Residents of Lower Clapton waiting for bike storage might be in luck as consultations on new cycle hangars have opened in Lea Bridge.
Hackney Council said it began the largest roll out of bike shelters in London last year, aiming to create more secure hangar space than in any other borough. It says that a higher proportion of people cycle in Hackney than any other part of the city.
Lea Bridge ward is currently home to around 80 shelters, with one pending installation and five more currently undergoing consultation.
One resident said: “I tried to apply for one but got stuck on an endless waiting list.” The resident was not aware of the consultation, and said, “I should probably look into that!”
Around Lea Bridge, the problem with bike storage capacity is clear. On one section of Powerscroft Road, which is home to two cycle hangars, multiple bikes were locked to railings and lampposts.
The bike stores are accessible by key, and residents can register their interest in local ones. A space in a standard hangar costs £51 a year, and there is currently a significant waiting list for spaces.
The owner of A&S Cycles, a bike shop in Lower Clapton, explained the reason for such demand: “There might be three flats in one house… they don’t have the room [for bikes].”
Hackney Council is aiming for the area to have more bike storage than any other London borough by the end of the roll out, providing an additional 4,000 people with safe storage for their bikes if they do not have room in their homes.
Rose Henderson is a freelance journalist, studying for a master's in newspaper journalism at City, University of London. She is a digital content producer at LBC, and her work has featured in The Telegraph and The Oxford Student, Oxford's biggest student newspaper.