Camden ‘too hilly for hire bikes’ – Boris Johnson

Published: 4th November, 2010
by RICHARD OSLEY and STEPHANIE HOPE

HE bragged with a beaming smile how his bike hire rental scheme was the “envy of the world”.

But when the Mayor of London Boris Johnson faced Camden residents in a question and answer session on Tuesday night, he warned them there was little prospect of it getting closer to their homes and offices – because the borough’s terrain is “too hilly”.

Mr Johnson, speaking at a People Question’s Time event for members of the London Assembly at the Camden Centre in King’s Cross, said instead the highly commended scheme would be rolled out extensively in the east and west of London.

Challenged as to why the map of docking stations had left out Kentish Town and surrounding neighbourhoods, Mr Johnson said Camden had more than 30 docking stations already.

But it was quickly pointed out to him that they are all in the south of the borough and are barely positioned north of Mornington Crescent and that the borough’s residents felt left out.

Mr Johnson added: “We are working under severe financial restraints but we are moving eastwards – huge areas of Hackney will be covered. We are trying to do a deal with a bank so that we can go considerably west. But parts of north London do get quite hilly. There are practical problems that start to impose themselves. There are natural limits to where we can go.”

Yesterday (Wednesday), cyclists who regularly brave the steep climbs of Swains Lane and Highgate West Hill said the ascents are not impossible to tackle.

Stuart Harwood-Ralph, from Highgate, said: “I cycle to New Cross every week day and Canary Wharf at the weekends. Highgate and Camden are more hilly than south London but it makes me feel more energetic throughout the day. 

“I get a sense of freedom I otherwise wouldn’t get from public transport. The hill doesn’t deter me, or anyone else I know. The overall benefits outweigh the struggle and I no longer need a gym membership. Boris Bikes would be excellent in Camden and Highgate.”

Another cyclist looking up, Richard Miller, said: “I can do it. Yes, it’s hard but I like to cycle.”

Campaigners said lessons from Paris show that docking stations at the top of hills had proved ill-advised because people who hired them at the top of Montmartres in the French capital had often not bothered to go back up to the top with them.

But they called on Mr Johnson to do more to bring the bikes to flatter areas of Camden so far left out of the scheme.

Jean Dollimore, from the Camden Cycling Campaign, said: “It definitely needs to be expanded, perhaps Hampstead and Highgate aren’t priorities but what about the other areas like Camden Town, Kentish Town and Swiss Cottage?”

Lib Dem councillor Paul Braithwate, the former Cycling Champion at Camden Council, said: “I’ve been campaigning consistently for 18 months to show Camden shouldn’t be left out. I saw yesterday that Waterloo is getting a docking station with 100 bikes. There is no reason why there couldn’t be something like that in Camden Town, which is one of London’s most popular tourist areas. This was an off-the-cuff remark by Boris but maybe he has been spending too much time in Islington and the east of Camden where the roads are flatter.”