Ealing Council rethinks plan to put an e-bike bay in Woodstock Road Bedford Park

Site on Woodstock Road where Ealing Council was proposing to put a new double bay for e-bikes and scooters

Residents persuade Council planners to think again

Ealing Council has said it is reconsidering its proposal to set up a new parking bay for E-bikes and E-scooters in Woodstock Road in Bedford Park.

When the Council announced it was planning a to put a double parking bay at the top of Woodstock Road local residents objected. The Bedford Park Society argued it would be too close to an existing bay and cause further disruption to residents near Turnham Green station.

They urged their members to take part in the Council’s public consultation, which ended on 25 February.

READ ALSO: Bedford Park Society opposes Ealing’s proposed e-bike bay near St Michael & All Angels Church

READ ALSO: Bedford Park swamped with Lime bikes

The Council now says it will assess alternative locations nearby.

L: Lime bikes opposite Turnham Green Tube station;  R: Lime bikes on Priory Avenue; 

Abandoned Lime bikes have been a problem for the area around St Michael & All Angels Church ever since Hounslow Council decided to end its contract with Lime and switch to Forest and Voi instead, because the roads around the church mark the boundary between Hounslow and Ealing.

Lime bikes are no longer allowed to be left in Hounslow parking bays, so people who are coming into the borough of Hounslow from the borough of Ealing, who cannot park near their destination, leave the bikes at the border.

Lime bikes have been filling up bike racks used by cyclists who own their own bikes and spilling over onto the pavement and residential car parking spaces in Bedford Park.

Ealing Council is trying to alleviate the problem. The residents’ objection was that the proposed bay would have been within just a few meters of an existing bay already established by Hounslow Council, alongside St Michael & All Angels Church in Priory Avenue.

Ealing Council is now looking at a spot outside the shops on The Avenue as a potential alternative.

Helen Jameson

Helen Jameson, Chair of The Bedford Park Society, said:

“We are pleased that Ealing Council has taken residents’ concerns into account. The decision to reconsider the location of an additional parking bay reinforces the importance of everyone submitting feedback when trying to influence council plans.

“We will continue to monitor proposals for new bays in the vicinity of Turnham Green Station and are happy to work with the Council to find the best solution”.

The Bedford Park Society questions the need for an additional bay. It would like Hounslow Council to reconsider its decision over the e-bikes contracts so that Lime bikes can be parked legitimately in the existing bay by the Church in Priory Avenue, owned by Hounslow.

As that is unlikely to happen in the short term the Society has suggested alternative locations.

Cllr Andrew Steed

Councillor Andrew Steed, one of the Liberal Democrat councillors on Ealing Council who represent the Southfield ward, which includes Bedford Park, said he was delighted that Ealing Council has listened to residents and thanked The Bedford Park Society for galvanising opposition.

He added: “It would be helpful if Ealing provided greater information to justify the additional parking spaces. Going forward we ask for contracts that require shared spaces and do away with the unnecessary stipulation of a parking bay for each bike company.”

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