Bikes Secured will be.... Stolen...

Quartermile is an odd development in Edinburgh. Former site of the city's hospital, now home to executive homes and some shops, nice cafés, a gym, offices.... It's just across from the university, right beside a park, on the other side there's a school, and there's one of the busiest off-road cycle routes that goes right past it.

But Quartermile doesn't like cyclists. At least that's what it seems.

These signs have recently gone up. It's not the 'Dismount' sign, that might actually be justified in a busy pedestrian area. It's the little sign underneath. 'Bikes secured or left unattended will be removed'. Erm. Really?

Someone on twitter had received, through an intermediary, a response from the operators of the area. They explained that this didn't mean bikes attached to the racks in the background, but that there was a problem with bikes being secured to street furniture. Oh, and the police had told them that as it was private land they could remove bikes.

Before we get onto the legalities (spoiler, the police are wrong - if indeed they have been contacted at all, call me a cynic), it just seems such a weird way to go about things. You've put in bike racks, lots of them, and they are so oversubscribed that people have to take to securing bikes to fences and lampposts. And what does that make you think? Let's put in more bike racks? Let's encourage even more people to come to the shops of people who then pay us rent? Or turn people away from your land? Let's go with the latter, there's a business model for you...

But what of removing bikes that have been locked up? Well let's start with a legal case, not involving bikes, but cars. Black v. Carmichael in 1992 involved private land, a car park, and a car being clamped. That clamping was determined to amount to theft of the vehicle, the reason being that you are denying the rightful owner use and enjoyment of their property (it was also deemed as extortion). Now that has changed a little in recent years, whereby the Scottish Court Service can clamp vehicles, or authorise people to do so, but that's only where someone has defaulted on fines, and there's a process to follow with owners contacted. The basic principle of theft still remains.

Now take that into the realm of the bicycle, I've had experience of contacting the police in the past about locked up bikes. There was a really nice old bike that was pretty clearly dumped. I contacted the police, asking if I'd be permitted to take an angle grinder to the lock and liberate the bike. The response was that I would have to make every effort available to identify the owner, and confirm they no longer wanted the bike. There was also an assumption that it was dumped if you could prove it hadn't been moved for something like three months (I don't think that's a prescriptive rule, but one of the thumb).

So what of the threat (and it is a threat) on this sign. Who is taking the bicycle? If it is removed where is it taken to? How does the remover let the cyclist know where their bike is? How can they get it back?  The owner of that bike simply doesn't know where the bike has gone, how to get it back, or even in many cases 'prove' they are the owner to the remover (given there's no V5 for a bike). The remover has very clearly denied the rightful owner the use and enjoyment of their property. Oh, and that extends beyond just the bike. How do they get the bike removed without breaking the lock? Oh. They don't. The lock is the property of the cyclist. Their lock has been destroyed. That's criminal damage chaps.

So you don't respond to the needs of your visitors, don't make it clear it's only bikes secured to street furniture that will be removed, have no process in place to find the owner, or for the owner to find their bike if it's removed, you damage other property owned by the cyclist to remove the bike. 

Quartermile operators, you can't do what your sign says. Police Scotland, you're completely wrong in telling the operators they can do that (or your name is being taken in vain). Keep the dismount signs by all mean; remove the little signs underneath, and realise that you'll get more visitors, spending more money, if you do. It's simple really.

(link to this being sent to the operators, the police, and the various shop owners - I know from contacting them in the past that Peter's Yard is at least sympathetic to their cycling customers).