Greenwich Council has officially backed a scheme to provide children with active travel vouchers, aiming to encourage cycling and scooting among youngsters across the borough. The decision, made during a council meeting on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, will see every child aged between 4 and 16 years old receive a £150 voucher. This voucher can be used to purchase a bicycle, scooter, or essential safety equipment.
The council aims to ease cost of living pressures on families and support children in getting active and leading healthier lives. The £150 voucher is intended to help every child aged 4-16 purchase a bike, scooter, and safety equipment. For families on a low income, there would be an uplift in the value of the voucher and a reduction in the cost of the subscription model for bikes, indicating an effort towards equitable access. The scheme is funded solely from dedicated ring-fenced sustainability s106 funds, using money negotiated from developers, ensuring no impact on council tax.
Councillor Calum O'Byrne Mulligan, Cabinet Member for Transport, Climate Change, Waste & Streets, championed the initiative, highlighting its potential to boost children's health, foster independence, and contribute to the decarbonisation of transport within Greenwich. He emphasized that the scheme will be funded through developer contributions (Section 106 funds).
Everybody remembers getting their first bike and the sense of freedom that it brought,
said Councillor Sandra Bauer, who seconded the motion. But for many families in Greenwich, that's not something they can easily afford to give their children.
The scheme aims to address rising childhood inactivity and obesity rates, with nearly half of London's children not meeting daily activity recommendations. It also seeks to reduce the number of short car journeys, thereby easing congestion and improving air quality.
The council will work in partnership with local businesses and national retailers to ensure the Active Travel Voucher is easily accessible. Retailers will need to register as accredited providers, ensuring that the bikes sold are safely built and roadworthy. While the scheme aims to help children purchase a bike, scooter, and safety equipment, the specific types of safety equipment that can be purchased are not detailed.
Councillor O'Byrne Mulligan also addressed concerns raised by the Green Group, who proposed an amendment suggesting a worker cooperative model for bike retail and repair. He stated that the voucher scheme, funded by developer contributions, was the most viable option to meet the requirements of Section 106 funding and would be implemented as planned. The council will continue delivering wider improvements to local cycle networks, road safety, cycle training and public transport improvements to further encourage children and all residents to travel in a more sustainable, fun and healthy way.
This suggests that cycle training will be part of the broader strategy to encourage active travel.
The Conservative Group's amendment, which suggested a 'public realm improvement fund' instead of the voucher scheme, was also rejected. Councillor Charlie Davis, Leader of the Conservative Group, described the voucher scheme as an expensive electoral gimmick.
Both amendments were not agreed, and the original motion was carried, paving the way for the introduction of the Greenwich Active Travel Voucher scheme. The full details of the council's decisions can be found in the Decisions 23rd-Sep-2026 19.00 Council document.