NEWS
Some 70 car spaces in New Farm and the Valley will disappear when City Council introduces bikeracks on the road as part of its CityCycle program later this year, the local councillor claims.
And David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) says that although he supports the scheme in principal, he thinks the issue of helmet hire might be its downfall. The bike-hire scheme does not include renting helmets, which has led to criticism about the scheme’s viability.
CityCycle will be the first bike hire scheme introduced in a country where wearing bike helmets is compulsory. Councillor Hinchliffe says lack of consultation, loss of parking, proliferation of advertising and absence of helmets are deficiencies in the CityCycle project.
“I try to be upbeat about initiatives like this but I have to say it could have been handled a lot better. “JCDecaux, the French company who has the contract is basically an advertising company. The bike hire scheme is a way for them to make money from advertising.
“There are about 150 illuminated advertising signs including huge billboards and just 110 CityCycle stations. Most of the bike stations will take up between three and seven on-road car parks and most will include a large commercial advertising sign.
“Incredibly, residents who will have illuminated three meter signs installed outside their homes have not even been consulted.
“There’s been no consultation with businesses like the Purple Olive restaurant in James Street who will lose much-needed parking in front of their property.
“There are 23 senior billboard signs on major arterials heading into the city planned as part of this scheme. These were originally supposed to be eight square meters, but information provided by council officers reveals the billboards will be 50 per cent larger than that, at 12 square meters each.
“There are 130 illuminated advertisements going into our inner city. Dimensions were previously never provided, but were likened to a standard bus shelter advertisement. However, information provided by council officers is that illuminated signs will be 1.5 meters wide by three meters tall – much larger than a normal bus stop. They will also feature illuminated rotating advertisements, so three times as much revenue can be made from a single sign
“This means there is a total of 153 advertisements planned as part of the scheme yet there are only 110 bike station locations identified at present,” Cr Hinchliffe said.
