Lewisham does not seem to have a policy for implementing bike hangers, but Ive noticed on my street (Como Road) that there are a number of bikes now being chained to lamp posts and some people putting little bike lockers in their front yard.
My lease does not allow a front yard bike locker, but I have a couple of bikes that would certainly get more use if they were in a bike hanger.
If anyone feels that getting a bike hanger might be a good idea, here are some instructions as to how to go about requesting it (pretty much just sending an email).
Ive done this a couple of times over the past few years, and never received a response, but with the recent increase in cycling around London - its worth trying again.
@comoed would you be able to install a ground anchor? The other option if that is a no go is to install the anchor into a bucket filled with concrete. It wonât stop people stealing bits of bike but will stop them stealing the whole bike.
Thanks for the hints @Londondrz but Im afraid because weâre the top floor of a maisonette we arent allowed to do anything with our front yard as it belongs to our downstairs neighbour. Have to lug the bike down the stairs if I want to use it
Astonishingly I got a reply from the council already, sadly it is not very promising-
'Thank you for your email. I am sorry for the delay in replying.
At present we are only installing bike hangers on housing estate roads. There are a number of issues that need to be resolved, including the availability of finding, before we can develop a programme for installing bike hangers or cycle hoops on the public highway.
I assume so! I could âfindâ several locations very suitable! And yes, I have a friend who lived in Brixton until recently- they had them bloominâ everywhere!
What Ive been doing for the past five years or so is just leaving my bike at the bottom of the stairs after getting home from work each day, ready to use the next morning. With young kids we never leave the house in the evening anyway - however it does mean problems if anyone comes round or we get groceries delivered.
In my email to them, I suggested the little bit of Como Road at the bottom (opposite #2) which is not outside anyoneâs house and is away from traffic
I received the same reply a year ago! Itâs also ironic that there is so little provision of bike hangers within Lewisham, yet cycle hoop who provide them are based on Perry Vale!
This website http://www.cyclehoop.rentals/ shows the locations currently installed- shows the massive number in Lambeth compared to the almost none in Forest Hill/Lewisham in general!
Ive just emailed them again to see if I can get them to point me in the direction of the current policy so I can see what I should be asking for, how and where. Its not as though these things are free to rent, we will still have to pay rental for them, and it appears that there already are some (although very few) in Lewisham - so we just need to know what to do next to move this forward.
I like this. Iâve pasted the conclusion at the bottom of the article below. In Como Road, who is the councillor that we could contact about this?
Key things to remember:
⢠This is not the first one, there are loads in Lambeth. This is nothing new.
⢠Where they exist they are VERY popular.
⢠They are no uglier than any other piece of street furniture. There is no problem installing them in conservation areas.
⢠They will ask why you canât have it on your property: You need an answer for that.
Finally: If you do want one of these then Fairness is fundamental.
Without whingeing and always being seen to be reasonable: you have to
frame it in terms of whatâs fair: 6 people get bike parking for half a
car parking space. Itâs an accident of history that cars can park all
over the place, and that is ânormalâ. Cars spend 90% of their existence
parked, we only want bike hangars because our bikes are in constant use.
Once you have one there is no looking back: I love ours. We have even
repainted all the walls in our hallway. No longer do I need to lug a
wet bike up the stairs on my shoulder. I am getting to meet the other
cyclists on my street! Now I donât know what I would do without it.
