Worcester City Council’s team of civil enforcement officers are now travelling by bike to swiftly resolve issues at traffic and parking hotspots.
The move has been introduced as part of the City Council’s environmental sustainability strategy, which aims for Worcester to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Officers have been equipped with e-bikes and have received advanced safety training from Bikeability Worcestershire.
As well as targeting parking hotspots the City Council’s civil enforcement team will regularly make visits on e-bike to Worcester schools, with a greater presence at the start and end of the school day. The visits will help to improve safety outside the school gate, resolve parking issues and promote active travel.
“More staff using e-bikes not only helps the City Council to reduce its carbon footprint, but it also gives us greater agility. Our civil enforcement team can now quickly cycle to areas where problems have been reported and resolve them on the spot,” says Cllr Andy Stafford, Chair of Worcester City Council’s Environment Committee.
“As petrol prices continue to rise, I encourage other businesses and organisations to embrace active travel. As well as having financial advantages, it also has real benefits for employees’ health and wellbeing.”
Worcester City Council has joined forces with the University of Worcester to offer a free e-bike trial scheme to local businesses. Funded by an £18,000 grant from the Local Government Association, e-bikes and trailers are available for loan on a first come, first served basis.
The initiative allows businesses to trial and establish what benefits e-bikes could bring, before investing in new equipment.
To find out more about the scheme or to book a ‘have a go’ session, please email Wendy Corbett at w.corbett@worc.ac.uk or call 01905 722363.
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