H&F Council and Cyclehoop scoop the Best Innovation award
The clever design of a ‘bicycle parklet’ has led to Hammersmith & Fulham Council scooping an award for innovation that promotes healthier communities.
The hugely popular parklet outside Brackenbury Deli, in Brackenbury Village, has a planted seating area where the local community can gather and incorporates bicycle parking spaces.
The scheme won ‘Best Innovation’ at the Healthy Streets Awards 2017 on Thursday (29 September).
“We are absolutely delighted that the Brackenbury bicycle parklet has rightly won the innovation award,” said Cllr Wesley Harcourt, H&F Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport & Residents’ Services.
“We want to be the greenest borough in the country and this is an example of the ways we’re using clever urban design that promotes sustainable transport. The parklet provides not only a resting place for cyclists, but boosts local greenery and is a focal point for the community.”
Instant success
The parklet incorporates wooden seating, surrounded by plants and provides bicycle parking hoops. It also helps attract and retain custom for local businesses.
The modular design can be dismantled and reassembled at another location if needed.
The parklet was provided and installed in April by bicycle storage specialists Cyclehoop and very quickly achieved the council’s aim of bringing residents, shop owners and visitors together in an area where public seating is scarce.
It also offers a resting-place for passers-by and somewhere for local employees to take a break.
“This parklet was meant to be temporary, but has proved so popular I don’t think residents will let us move it,” added Cllr Harcourt
“We’re already now exploring other locations in the borough where we can install similar designs.”
The parklet successfully fended off strong competition from 22 other local authorities and organisations in the hotly-contested Best Innovation category.
The awards were held at Walthamstow Assembly Hall.
Our green credentials
- We’ve been working with residents to tackle air pollution
- We’re encouraging residents to plant up tree bases
- We’ve launched a resident-led commission to boost biodiversity
- We’re promoting cycling and sustainable transport
- We were the first London borough to halt standardised spraying of glyphosate chemical herbicides
- Introduced a Street Czar to help keep our streets clean and tidy
- See what else we’re doing to become the greenest borough in the country
