Greenwich Labour’s election pledge to give every child in the borough a £150 voucher to buy a new bike is an “incredible policy” that will transform children’s lives, one of the party’s councillors has said.
Aidan Smith, who is seeking re-election in Greenwich Park, spoke out as the flagship policy came under criticism from rival candidates at a hustings event on Thursday.
Voters go to the polls on May 7 to decide who should represent them on Greenwich Council for the next four years. Labour has run the council since 1971 but is facing its toughest poll since then, with the party’s former deputy leader Angela Rayner expected to join campaigners in the borough on Saturday.
If re-elected, Labour says it will distribute the £150 vouchers to every resident aged 16 or under to buy a new bike or scooter, and safety equipment.
The pledge could involve the purchase of up to £9 million-worth of vouchers if every one of the 61,000 eligible children and young people took part, and the vouchers were obtained at full value. The money would come from cash paid by developers.
Andrew Bell, one of the Conservative candidates in the ward, said he was “curious” about the proposal, saying “to create a £150 voucher to give to teenagers to acquire bikes, I would question the wisdom of the cost when there are other pressing priorities in the borough”.
After a question from the floor on the issue, Bell continued: “We live in a constrained financial era. At the moment, there is enough money to do everything that the council would like to do, and I think that the diversion of Section 106 money [from developers] to fund vouchers for bicycles isn’t a priority compared with some of the other issues that are facing the council.”
But Smith, who was formerly the cabinet member for regeneration, said the scheme was “an incredible policy that is really going to transform the lives of lots of children in the borough for the better”, and came from money ring-fenced for sustainability.
“What is more sustainable than having children cycling to school?” Smith continued. “That reduces congestion, because a lot of congestion is caused by the school run. It’s also parents giving lifts to children on short journeys, which, again, will be cut when children have the freedom to cycle where they want. It helps parents with the cost of living. It’s sustainable, it’s green, it’s affordable for parents.
“And we also have high levels of childhood obesity, so again, getting children more active, giving them an incentive to go out on their bikes and their scooters.
“I really don’t understand why anyone objects to it, unless they were standing for election against us, because it’s a vote-winner. It’s one of the policies that I’m most proud of in our manifesto.”
Stacy Smith, who is standing for the Greens, said the scheme should be means-tested.
“I think the problem with it is that it’s across the board,” she said.
“There are many people who could easily afford to buy their children bicycles, and that money could be spent on other infrastructure for young people who aren’t lucky enough to live in a family who can afford to buy bicycles for their children.”
About 40 people were present at St Alfege with St Peter primary school on Creek Road for the hustings, which was held by the Greenwich Society.
As with the Blackheath Westcombe hustings, held at the same time, much of the debate was about the low-traffic neighbourhood, with Liberal Democrat candidate Victoria Harris saying she was happier with the scheme now through traffic on Royal Hill was allowed to allow access to local shops.
“I am unhappy in the sense that there hasn’t been proper thought put into the consequences, whether that was for businesses or children walking to school,” she said. “I have young children. I’d love for them to walk to school, but the council didn’t put in any additional crossings for them.
“There’s a lot of small kids that attempt to cross at the top of Greenwich Park, at Maze Hill, and it’s a five-way intersection – it’s a nightmare to cross.
“If you want kids to go to school without being driven, these are the sorts of things that I think need to change.”
Bell, for the Tories, said the “execution had been a shocker”, that traffic had increased on Greenwich South Street with vans rat-running on Guildford Grove and Devonshire Drive, and called for local residents to be given exemptions from the rush-hour restrictions.
Labour newcomer Jen Davis said the council had “listened to people who brought their concerns to us” and made the scheme less strict than the original version that was scrapped before the 2022 election, which operated seven days a week.
But for the Greens, Stacy Smith – who was at the hustings with fellow candidate Karin Tearle – said she had concerns about opening up Royal Hill to traffic because of the presence of James Wolfe School there. “I think we need to think about who we are targeting when we’re developing low traffic neighbourhoods,” she said.
“I think the focus should be around schools. Local people drive their kids to school, in part because it’s convenient, in part because people are very pressured, but also because it doesn’t feel safe to let your child walk to school.
“I was quite disappointed when they took out the Royal Hill element. I do understand why the shops wanted that out, but I think they could have looked at something that stopped people driving down in front of the school so that the road could stay safe for children.”
Reform UK did not attend the hustings. It has elected not to attend any hustings this election.
The Greenwich Park hustings was not recorded, but The Greenwich Wire has compiled videos from other hustings events from across the borough.
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