learning to say ‘no’ 

Roxanne reminded us as an advocacy organisation, there are always a million things we could be doing. But it is essential to always ask: “Is this contributing to achieving our vision?”

The most effective work will always be proactive not reactive - aka ‘putting out fires’. 

Camcycle uses a prioritsation framework to decide which projects or issues to work on (Image: Camcycle)

Sarah and Yvonne were inspired and energised by Roxanne’s approach to leadership and campaigning. We hope to incorporate these learnings into our membership drives and advocacy actions throughout the years ahead. 

We thank Roxanne for taking the time to meet with us and share her experiences and insights.

A Sydney bike tour

Sarah then took part in a guided ride with City of Sydney’s cycleways manager Fiona Campbell. Over 3 hours, we all learnt so much about the challenges of implementing Sydney’s increasingly fabulous network of cycleways.

A stop to discuss about-to-open Oxford Street West cycleway. From left: Sara Stace, President of Better Streets, Fiona Campbell, Manager Cycling Strategy at City of Sydney, Roxanne de Beaux, CEO Camcycle, Sarah Bickford, Bicycle NSW Bike Planner, and Jamie van Geldermalsen, Vice-president of WalkSydney
(Image: City of Sydney)

Roxanne was impressed by the changes that have made to turn our streets greener and much more bike-friendly. Sydney is clearly no longer the city that hates bikes that she last visited a decade ago.

Click here to see where we went on the tour! (Image: Bicycle NSW)

Post-event dinner 

The day finished with a curated discussion over dinner with a wonderful group of advocacy leaders from across NSW, ACT and QLD. This was a unique opportunity for professionals working in active transport to come together in person and ask Roxanne questions about her experiences in the UK.

The conversation dived deeply into the persistent challenges of building safer, more inclusive streets for everyone. Advocacy can be tough. It takes stamina, resilience, and compassion. But it also comes with the deep reward of seeing streets transformed and lives changed.

As the evening wrapped up, there was a shared moment of reflection when everyone around the table expressed what active transport means to them.

Thanks so much to Mark Ames, of Strategic Cities, for organising us all!