Category Archives: sustainable travel

Half-a-dozen new public cycle sheds for Myatt’s Fields in prospect

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Six more roadside ‘bike hangers’ are set to appear in Myatt’s Fields later this year as Lambeth Borough Council consults our communities on their locations.

The hangers are semi-cylindrical lockable metal structures containing bike racks. An annual subscription costs £30 – down from £42 and available to apply for on the LockIt Safe website.

Councillors have successfully lobbied for a number of new public cycle storage hangers in recent years, including on local estates. New bike hangers have been installed on both the Paulet Road estate, the Myatts North estate and the Lothian estate, as well as on local streets.

Existing bike hanger off Patmos Rd

The Borough Council is consulting on these new locations:

  • Calais St – opposite no 8
  • Eyethorne Rd – opposite 1-10 Cancell Rd
  • Halsmere Rd – outside the student flats
  • Mostyn Rd – outside no 2
  • Patmos Rd – Rear of Foxley Square
  • Tindal St – outside Dalkieth House.

Residents can contribute to the consultation on the GoVocal survey. It’s hoped the hangers will be installed in the Summer.

Each structure takes up less space than a parked car and contains stands for six bikes. The authority’s Kerbside Strategy includes provisions for enabling people who have limited storage space to keep their cycles securely. Cycling is an important part of Lambeth’s Climate Action Plan which aims to make the borough cleaner and greener.

Said Myatt’s Fields Labour councillors Annie Gallop and Paul Gadsby: “It is excellent that Lambeth has listened to residents and brought forward proposals for six new public cycle storage hangers in Myatt’s Fields. We would strongly urge residents to give their views to these consultations.”

Minister backs local councillors’ call for better controls on e-vehicle “nuisance”.

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A Government minister has weighed in on Myatt’s Fields Labour councillors’ call for better powers to deal with the ‘blight’ of e-bikes and e-scooters left strewn across our pavements and open spaces.

Councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop wrote to Simon Lightfoot MP, Minister for Local Transport, urging the government to help Lambeth council deal with the problem, following representations from local people.

Now Mr Lightfoot has replied, thanking the councillors for their comments and assuring them that he was aware of the issue, in Lambeth and in the rest of London.

In their letter sent earlier this month, Cllrs Gallop and Cllr Gadsby urged tighter regulatory powers in the face of a growing problem from “dockless” e-bikes and scooters.

Residents in Myatt’s Fields have complained about public spaces in the ward being used to abandon the vehicles, creating an eyesore and blocking pavements – a particular nuisance for our neighbours with mobility issues.

In his reply, Mr Lightfoot said he agreed with the councillors’ view that so-called “micro-mobility” schemes can benefit many users and contribute to our environmental targets.

However. he said: “I am particularly conscious that while pavement obstructions caused by poorly parked e-bikes are an inconvenience to many, they present a serious safety risk to vulnerable pavement users such as those with mobility issues or visual impairments.”

He went on: “On e-scooters specifically, until any legislative changes are brought forward and come into effect, private e-scooters remain illegal to use on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements, and rental e-scooters can only be used in national rental e-scooter trial areas. Enforcement of illegal and/or
irresponsible e-scooter use is a matter for the police. Users can face fines
and fixed penalty notices, criminal prosecution, points on their driving licence, and have their e-scooter impounded.

“As you will appreciate, the new government is still in its early stages, and I
am still carefully considering the future of micromobility policy, including on
shared micromobility rental schemes and e-scooters”.

He said he was grateful to the councillors for getting in touch with him as he considers action – “Your distillation of the specific nature of the problem in London and your recommendations for suggested action will be of great help as I do this”, he said.

Separately, Lambeth has proposed a big expansion of bays for dockless bikes – some of them in Myatt’s Fields – but has emphasised that users should act responsibly and refrain from leaving the vehicles in inconvenient places.

Big expansion of dockless electric hire bikes and scooter bays in view as Lambeth launch a public consultation

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Plans are afoot for a big increase in the number of roadside spaces for rental e-bikes and scooters in the borough — including some in Myatt’s Fields. The council wants to hear from residents before approving the plan which, they say, would put hire vehicles within a three-minute walk for most residents.

If the program is approved, the number of locations would rise from around 200 to 350, with four of the new sites in our ward – in Foxley Rd, Welby St, Mostyn Rd and Patmos Rd. These and others can be viewed on this map.



Some local residents have recently complained about e-bikes and scooters left strewn across pavements and public open spaces. Local Labour councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop have written to the Government minister responsible asking for councils to be given more powers to deal with the ‘blight’.

