00:00He just will refuse to go into a road at any time, so I've got to make a decision to
00:03try and take him into the main road, and that's a very frightening experience for myself.
00:09Last Monday, I was contacted by Jessica and Jason, who are a blind couple in Penge, and they wrote to
00:16me because they were concerned about the growing number of e-bikes, both Lime and Forest bikes, being left across
00:21pavements and footpaths.
00:23And I was really shocked and really saddened to hear about the scale of the problem, but also the really
00:28significant impact it's having on them.
00:29Kent House Road has been a number of times the Lime bikes have been kind of parked up or propped
00:34up against the tree or left over the pavement, so then I've got to stop, and Kent House Road is
00:40a very quite busy road.
00:42He will not, he just will refuse to go into a road at any time, so I've got to make
00:46a decision to try and take him into the main road, and that's a very frightening experience for myself.
00:53You know, where are we going up to the station? Obviously, we want to still be able to get around
00:56independently and travel on the trains, and there's this area where there's been like a whole load of bikes parked
01:03up, and when you're trying to get through from the tactile crossing, the space between the lampposts and the bikes,
01:08it's very narrow, so you have to squeeze through, and you know, we're lucky we have lots of kind and
01:14helpful people around who want to help you get through.
01:16People might think that they've sort of left them a bit out of the way, but when I'm coming up
01:20with my white cane and I go sort of by the edge of the fences, I'm still getting them, so
01:27I'm still like in danger of walking into them, and you never know when they're going to crop up, and
01:32if you're going to hit one or they're going to fall on you.
01:34So it's quite scary just walking around.
01:36On the back of that, I promised them I'd take action, and I also set up a survey for local
01:40residents, and I was inundated with people contacting me, wheelchair users, parents with buggies, and many others.
01:47But on a personal note, as a disabled MP, I had an accident of 13, I was a wheelchair user,
01:52I couldn't walk for four years, and I know just how difficult it is for disabled people to get around
01:58anyway, without creating extra barriers.
02:00It's the anxiety, it brings to you that extra worry of, what am I going to come across, here's our
02:07local area, sometimes we go somewhere where we don't know so well and we're trying to navigate, it just makes
02:12it additionally worrying and makes us more anxious.
02:18And yeah, definitely not fair, although we know that bikes are a great way for people to get around, but
02:25just them being left in these difficult places for us is the thing which feels unfair.
02:31I mean, I've brushed past one, and mine's nearly fallen on him, and hopefully here's my main way round, I
02:38get out without him.
02:40Certainly don't want any damage to pain.
02:42I immediately raised the issue with Bromley Council on the one hand, and with Lyme and Forest on the other.
02:48And I said to them, you know, very clearly that the current situation was unfair to vulnerable residents, and it
02:55couldn't continue.
02:56And in doing that, actually, I uncovered quite an important issue, which is that Bromley Council were unaware that Lyme
03:03and Forest were operating in our borough.
03:06So the whole of the London borough of Bromley, there's this one kilometre, the People's Republic of Penge, where Lyme
03:13and Forest were being allowed to operate without a contract.
03:16And then today, on Monday, I did some work on it over the weekend, absolutely delighted with the news that
03:21Lyme have accepted that, and as of today, have removed Penge from their sort of area of operation.
03:29It's brilliant news that, you know, these bikes are not going to be blocking our way any longer.
03:33I'm also really pleased and grateful that they have apologised to Jessica and Jason and to other disabled residents who've,
03:41you know, this has had a significant impact on, and I think that will actually go a long way and
03:46be really appreciated by many of the residents I know who have been impacted by this.
