New Forest National Park Authority members have voted not to proceed with a project to develop the UK’s first rural public bike system within the New Forest.
This self-service bike hire system would have comprised up to 250 bikes for public hire at 20 unmanned locations in the south-east of the National Park.
Members were concerned about the financial sustainability of the £2m public bike system. They considered that the likelihood of the system receiving significant sponsorship had markedly reduced since it was originally conceived, citing similar recent schemes in Liverpool and Reading which have launched without major sponsors.
Concern was also expressed about the mixed results of a recent community feedback survey, which showed a lack of strong support for the scheme among local residents. Members felt there was a real risk that suitable docking station sites would not be supported at key locations, making it difficult to set up a viable network.
The National Park Authority now intends to support alternative cycling projects with the funding previously allocated for the public bike system.
National Park Authority Chairman, Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre said: ‘This would have been an innovative project that had clear benefits to offer those wishing to use bicycles for quiet recreation and travelling around the Forest, rather than using their cars.
‘However, we concluded that the risks of setting up the scheme now outweigh the benefits. We felt we simply could not justify spending a considerable amount of Government money on a system that might not be able to survive at this time, and which seems to have insufficient support in the key locations of the Forest where it needs to operate from.’
