Belfast Telegraph: Seventy council stars get on their bikes

Two Belfast councillors are doing their bit for the environment as well as helping City Hall staff to offset their carbon footprint. Sinn Fein’s Tom Hartley and the PUP’s John Kyle were among the first to subscribe to a novel new bike-to-work scheme. And 70 members of staff from different council departments have joined them on their bicycles. “It’s been a terrific response and might even encourage more of my council colleagues to think in terms of their waistlines and the environment, ” said councillor Hartley.

The Lower Falls representative came up with the bright idea to get people on their bikes by using an exemption allowance in the 1999 Finance Act. The Act allows all employers to loan cycles - and cyclists’ safety equipment - to staff as a tax-free benefit. It costs the council nothing to rent out the bicycles and in turn either buy them back or sell them to the user for a nominal fee. Switching from the car to the bike can greatly reduce the environmental impact of any journey to work as well as easing congestion.

The additional bonus is that it keeps you fit, healthy and allows people to get to know their city a little better. Council corporate service officer David Cartmill told us: “Our target uptake for the bike-to-work project was 50 but we’ve over 70 employees signed up. Councillor Hartley and Dr Kyle are leading by example and the scheme is now very much part of our ‘quality of life’ programme.

“We’re delighted to be at the forefront of this because a lot of other public bodies are looking at it as a very healthy and positive step.” A recent survey by road safety charity Brake revealed that seven in 10 of the 645 people who responded to a questionnaire said they would join pedal-for-progress schemes if cycle paths were provided as a route to local amenities. Said councillor Hartley: “It’s time some serious investment was put into a national cycle network to enable people to walk and cycle safely.”