Plans for dedicated parking bays for hired e-bikes could finally be signed off this summer – a year after Greenwich Council first confirmed plans for them.

A deal with Lime, whose bikes are often found dumped around the northwest of the borough, has been in the offing since June last year.

Documents on an obscure corner of the council website indicate that a memorandum of understanding could be signed this month – with a traffic order to create the required dedicated bays to follow. 

However, a final decision on a deal has been postponed repeatedly since last summer, and a decision on a traffic order has been delayed since the spring. No details of the proposed deal have been given.

The council is hoping that restricting bike parking to marked bays on roads and pavements will cut the problem of users leaving them in the middle of pavements, or large numbers of bikes piled up on street corners. 

The bays are common in other boroughs and were introduced in parts of Lewisham last year when it signed a deal with Lime.

Bike-parking bay in Gunnersbury
Parking bays have been installed by Hounslow Council in west London. Image: The Greenwich Wire

With Greenwich effectively cut out of TfL’s Santander cycle hire scheme, a deal would bring some kind of official bike scheme to the borough for the first time. 

The plans first emerged last year after Maisie Richards Cottell, an East Greenwich councillor, raised the issue of dumped bikes in the council chamber. Averil Lekau, the council’s deputy leader, said Greenwich was working with two companies to “to try to rationalise” the number of bikes coming into the borough.

Early documents suggested a deal with Lime and its cheaper rival Forest, but now a deal centres on Lime. One practical problem with Forest is that it operates in Southwark but not Lewisham, making cross-border journeys tricky.

Dumped bikes outside the National Maritime Museum. Image: The Greenwich Wire

There are no London-wide rules governing cycle hire schemes, leaving boroughs like Greenwich to negotiate their own deals, leading to a fragmented picture across the capital. 

The lack of a common framework has also caused problems in combating stolen Lime bikes, which can be identified by a distinctive “click-clack” sound. The company has pledged to deal with the problem.

The council has previously told The Greenwich Wire: “We are exploring the idea of designated parking bays, as well as looking at ways to prevent inconsiderate or obstructive parking of bikes.  

“We are committed to finding greener ways for our residents to move around the borough in ways that work for everybody.”