A KEEN cyclist has expressed his frustration after his idea of introducing community bike sheds was blocked.

Harry White, from Goldstone Road in Hove, was inspired after seeing bike sheds on streets in London.

He had the idea of renting a council-owned parking space in his street as a pilot and placing a bike shed on the space, while charging a small fee for its use.

But Brighton and Hove City Council said he cannot build a bike shed on the road because private structures are not allowed “on the public highway”.

Meanwhile, it has announced plans for its own bike hangar scheme.

The Argus: One of the bike hangars in London.One of the bike hangars in London.

The council told The Argus it allocated £500,000 from the budget in February to build 100 bike hangers around the city and was in the “early stages of planning where they should be installed”.

The council did not give any time frame on when a survey would be released to assess demand for secure bike sheds in the city, but said it will be "very soon".

Harry thinks secure bike storage would encourage more people to take up cycling but fears the council’s plan could take a long time to come to fruition.

He said: “That’s the frustrating thing, they have not put any timeline on themselves. I think they would be public about it if they had.

“It just seems it’s a way to dismiss questions from the public and dismiss actually having to do it.

"I would love to be more optimistic than that and give them the benefit of the doubt.

The Argus:

“Why don’t we cut the council out of it and just have people set up bike sheds across the city? Why do we need to do surveys for a year to find out that every street could do with bike sheds?

“It’s just very frustrating walking around my area, Green council nearby, but there is only parking for cars and motorbikes, no parking for bicycles.

“I just wanted to create a solution but there is no room for conversation, the council don’t want anyone to build anything.”

Harry’s initial idea was to install a professionally built bike shed in his street and potentially start a business installing bike sheds around the city with the council’s permission.

While this is a long-term view for him, he said his main goal currently is to have “a sensible bike station” in his street to fit bikes as his household cannot fit their bikes inside the house.

He added: “No one can relax and enjoy cycling and leaving their bike outside of their home if that [bike theft] is a constant threat.”

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