with thanks to thisisnorthkensington.wordpress.com

FTHN: From the Hornets Nest

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LYING DOWN LIME BIKES!

Typical chaotic Lime/Forest scene

Wayne Ting, boss of Lime claims the council needs to ‘give’ his multibillion company more space. His words are his smooth as his looks.

Ting….Smooth operator

No matter now much space you give his riders they will still feel entitled to drop bikes as the fancy takes them. This is why on every London street we see the results of his company’s miss-management. He attempts to claim he is on some sort of divine social mission to enhance our streets. Most of us think he is looking to make easy money out of public spaces. Santander manages to have a socially responsible docking system but that costs money.

This is what Miss Pleasant, a PR operative for Lime wrote in response to yet another complaint. She also claims to be replying on behalf of a ‘Dominic’ who is responsible for Forest ‘excuses’. 

Thank you for your email and sincere apologies for the issues you are experiencing at Hans Road and Walton Place, this is not acceptable. I am responding on behalf of myself at Lime and Dominic at Forest to let you know that we take these issues incredibly seriously and will be looking to take action here. 

Both operators have a system of warnings and fines for users who do not park appropriately. Repeated offenders are also banned from our services. We also have teams of staff who monitor bays, redistribute overcrowded vehicles and tidy bays such as this. We will allocate additional resourcing here to ensure that we are keeping on top of these locations and moving vehicles away from them swiftly. 

The issue here is caused by overcrowding as a result of high demand, we will be working with the council to see if there is further space that we can add parking to reduce pressure on the Hans Road bay as well as private parking locations in the area.”

Miss Pleasant attempts to present this as an isolated incident: it is not. It is greater London wide and is the result of lousy logistical planning by a money making private equity backed monster.

It is time RBKC got to grips with this. There is a mass of legislation it can deploy yet the officer involved seems out of his depth and passes the buck back to Miss Pleasant.

If you park your car badly it gets a fine and /or impounded. The Council should be doing the same with these bikes.

3 responses to “LYING DOWN LIME BIKES!”

  1. Farih Avatar
    Farih

    RBKC has been hell-bent for years on destroying Knightsbridge for commercial interests. A decade ago, they capitulated to Harrods and gave away Hans Road to be a cafe Laduree, the effect of which in congested traffic is with us until now. Then they gave an outdoor license to Harry’s Bar, where there is more seating on the pavement than inside the restaurant, the outcome of which is blocking pavement in Basil Street until today.
    Years later they decided to place Black Cab Parking on three corners of the intersection of Hans Road, Walton Place and Basil Street. Now, they succeeded in turning the whole area to a bike scrapyard. What has been elegant Knightsbridge has become the eye sore of European capitals.

    1. The Dame Avatar

      Very well said, Farih. And Brompton Road much of which is the fault of Westminster.
      Harrods is now a magnet for low life

    2. Pedestrian Avatar
      Pedestrian

      In response to Farih, RBKC allowed Harrods and Harry’s Bar etc. to spread their outdoor wining and dining across formerly public spaces. This is scandalous.

      At the other end of the social scale, a few years ago the same trick was tried in Portobello Market. RBKC encouraged restaurant and bar owners to suffocate local residents and other businesses with outdoor tables and chairs. They succeeded in Kensington Park Road where in summer, residents are no longer able to walk on their own street.

      However, the plot failed in Portobello Market itself. Every licence application was met with huge objection. The less than secret plan was to replace lowly market traders with hospitality; but when the local peasantry rose up, RBKC backed down.

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