Bike library needs home

A new bike library in North Dunedin is all set to go - it just needs somewhere to call home.

The Valley Project manager, Marty Cancilla, said it had volunteers to run the bike library, a selection of bikes to sell or lend, and tools donated or sold to it at cost by Bike Otago.

''We have got lots of offers for bikes, so the next step is to find a place for it.''

All that was needed was a garage or small building near or on North Rd that could be locked up. Electricity was not essential.

The group wants to model the idea on the Crooked Spoke - a volunteer group based in Moray Pl that fixes and sells bikes cheaply to people and teaches them how to maintain their new mode of transport.

Mr Cancilla said it would like to have volunteers who were able to meet a couple of times a week to help people fix their bikes. Some bikes would also be restored and sold for about $40. People had the option of joining the library for a fee and borrowing a bike for as long as they needed to, as well as the use of the shed and tools.

''Or if people have kids and kids are growing, they can sign out a bike and then later trade it in for a bigger one,'' he said.

Mr Cancilla believed the cycle lanes down North Rd and the state highway to the university were ''fantastic'' and an ''easy trip into town''.

''It is just becoming an important thing [cycling]. It saves on the use of fossil fuels and the more cyclists that are on the road, the less traffic there is on the road, and the safer these bike corridors get.''

Mr Cancilla said if someone had a shed or old building they could lend, the volunteers would be able to fix it up and the Valley Project could cover the cost of insurance.

Phone the Valley Project on 473-8614 or email marty@northeastvalley.org.

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