Lime has reached a last minute agreement to continue operating in a North London borough after the council had threatened to remove all e-bikes by the end of the month due to safety concerns. Brent Council said ‘inconsiderately parked and abandoned’ e-bikes were ‘causing havoc’ on pavements, particularly for pedestrians and disabled people.
Last month, the council had notified Lime, which has been operating in the borough since 2019, that it must remove its e-bikes from the borough by Thursday (October 31) if it did not introduce dedicated parking bays for users.
The bike hire company and council have today announced a deal has been reached, which will see Lime invest ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’ in creating 200 new parking bays in priority areas across the borough. It forms part of a ‘new operating model’ between the two parties, which launches immediately, to tackle the safety concerns raised by residents.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Enforcement, Cllr Krupa Sheth, said: “Since raising our concerns with Lime earlier this year, we’ve spent considerable time at the table with them, communicating residents’ issues, outlining our expectations, and closely reviewing their proposals.”
She added: “We’ve squeezed a number of really important improvements out of Lime, and it is welcome that they have listened to residents’ feedback and are taking immediate steps to change. This council supports active travel, but safety is non-negotiable.
“We hope that we have turned a corner with Lime and expect residents to see real, noticeable improvements from now on. We will hold Lime to these new commitments to ensure they are honoured.”
The deal raises the question of whether other boroughs could follow suit and make similar threats to remove Lime bikes unless the company helps tidy up the bikes. Similar issues have been reported across London, with cabbies just this week calling them a ‘constant menace’. The Royal National Institute for Blind People has also been calling for safety improvements in London due to the threat to people with reduced vision.
As well as creating 200 new parking bays, under the new plan for Brent, Lime has agreed to:
- Reduce the number of bikes available in the borough from 750 to 500
- Introduce zoning changes that prevent the parking of bikes in areas where parking has frequently been poor
- Introduce automatic ‘slow zone’ speed controls in busy hotspots such as around Wembley Stadium and Wembley High Road
- Increase the number of Lime cyclist patrollers and parking wardens on the ground in Brent by 78 per cent
- Remove inappropriately parked bikes within two hours of being reported
- Reinvest the fines from poor parking back into the local community through the council’s net zero scheme
- Launch a new resident cycling forum and provide a monthly cycle training session for Brent residents
Director of Policy at Lime, UK, Hal Stevenson, said: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Brent Council to continue offering our service to the tens of thousands of residents that rely on us daily across the borough.”
He added: “Over the past two months, we’ve collaborated closely with the council to establish an action plan that will deliver immediate, on-street improvements, while also funding the creation of a new network of mandatory parking locations by July 1.
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
