Action needed to end rental bike ‘obstacle course’ that makes our streets unsafe

Pedestrians are being forced off pavements and on to the road as cycle hire bikes are abandoned on footpaths right across Wandsworth.

Our streets have become an obstacle course and people are fed up with finding these bikes dumped. They make it very dangerous to navigate local pavements especially for anyone with small children or a buggy, the elderly and anyone with a disability such as those using a wheelchair or with a visual impairment.

Transport for London's (TfL) hire scheme requires bikes to be docked, but the cycle companies, like Lime, allow them to be abandoned whenever and wherever the user's journey ends.

Whilst our Labour run Council could have done something, they have chosen to do nothing. Which is why we are suggesting they adopt our three-point plan to deal with the problem.

1.  Council officers should remove rental bicycles left dangerously blocking pavements around central London and charge the rental companies for doing so.

2.  Wandsworth Council needs to work with local residents to come up with locations for designated bays in which the bikes can be left safely.

3.  Wandsworth Council should introduce new byelaws with fines of up to £500 for those rental companies whose bikes are abandoned dangerously, with all the money raised being used to reinvest in our cycle infrastructure.

Cycle hire schemes are great for those who use them, especially when other transport options are limited. This campaign is about stopping our pavements from being made unsafe. It is not about stopping the use of the bikes.

I / we the undersigned support the petition on tackling hire bikes and wish to see Wandsworth Council implement the 3-point plan.