What happened to council’s e-bikes worth £90K?

Local campaign group Herefordshire Transport Alliance (HTA) claimed online that the “e-cargo” bikes worth over £3,000 each, which the previous council administration acquired with Government money in 2021, were “last spotted languishing in storage at Three Elms”.

While there appears to be no formal notice on the council’s website of the purchase, the then Cabinet member for transport Coun John Harrington confirmed at the time that the bikes “are designed for commuting to school”.

“We will be offering these on trial, free of charge to schools or directly to parents, to encourage behaviour change,” he said.

“If parents are keen to permanently purchase a bike themselves, we aim to help facilitate that.”

Yet HTA representative Amanda Martin, who herself rides a Dutch-made Bakfiets cargo bike around the city, said she had seen no sign of the distinctive bikes.

“I cycle around a fair bit and aside from [commercially operated] Pedicargo bikes I very rarely see another cargo bike,” she said.

The council’s bikes were supplied by another Dutch firm, Babboe, which makes a range of two- and three-wheel powered and unpowered models with wooden front boxes able to carry young children.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson confirmed: “The 27 e-cargo bikes were purchased on 15 April 2021 for £88,296.40 including VAT, as part of the Accelerated Towns Fund programme, and were subsequently allocated to Herefordshire businesses through a grant scheme.

“While the bikes were held in storage at Three Elms for a period, this was while arrangements for the grant scheme were being finalised. Once the scheme was in place, all 27 bikes were allocated to local businesses.”

Pressed on this point, which appears to contradict Coun Harrington’s earlier account, they confirmed the grants scheme was “facilitated by our Delegated Grants Team”, and a panel had reviewed the businesses’ applications.