This in from the council, in their own words. Ed
Last month, the Isle of Wight Council and Community Action Isle of Wight announced plans were being finalised for the scheme, which allows organisations, companies or private land owners to bid for grants.
Up to £25,000 grants
These grants, which can be up to the value of £25,000, must be used to support cycle tourism or used to install safe bicycle parking facilities such as racks, shelters and hoops at tourism destinations or accommodation centres.
It is hoped by improving cycle hire and parking facilities across the Island, more people will be tempted to leave their cars at home and use bicycles for journeys, while also stimulating the tourism market and supporting local businesses.
The Isle of Council’s councillor responsible for sustainability is Luisa Hillard. She said:
“These grants are very welcome in the current economic climate so I would urge every business, community group, town and parish council to apply.
“This means we can see the installation of modern cycle racks across the Island for residents and visitors to use when taking advantage of the improvements to cycleways currently being undertaken by the council.”
Philippa Daley from Community Action Isle of Wight added,
“The Island is rated by travel guide Lonely Planet as the world’s best cycling destination and through this grant funding we want to boost cycling for residents with an emphasis also on visitors to come here and discover all that our wonderful Island has to offer.
“The Bicycle Island Development grants provide a unique opportunity for the growth business in cycling holidays, cycle hire facilities and improved marketing.
“Accommodation providers of all sorts including holiday cottages, B and Bs, hotels and holiday parks as well as tourist destinations can apply to install cycle parking and may also want to obtain Quality in Tourism’s Cyclist Welcome accreditation award.”
How to apply
Applications should be submitted no later than 5pm on Monday 31 March 2014. It is expected that any new cycle parking facilities should be installed before the end of June ahead of the summer tourism season.
Any cycle hire business should be operational throughout the summer with projects completed by the end of September 2014.
Anyone interested in making a bid for funding should first contact Philippa Daley at Community Action Isle of Wight to discuss their potential application and the process involved. Philippa can be contacted on (01983) 524058 or by emailing [email protected]
Image: pikerslanefarm under CC BY 2.0
