Cyclists ask for simple bikesheds

Graham Thow says the Birkenhead shed has few users. Photo / Chris Gorman

$200,000 budgeted for Panmure but rider group wants modest design that can be used in many locations.

Auckland Transport intends spending $200,000 on a super bikeshed at the Panmure railway station.

The council body is consulting cyclists on what level of security they want, after criticism that having to use swipe cards has turned three other bike parks into white elephants.

They have ranged in cost from $66,000 at the Birkenhead ferry wharf to $79,000 at the Papatoetoe rail station, yet are used by an average of just one to four cyclists daily.

Cyclists were annoyed when Panmure's remodelled station opened in January after a $17.5 million upgrade, with nowhere secure to leave bikes and catch trains.

The design for Panmure. Photo / Chris Gorman

Cycle Action Auckland chairwoman Barbara Cuthbert is pleased the transport authority is seeking submissions until Friday on a bike park to be retrofitted at Panmure, with room for 16 or so two-wheelers.

Auckland Transport says it has budgeted $200,000 to build the park by September.

Ms Cuthbert said cyclists had persuaded it to create a model for many more shelters, to reduce future design and consenting costs.

"I'm sick of seeing wasted money," she said. "We want a template so these can be rolled out across Auckland."

Bike parks built at the Birkenhead ferry terminal and the Papakura and Papatoetoe railway stations had very few users, because cyclists saw having to apply for swipe cards to be issued with photo identification as too irksome.

Ms Cuthbert said they just wanted CCTV cameras and roof cover, and were prepared to lock their own cycles, as at lower-cost facilities such as at the Onehunga rail station and Devonport ferry wharf which was lined with 120 bikes a day before their a temporary removal for an upgrade.

Auckland Transport's figures put average total monthly use at Birkenhead at 60, Papatoetoe at 85 and Papakura at 132.

But Graham Thow, of the Northcote and Birkenhead Yacht Club, cannot recall seeing more than two bikes in a lock-up he says was built between his clubhouse and Waitemata Harbour with no consultation.

There were none when the Herald visited, leaving sparrows and storm-blown seaweed as the only sign of life.

On the web

Have your say at at.govt.nz/panmurebikepark