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| Credit: Carlton Reid |
Adelaide City Council’s new by-laws put cycle parking in the firing
line. Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom.
The council floated changes to some of its by-laws, with the
potential to impact a range of activites from the chaining of bicycles to
placing leaflets on car windscreens and playing street cricket.
As imagined, the bicycle community was a little worried. Following
concerns raised on the BikeSA Facebook page, Adelaide City Council posted this
response:
“As a result of yesterdays article in the newspaper and subsequent
media coverage, we would like to clarify our position: council has no intention
of fining people for locking bikes to poles.The intent of the proposed by-law is to enable council to request
bicycle owners to move their bike if it is parked dangerously and posing a risk
to the safety members of the community, or has the potential to damage council
or private property.
We have listened to feedback, and have modified the proposed
By-Law to include "...where it may cause inconvenience or damage or access
past the bicycle is limited..." to clarify council’s position. This is not
about "fining" people, it's about community safety.Our Smart Move
Strategy is about encouraging transport options, including cycling. We hope
this clarifies any concerns people have.”
Phew... Councils should be encouraging cycling, not discouraging it.
“This is a sensible response
from Council but it does highlight the fundamental frustration shared by
cyclists that there is insufficient bike-appropriate parking across the city," explains CEO Christian Haag.
"If there was sufficient resources dedicated to this are riders would not have
to chain their bikes to poles.”
Indeed we would!
If I can't lock it to a pole,I'll take it into the shop...problem solved...if the shop owner has a problem with that,he doesn't want my money....
ReplyDeleteTotally with you there Paul. We think that shops should start thinking about putting bike infrastructure in front of their stores. People with bikes actually spend more
DeleteThe other approach is to get a bike that has a functional stand so that the bike can be locked free-standing, at least for short visits into shops etc. European-style city bikes have double-sided stands that hold the bike stable, and AXA or similar integrated rear-wheel locks that make the whole prospect much simpler. The AXA locks also have an optional cable so that you can use the same lock to attach to a pole or similar when needed. In other words, part (but not all) of the problem is that we use sports equipment as commuter transport instead of utility oriented bikes.
ReplyDelete