Deputy council leader Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air, said: “Lambeth Council supports the further expansion of sustainable forms of travel such as rental dockless bikes and scooters, but we also recognise the accessibility issues that parking on pavements and in high demand locations can cause.

“It’s vital that when people are finished using rental scooters and bikes, they are stored safely in one of the new dockless bays rather than abandoned on the street for the next person to use.”

Many of the new sites chosen are proposed to be installed in some of Lambeth’s busiest areas and frequent destinations to ensure that e-scooter and e-bike users can properly park their rental vehicles when they finish their journey.

The council has launched a consultation on the proposals and is asking residents to respond by visiting this portal. The consultation finishes on Friday December 6.

You can read more about the proposal here.

Work begins on new “healthy route” on Loughborough Road

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Lambeth Council has started work on a series of major upgrades to sections of Loughborough Road as part of a new £1.4 million “Healthy Route” programme.

Improvements are being carried out on an area which stretches from Loughborough Road South, between Ridgway Road and the Fiveways junction, and leads directly into key roads into Myatt’s Fields, including Lilford Road, Akerman Road and Loughborough Road North. .

Lambeth Council says The Healthy Routes project aims to “create a safe, accessible and pleasant route for people who are walking, cycling and using the bus”. This is the first phase of improvements as part of the Loughborough Road route. It involves the creation of:

  • Improved, new cycle lanes
  • Raised bus stops
  • Traffic calming measures
  • New pedestrian crossings
  • New planted areas to reduce the risk of local flooding

This part of Loughborough Road is receiving the improvements following a consultation with local residents, and because the wider Loughborough Junction neighbourhood suffers from particularly poor local air quality; the surrounding streets are in the top 20 per cent for N02 and particulate matter pollution across London.

Talking about the investment, Cllr Rezina Choudhary, Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council, said:

“We want to bring fairness to our neighbourhoods, reducing high air pollution which impacts most of those with least, help people embrace the opportunity to be healthier by walking or cycling and ensure they can make the trips they need to by better supporting local bus services.

“Lambeth Council is a leading local authority when it comes doing it all it can to make its neighbourhoods fairer and fit for the future, with a big transformation programme underway. Projects such as this support that aim and contribute to our Net Zero by 2030 ambitions.”

Myatt’s Fields councillors are lobbying for further traffic-related funding to be directed at Loughborough Road North which is beset by high levels of congestion and problems caused by traffic. Recently, Lambeth Council announced a substantial funding package for the ward after a campaign by Cllr Paul Gadsby and Cllr Annie Gallop to reduce speeding and make local streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as cut levels of pollution.

Works on the road, which began in June, are expected to continue until 30 November, with the P5 bus diverted until the end of August. Please see the below letter from Lambeth with details of these diversions.

New bike storage hanger for Silverburn House

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Lambeth Council has confirmed that another new cycle storage hanger will be installed in Myatt’s Fields at Silverburn House on the Lothian estate.

The installation is a direct response to lobbying from local councillors who made a formal request to the Council for the hanger following feedback from Silverburn House residents during recent roving surgeries on the estate. Many households were having to store their bikes in their flats owing to a lack of cycle storage in the area.

Spaces in the new hanger will cost just £3.50 a month. The Council will be consulting residents in Silverburn House about a possible location for the new hanger before it is installed.

The latest announcement follows the installation of a number of new hangers in Myatt’s Fields, including on Cromwell Road (see picture below), the Paulet Road estate, Knatchbull Road, Lilford Road and other estates in the neighbourhood.

Bike hanger in Myatt’s Fields

Local Councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop, said:

“We are really pleased that another cycle storage hanger is being installed in Myatt’s Fields – and would like to thank the Council for listening to resident feedback. Of course, we will be pushing for more hangers as clearly there is a big public demand for cheap, affordable cycle storage space.”

More information about the bike hanger programme, and details of how to nominate your street to be considered for more cycle storage, can be found here.

Request a new electrical vehicle charging point in your neighbourhood

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Lambeth Council is encouraging residents to suggest locations for the new electrical vehicle charging points that are set to be rolled out across the borough in the next few years.

Local councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop have successfully campaigned for more vehicle charging points in Myatt’s Fields following feedback from the local community: Lambeth Council confirmed in July that five would be installed in the next year. The news has been followed by an announcement of new funding for other “sustainable travel” projects in Myatt’s Fields after a petition about ongoing traffic concerns in the area was organised by Cllr Gadsby and Cllr Gallop.

Residents who own an electrical vehicle or are thinking about buying one, can suggest a charging point for their street or estate by filling in this form.