Staff Get On Their Bikes In Green Initiative

Staff bikers Tony Lewis and Rob Pickersgill with Head of Resource Utilisation Jerry Hammond (centre)

Enterprising staff at South Cheshire College are ditching their cars for bikes in support of a new 'eco' travel initiative.

Scores of employees are opting to cycle to work as the high-flying College aims to cut the number of cars on campus and bring people in line with its green travel plan.

Staff who live in areas surrounding the Dane Bank Avenue campus have teamed up with each other to cycle to the workplace and avoid the rush hour chaos on the roads.

The green travel plan has been introduced as the College prepares for its new £60 million campus which will revolutionise education in Crewe and Nantwich.

As part of the new build, the College is trying to cut the number of staff and students travelling to work by car and encourage them to use alternative transport.

A reduced amount of car parking space has been earmarked for the new building which is why the plan is being implemented.

There are over 3,000 full-time students at the College and over 425 full time staff who use the campus on a daily basis.

Jerry Hammond, Head of Resource Utilisation, said: "We are looking at a range of options to try and reduce the amount of vehicles on campus and one of those is to encourage more people to cycle to work.

"A number of staff have already put this into practice and are finding that it is keeping them fit at the same time.

"The number of bikes in the secure lock-up facility that we have here has increased ten-fold in the last six months which is a very positive sign."

In October Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council gave the go-ahead for the new-build project.

Other travel options which the College will implement include a 'car share' scheme, aimed at staff and students who are travelling from further-a-field, and a 'walk-to-work' initiative.

Jerry added: "Encouraging staff to bike to work instead of using their car is just one of the options.

"This is a very busy campus but if we can reduce the amount of cars in preparation for the new build it will be much better for everyone and the environment."

For further information about the new campus development project please contact Chris Bentley at South Cheshire College on +44 (0)1270 654652.