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Further to my post on the Boris Bike scheme in Wandsworth and Shaftesbury (and being parochial) the planning applications received for locations in, and near, Shaftesbury ward are:

  • Ashley Crescent (2013/0435)
  • Clapham Common Northside south of Grove Mansions (2013/0433)
  • Eckstein Road j/w Comyn Road (2012/5713)
  • Eckstein Road/St John’s Road (2012/5714) – Approved
  • Dorothy Road (2013/0078) – Approved
  • Grayshott Road/Holden Street (2013/0076) – Approved
  • Grayshott Road/Sabine Road (2013/0075) – Approved
  • Heathwall Street, north of 53 Eland Road (2013/0821) – Approved
  • Lavender Gardens (2012/5954)
  • 103-113 Lavender Hill (2013/0943)
  • 139-143 Lavender Hill (2013/0073) – Approved
  • Robertson Street (2012/5735) – Approved
  • Sheepcote Lane/Latchmere Leisure Centre (2012/5716) – Approved
  • Stanley Grove (2012/5862)

To view them visit the council’s planning website and enter the reference number in the search box. Of course, my definition of ‘near Shaftesbury’ is subjective, the council’s press release has a fuller list of applications.

NB Post was updated 5 and 12 Feb, 7 and 14 Mar, 11 and 18 Apr 2013 to add in new applications and annotate those that had been passed. It’s worth pointing out that an application, even if successful, may not result in a stand being erected since TfL are also applying for contingency sites in case their preferred options are unsuccessful. I assume this is the case with the two nearby sites on Grayshott Road.

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Coming to Battersea: Boris bikes
Coming to Battersea: Boris bikes

The expansion of Boris bikes into Shaftesbury has been touted for a long time, and the proposed sites have been (sort of) public knowledge for a while. However, the process of installation has moved onto the more formal stage with TfL starting to apply for planning permissions where necessary.

Shaftesbury ward, and especially the Shaftesbury Park estate, is well served by the proposed sites. Perhaps too well served. I should declare an interest that some of the sites are remarkably close to my home (indeed, one is almost right outside) – though I would qualify that by adding I’m indifferent to whether or not a docking station is close to me or not.

My one comment throughout the process is that docking stations should be located, counter-intuitively, slightly inconveniently, meaning users have a short walk which increases footfall in some of our shopping parades: improving the vibrancy of our shopping areas and, hopefully, the bottom line for our traders.

I’m not sure my input had any on TfL’s thinking. Certainly one of my suggestions – using the dead-ends created by estates north of Lavender Hill which were placed with no regard to permeability – got nowhere. Apparently, it’s not possible to build a docking station on a slight slope: you can see how TfL are the successors to the pioneers of the world’s first and most complex mass transit system 150 years ago.

If you want to have your say keep an eye out for the various planning applications. You can also find out more from the report being considered at tonight’s Strategic Planning and Transport OSC and the appendices.