Abandoned bicycles on the increase on streets of Brighton and Hove (From The Argus)
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Abandoned bicycles on the increase on streets of Brighton and Hove
3:50pm Wednesday 9th January 2013 in News By Kimberly Middleton, Acting chief reporter
Abandoned bikes collected by Brighton and Hove City Council
Students may be to blame for the increasing number of bicycles being abandoned on the streets of Brighton and Hove.
Over 12 months up to April 2012 Brighton and Hove City Council had 820 reports of abandoned bicycles, with only 115 being claimed by the original owners.
Between April and November 2012 there were already 932 bicycles reported dumped, with 109 later claimed.
Cycling experts at travel campaign group Sustrans said there appeared to be a UK trend of more bikes being abandoned in university towns.
It suggested it could be due to students only spending a few years in a place or because the students go home for months at a time during the holidays.
Pete West, chairman of the council’s environment and sustainability committee, said: “It may be due to an overall increase in the number of people cycling in the city.”
Strain on bike parking
Melissa Henry, from Sustrans, said: “An increase in abandoned bikes is frustrating, as it puts further strain on the number of places to park.”
Unclaimed bicycles on the city’s streets are slapped with a notice and given two weeks to be moved, after which they go on a list for collection.
Picked up by the council, Brighton’s abandoned bikes are delivered to Sussex Central YMCA, where they are refurbished and sold to raise money for charity and to cover the running costs of the scheme.
A council spokeswoman said: “The scheme not only provides reliable second hand bikes at affordable prices but provides job opportunities for young people and helps reduce the amount of waste destined for landfill.”
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Comments(6)
Spanners
says...
4:17pm Wed 9 Jan 13
s&k wrote:Honestly? Where do you take your other unwanted waste ? Or do you just leave it chained to something on the street ?
Could you tell us where we can dispose of unwanted/broken bikes?
In case I've misundertood your post and you are really aiming at Argus' journo skills then -
You could take them to the tip (sorry - recycling centre)
But I would prefer you offer the bike to cranks.org.uk who are a not for profit, volunteer based group in Kemptown who help people fix bikes and get them back on the road. They always need free parts to give out. Great guys there - I have nothing to do with them other than used them a couple of times when times were really tough for me.
Google them for more details
RobO.
says...
4:23pm Wed 9 Jan 13
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
7:47pm Wed 9 Jan 13
Many parents turn up in cars to collect the kids, they pack a few things up and just dump the big stuff.
They also dump whole houses of furniture, duvets, even bags of unused food on the streets and bathroom products.
I often tell parents hopw close they are to the tip at Wilson Avenue or give them the number for Emmaus to donate the stuff but they can't be bothered.
This is another cost for the city's tax payers to absorb while they students and their landlords don't pay.
Please start taxing people who are taking from our community or issue fines to re-coup the costs of this cleaning up work.
lorrie1
says...
7:57pm Wed 9 Jan 13
ArgusReader100
says...
8:28pm Wed 9 Jan 13
s&k says...
4:08pm Wed 9 Jan 13