Letter: I Give e-Bike Scheme Two Years

Published on: 12 Sep, 2024
Updated on: 12 Sep, 2024

From Dave Middleton

In response to: Rollout of Guildford’s e-Bike Scheme to Commence

Yet another wonderful whizzo wheeze scheme!

I wonder how long it will survive and will SCC ever recover the £million+ of taxpayers’ money that has been put into it? Given the abject failure of the previous docked e-bicycle scheme I’d give this one a couple of years at most.

Even if it lasts, the fact that our roads, pavements and cycleways are typically in poor condition and often obstructed by overgrowth from roadside vegetation, badly placed street furniture and parked vehicles, means that cycling and walking are more of an obstacle course than a pleasure.

The men and women in the teams responsible for maintaining the surfaces and cutting back the vegetation do their best, but there just aren’t enough of them and the workload is so high on the few of them that there are, they are forced to rush from one job to the next and do the very bare minimum before moving on.

It doesn’t help that the standards the powers that be consider adequate for roads and pavements, are set so low.

I wonder if the councillors and council officers, when out and about, actually see the state of the roads, street gutters, signs and pavements, or do they have selective vision?

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