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Rosie Waterhouse |
Bike bay ‘would turn our road into Brands Hatch’
Neighbours oppose plan for cycle-hire unit near Boris’s home
A MOTORCYCLE bay and a cycle-hiring unit – which residents claim will turn a quiet conservation area into a “race track” – are being planned close to London Mayor Boris Johnson’s new home at Angel.
Mr Johnson, a regular cyclist who moved to the area from Holloway last month, has not commented publicly about either of the schemes. But residents fear the tranquillity of leafy Colebrook Row, off City Road, will be destroyed.
The motorcycle bay is being moved from nearby Duncan Terrace following a complaint from a resident about noise. Islington planners believe the new bay for four machines in Colebrook Row, opposite Vincent Terrace, is sufficiently far from homes not to be a disturbance.
But City University lecturer Rosie Waterhouse said: “This is a quiet residential area and they want to turn it into Islington’s Brands Hatch.
“I can understand the motorcycle bay being noisy for the resident in Duncan Terrace, but why move it to where it will cause a disturbance for residents in Colebrook Row? There must be a more appropriate place away from residential properties.”
The cycle-hiring unit is proposed for the footpath close to the motorcycle bay.
Ms Waterhouse added: “It will be a cycle-hire docking station using the footpath and road. It will be a commercial enterprise with people coming and going all day until late at night. Again, is a residential area the most appropriate place for this scheme?”
Retired teacher Ed Brown, who lives in Vincent Terrace, has asked the council to clarify exactly what is being proposed. “I’ve had two different notices, one about the motorcycle bay and one about the cycle- hire unit,” he said. “We’re near enough to the proposed motorcycle bay to smell the fumes and be disturbed by the sound of revving engines.
“These two schemes will ruin my view of Duncan Terrace Gardens and take away precious spaces for residents to park their cars.”
Letters are being delivered as part of a consultation over the motorcycle bay, which does not need planning permission and could be installed within weeks.
The cycle-hiring unit – part of a London-wide scheme which Mr Johnson has approved – would be subject to planning permission and residents would have the opportunity to object at a meeting of the council’s south area planning committee.
St Peter’s ward Labour councillor Martin Klute said that, while he sympathised with the residents, he believed the proposed location of the bay and cycle-hiring unit opposite Regent’s Canal would mean they were sufficiently well away from residential homes. The houses nearby were at an oblique angle to the proposed site.
He added: “The problem is that we currently have a motorcycle bay right underneath a resident’s window in Duncan Terrace.
“The council are obliged to provide bays for motorcycle and cycle travel and the Mayor of London, as we know, supports any form of two-wheel travel.
“I would like to put these residents’ fears to rest. I’m sure we could monitor the site for sound levels. If this proved that they were being disturbed then we could think again.”
As for the cycle unit, Cllr Klute thought it would not pose any problems for residents. “It’s no different to having cycle parking,” he added. |
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YOUR COMMENTS:
I have a motorcycle bay right across the street from me. I can't say I've been unduly disturbed by the sound of revving engines.
Elaine Bradtke |
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