Bike shops in Wales will remain open during circuit breaker

New legislation brought in to govern the circuit breaker coronavirus prevention measure in Wales will permit bike shops to remain open, as before, enabling stores to provide an essential service or those using bikes to get around.

The permission is granted on page 38 of The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 3) (Wales) Regulations 2020, seen here.

Earlier on CI.N’s trade-locked Facebook group retailers across Wales had expressed that, while no official guidance existed that they would try to stay open. A poster later flagged the ACT’s discovery of the confirmation stating that stores will be able to remain open during the two-week lockdown, spanning 6pm tomorrow through to Monday November 9th.

Stephen Holt of the Bicycle Association later commented that the organisation has “recently reinforced our previous communications to national Government that bike shops must remain open if any future UK lockdown occurs.

“As we did before the lockdown in March, the Bicycle Association wrote ahead of this lockdown to Lee Waters MS, the Minister with responsibility for cycling in Wales, and to senior officials in the Welsh administration, to stress the vital transport and wellbeing role of cycling, and that bike shops must remain open to support this.”

These messages fall in line with a core advocacy effort across Europe, led by Cycling Industries Europe, which calls on Governments to recognise cycling as a vital transport form, both during the Covid-19 pandemic and thereafter as the planet seeks to reduce transport emissions and costly congestion bills. The United Nations Economic Council for Europe places that cost at €100 billion annually.

Pic: Revo Bikes, the resident bike shop at Revolution Bike Park. The park itself will be closed through the firebreak.