Stratford launches electric bike revolution for eco-friendly deliveries

Stratford District Council has launched its e-bike and e-trike scheme today, Monday, April 4

A bold new scheme to get people to move away from cars and vans for deliveries around Stratford district was launched today, Monday.

The district council’s E-Cargo Bike scheme is aimed at encouraging businesses, organisations, community and voluntary groups to use electric bikes instead of cars and vans for local deliveries.

It has bought ten E-Cargo Bikes – five EP2 E-Cargo Bikes and five ALECS E-Cargo Trikes, after securing £60,000 in Government funding. It has provided match funding of £60,000 over a five-year period to cover the ongoing costs for maintenance, servicing, repairs and induction training.

The new bikes and trikes were on show in the heart of Stratford town centre today and there will be further events around the district.

Climate change portfolio holder Cllr Ian Shenton said: “There’s some amazing local businesses and organisations who are really passionate about the environment and want to do more. We are really pleased to help them access a greener way to travel and deliver their services.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for businesses and organisations to sign up to test the scheme out and see if it suits their needs. I really hope that seeing the E-Cargo bikes in use will encourage other businesses and organisations across the district, to give one a go.”

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and the Alscot Estate are among those to have already signed up for a trial.

The Trust’s environmental health and safety officer Andrew Anderson said: “We’re pleased to be one of the first organisations in Stratford to participate in the Council’s E-Cargo Bike scheme.

“This fantastic initiative is a great way of reducing our reliance on vans to transport goods between our historic sites, and meets our ambition to operate sustainably and becoming carbon net zero in our own emissions by 2030.”

Alscot Estate CEO Emma Holman-West said: “As a local business set on the outskirts of Stratford that is spread across 4,000 acres of land, these e-bikes will be a great addition to our normal means of transport and will assist in our aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

“Here at Alscot, we have opted for an E-Cargo Trike, which is fitted with a box that allows up to 50kg in weight to be transported and the trike will be branded with the Alscot logo, so not only is it functional but it is a travelling advertisement.”

The roadshows will take place from 11am to 2pm as follows:

- Thursday, April 14: High Street, Bidford

- Tuesday, April 19: Sainsbury’s car park, Wellesbourne

- Friday, April 22: location to be confirmed, Studley

- Tuesday, April 26: Waitrose car park, Alcester

- Tuesday, May 3 - Village Hall, Kineton

- Sunday, May 8 - Tesco car park, Southam

Other venues to be confirmed include Shipston and Henley.

The scheme allows organisations to have the bikes on trial for free for up to three months. It has been set up in collaboration with the Energy Saving Trust and Stratford company, Pashley Cycles which is providing the E-Cargo Bikes.

Any business, organisation, community and voluntary group interested in taking part in the free trial scheme should email: [email protected]

For more information, click here