'Useless' bike racks by Tube station were intended as public art, north London council insists

At capacity: Only a handful of bikes can be locked to the 20 or so bike racks installed by Haringey Council
Twitter/@CleanUpHaringey
Ramzy Alwakeel15 January 2016

A set of “botched” bike racks installed too close together were intended as “public art”, council bosses have claimed.

Twitter users criticised Haringey Council over 20 or so cycle hoops outside Turnpike Lane station that are so closely bunched up no more than a handful of bikes can actually be locked up at the same time.

But in an e-mail to a local resident, council officer Peter Watson hit back with the surprising response that the bike racks had been “installed not to be used as cycle stands”.

“The works have been implemented to the agreed design as a piece of public art,” he wrote.

However, he said cyclists could lock bikes to the racks “at their discretion”.

They were installed as part of a multi-million-pound facelift for Wood Green funded by Transport for London.

Part of the cash injection was intended to give the area better bike parking facilities.

Wood Green resident Craig Brown told the Standard: “They are all 90 degrees to the direction they are meant to be in, so rather than getting a bike in each you can only really get three or four bikes locked up rather than the 15 or 20 bike racks.

“The council are saying now they’re an art installation.

It’s all very odd and sounds like they’re desperately trying to cover yet another balls-up

&#13; <p>Resident Craig Brown</p>&#13;

“It’s all very odd and sounds like they’re desperately trying to cover yet another balls-up.

“It’s funny because it’s so ridiculously bad.”

Others called the council’s response “ludicrous”.

Jonathan Broadbent accused the council of concocting “a story to cover the f***-up placement”.

Peter Johnston ‏(@Vengencemonkey) tweeted: “Suppose the litter all along the high street and the fly tipping [Haringey Council] do FA about is an art installation too.”

Another Twitter user added: “Let’s all start labeling all of our mistakes as ‘art’ instead of fixing them.”

Alex Wood, of Noel Park, told the Tottenham Independent the bike racks were “a joke”.

“Somebody needs to be fired for this,” he said.

“Haringey and TfL invested millions in regenerating the area and the job is clearly not finished.”

Nicholas da Costa, the Lib Dems' London Assembly candidate for the area, said: "You wouldn’t walk into the Tate and lock your bike to a piece of art.

"Mistakes can happen in any job – but it’s so important to put them right.

"Haringey Council should now put their efforts into providing a usable bike rack for residents; not declaring the mis-fitted racks a work of art."

Haringey Council defended its position that the bike racks were not intended for use as cycle parking and had been recycled after being ripped out during plans to spruce up Wood Green.

A spokeswoman said: “Following public consultation about making a range of improvements to Wood Green High Road, it was agreed that old bike racks should be recycled to create a decorative feature at this location.

“This art installation comes in addition to a number of new bike stands and better cycling facilities to Haringey, and we remain committed to further cycling improvements to encourage more local people to get on their bikes.”

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