The long-running saga of punitive action against motorcycling in Hackney continues. New research by local campaigners shows that up to 300 residents could be forced out of their homes by anti-bike rules.
According to Save London Motorcycling, Hackney Council plans to completely ban around 300 residents whose main form of transport is a powered two-wheeler from parking on-street from as soon as this year. The group’s research has also revealed that around 1 in 10 postcodes in Hackney are defined as ‘car-free’ and that the council plans retroactively to revoke permission to park a motorcycle from hundreds of residents at these addresses.
A spokesperson for Save London Motorcycling said: “Residents of ‘car-free’ developments are restricted from obtaining a car parking permit but have always been allowed to park a motorcycle legally. People who may have lived in a property with this restriction for many years will find the definition of ‘car-free’ suddenly and retrospectively changed so that if they own a motorcycle, they will be unable to park it. Our research has demonstrated that some 300 Hackney residents are in this position. They will be forced either to lose their home or lose their motorcycle, which in most cases is their only mode of transport and could put them out of work.”
Save London Motorcycling highlights the case of Hackney resident Roxane, whose only transport mode is a motorcycle. She said: “My flat is in a car-free development, so I don’t own a car – instead I’ve chosen to use a motorbike to get around, mostly because my workplace was difficult to reach by public transport. With the new rules for motorbike parking, Hackney Council will be banning people like me from getting a permit. They have already massively reduced the amount of motorcycle parking bays in my area. It doesn’t seem fair that the conditions applied when I moved into my flat are now being changed for the worst – Hackney Council are forcing me to choose between my bike and my home, which seems completely unfair and disproportionate.”
In some areas, residents will also have the option of paying up to £4000 per year in visitor parking charges for parking in their own Borough. Even a 50cc moped would face paying £2600, far more than any other vehicle, even a large diesel SUV car.
Hackney Council opposition Green Party Councillor Alastair Binnie-Lubbock said: “When the Green Group raised the issue of residents living in car-free developments who will suddenly be unable to park their motorbikes, even if they’re fully electric, it appeared that the decision-makers hadn’t given this consequence of the plans much thought. It really is false advertising to call these car-free developments and then retrospectively also make them inhospitable to motorbikes. We should be trying to encourage people to move along a hierarchy of transport modes. Motorbikes are generally more environmentally friendly as well as contributing less to traffic, and they take up significantly less public space on our streets than private cars.”