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Days after Brighton & Hove City Council said it would investigate the placement of a cycle hangar causing outrage with parking permit holders who said it was “deliberately” blocking car spaces, another resident has taken to the local press saying she does not want one of the “giant ugly objects” outside her house.
Janice Goodlet told The Argus she is “concerned and distressed” by a plan to place one of the bike storage facilities — of which the council has provided 60 since July and plans to install 90 more of by the spring, totalling 900 cycle spaces for residents — in front of her house on St Leonards Road in Hove.
Despite saying she is “not against cycle hangars being installed”, the resident of the road for nearly 30 years says she is “unhappy” that it is “directly outside” her “lounge and bedroom”.
“I am not against cycle hangars being installed on the public highway so cyclists can store their bicycles in a secure location, but I am unhappy with the way the council has decided on its location without any direct consultation with the residents who will be directly affected,” she said.
“There are plenty of other locations near me where the cycle hangar would not be directly outside a resident’s lounge and bedroom. It would appear that the negative impact it would have on me and my partner is of no importance.
“I have lived in my house for nearly 30 years and have loved living here, but the thought of having an immovable and large object directly outside my home over which I have no control makes me feel really concerned and distressed.”
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Local councillor Robert Nemeth, who was “surprised” to see his name on the petition linked above considering his opposition to that particular bike lane, said the hangars are a “highly controversial policy” that “has received neither public nor democratic oversight”.
“Matters such as planning, access, parking space loss, procurement and the inevitable vandalism have not been properly considered,” he said. “I, of course, back Janice in opposing this monstrosity outside her home. These structures should only go outside the homes of those who wish to use them.”
Earlier this week Brighton & Hove City Council said it would investigate the location of another hangar in the city after an image of it taking up two permit car parking spaces emerged on social media.
The photo of the Norfolk Square hangar led to accusations of council “incompetence” and the “continuing war against motorists” before the authority confirmed to road.cc it would be “investigating” and was “aware of concerns”
The council was keen to add, however, that it has been “delighted” by the overall response to the new cycle hangars and “residents have wanted them for a long time”, something apparent from the demand for available spaces.
“We began with the installation of 20 in July and saw a 100 per cent take-up rate in just a few weeks,” Councillor Steve Davis, co-chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee explained.
“Since then we have installed 40 more, and all but one of the total of 360 spaces have now been snapped up. This means that 359 residents now have somewhere safe and secure to store their cycles.
“There are also around 300 people on waiting lists for spaces. We are currently looking at more hangar locations. We will have a total of 150 cycle hangars installed by spring of next year – that’s 900 cycle spaces in total.
“We know that if we’re to get more people travelling actively and sustainably, we have to give them the right infrastructure. Cycle hangars provide people who live in homes with little or no storage space an opportunity to store their bikes safely and securely.”
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