Westminster's bike hangar scheme blocked by... Westminster

A bizarre internal tussle between Westminster City Council departments has
lead to council-proposed bike hangars being blocked to protect the
'conservation zone'...

by ELLIOT JOHNSTON
SUN, JAN 29, 2017 15:56

Westminster City Council's planning department has recommended that plans
to install Cyclehoop Bike Hangars, put forward by the council's transport
department, be quashed.

The planning department claims that the Cyclehoop Hangars, pictured above,
are inappropriate for the location - on Ilbert Street in Queens Park -
because of their "size, location and appearance."

Cyclehoop's Bike Hangars (link is external) are 2.5m by 2m shelters with
secure bike parking facilities beneath a horizontally hinged lid.

The planning department's rationale behind the rebuffing of the transport
department's plan is that Queen's Park is one of 56 Conservation Areas in
the borough of Westminster. Each of the 56 areas have been designated as
such due to their "special architectural and historic interest," according
to Westminster City Council's website.

A statement from the council read: "‘Because of their size, location and
appearance the proposed covered bicycle storage structures would fail to
maintain or improve (preserve or enhance) the character and appearance of
the Queen’s Park Estate Conservation Area.

"This would not meet S25 and S28 of Westminster’s City Plan (November 2016)
and DES 1, DES 7 and DES 9 of our Unitary Development Plan that we adopted
in January 2007."

S25 and S28 are subsections of Westminster's City Plan that look to protect
the area's heritage and design asthetics to preserve the borough's "high
quality and historic environment."

However, Queens Park councillor Paul Dimoldenberg was dumbfounded at the
fact that the council had decided to block the installation of bike hangars
over the area's conservation status.

"Providing bike hangars for local residents would be adding to local
amenities and it is crazy that the Council’s Planners should use the
Conservation Area status of Queen’s Park to refuse the Council’s own
highways proposal," Cllr Dimoldenberg said.

"The Council now looks completely stupid with one part of the Council not
knowing what another part is doing. It’s about time the Council tried some
common sense.”

Westminster's Labour Group Leader, Cllr Adam Hug highlighted the borough of
Westminster's failings in providing its residents with effective and secure
bike parking facilities, claiming that the council isn't listening to
cyclists and residents across the borough.

He said: "Westminster is far behind a number of other boroughs in providing
on street secure cycle parking and Labour have been pushing the council to
move ahead with this pilot and quickly roll-out hangars to areas where
residents want them.

"The planning committee must listen to residents of Queen’s Park and
cyclists across Westminster so that this cycle hangar trial can proceed."

A final decision on the Queens Park hangars is set to be made on Tuesday
January 31 before the Committe.[SIC]

<https://road.cc/content/news/216498-westminsters-bike-hangar-scheme-blocked-westminster>

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