Visitors enjoying the milder weather will have noticed a new feature at Fort Victoria Country Park.
5 bike stands to accommodate up to 10 bicycles have been installed in the car park of the popular country park between Yarmouth and Freshwater, to encourage green travel.
Councillor Jonathan Bacon, Cabinet member for environment, waste and heritage, said:
“We are committed to improving our local environment wherever we can and this is a small but important part of making it easier to visit a much-loved venue such as Fort Victoria, by bike.
“Previously, there had been no facilities for cyclists at Fort Victoria. Our sports unit has installed these racks to support cycling and provide a safe space where bikes can be secured.
“The country park is a great place for picnics, fishing or to enjoy the view and visit the local businesses there. I hope this move will encourage more visitors to ditch the car and get on their bike to enjoy all the amenities on offer at the site.”
The installation is part of improving zero carbon facilities at council sites and making cycling easier and more convenient, at the same time as encouraging more people to make trips by bicycle.
Replacing the space used by 1 parking space enables up to 10 people to store their bikes in a secure way.
Pity they can’t keep public toilets open, far more use than a couple of bike stands.
In the u.s. they don’t have bike stands, they just throw them on the front lawn.
And if you stay in a motel, the only TV you can get are old black and white horror films.
Meanwhile a new lamppost was being spotted being installed in Newport.
I’m honestly not sure that installing dedicated metal tubes for cyclists to lock their bikes to will cause any more people to cycle to Fort Victoria. All this will have done is take away one parking space and cost probably a few thousand Pounds. Still, it’s good to know that there’s still enough money to do things like this when we were told only a matter of weeks ago that the Council was facing a crisis in funding and had no cash.