Get on your bike... your e-bike

Local rights of way and countryside officers have turned to e-bikes to reach hard to reach places.

MyNewtown reported last month how Powys County Council was piloting a project where some of its parking enforcement officers were patrolling roads and car parks in the area using e-bikes.

Now countryside officers are testing them.

A pilot is in place to assess the usefulness of e-bikes by some council and Powys Teaching Health Board teams.

"Usual practice would have seen the council's staff working in a rural area drive to the nearest parking place and then walk to check a stretch of right of way. Now, for the part of their journey that they formerly walked, they can use e-bikes to travel - giving them the chance to cover their network much more quickly," said a statement.
 
"And when checking ROWs in town, they are finding that they are moving around even more quickly than by driving as they can use shared pathways to avoid traffic and don't waste time parking their vehicles."
 
e-bikes provide assistance to the rider when pedalling but, unlike electric mopeds or motorbikes, still require the rider to pedal to move so there are exercise benefits to the rider. The e-bikes have been purchased from Powys bike shops using funding from Welsh Government.
 
Councillor Heulwen Hulme is the council's Cabinet Member with responsibility for Rights of Way. She commented: "This is another example of how we can use new technology to modify our working practices and become more efficient, minimise our impact upon the climate and provide health benefits for our staff, too."
 
She added: "Earlier this year we also introduced our first electric refuse lorry and with initiatives like this we can help to reduce our carbon footprint, "added Cllr. Hulme.
 
"We are really grateful to the Welsh Government for this funding which is allowing us to investigate which roles within the council and the health board can be helped by e-bikes when doing their day to day work."