The cycle parking facilities at Weybridge Health Centre are not adequate. Sandie Weaver, the facilities manager there, has said that it would help her case for getting better facilities if some patients wrote letters of complaint.
Below is the body of a letter that was recently sent to them by the Weybridge Society. If you agree that the provision for bicycles at Weybridge Health Centre is inadequate then why not also write them a letter.
Ms Sandie Weaver
Weybridge Hospital
22 Church Street
Weybridge
Surrey KT13 8DY
April 20, 2009
Dear Ms Weaver
The Weybridge Society represents people who live and work in the town. It is committed to protecting what is good about Weybridge and improving what isn’t. The Weybridge Society Transport Panel deals with transport issues and problems within the area.
We understand that the cycle parking facilities at Weybridge Hospital are outdated and inadequate for the number of people who regularly want to park their bikes at the Hospital. A single cycle rack with six slots is provided however due to the design of the rack only three slots are usable. There are often more than three bicycles parked at the Hospital.
There are about 100 people who work on the premises and probably over 100 patients and visitors on-site at any one time. In lieu of any guidelines from Surrey County Council, Transport for London have published guidelines1 which suggest that there should be one cycle parking space for every 5 hospital employees and one space for every 10 visitors.
According to these guidelines 30 cycle parking slots would be an appropriate provision.
We urge you to consider replacing the existing cycle rack, which is not fit for purpose, with 15 Sheffield Stands, each of which has the capacity for two bicycles giving 30 parking spaces.
In addition to the TfL guide mentioned above, Sustrans also provide a simple and clear cycle parking information sheet which you might find helpful in planning new parking facilities2.
As well as introducing an acceptable amount of parking this would also send a clear message that you are interested in promoting cycling as a healthy and environmentally sound form of transport.
Yours sincerely
Joseph Hall
Chairman – Transport Panel, Weybridge Society
1 http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/businessandpartners/Workplace-Cycle-Parking-Guide.pdf
2 http://www.sustrans.org.uk/webfiles/Info sheets/cycle parking info sheet.pdf