Pedi cargo service reaches milestone

Hereford's Pedi Cargo service has now covered the same distance as Land's End to John O'Groats just in moving items for Herefordshire Council's planning department.

The new courier service transporting planning files requested by members of the public started in August 2007 as an environmentally-friendly way of making files available, rather than the usual approach of using a car or a van.

Cyclists from Pedicabs take planning files twice a day between the Modern Records Unit, the Hereford Centre at Garrick House, and Planning Services at Blueschool House in Hereford. Planning officers in Blueschool House can also have files delivered the same day, or can send current files for viewing at the Hereford Centre.

Will Vaughan of Hereford Pedi Cargo said: "We have now exceeded 9,000 individual items of cargo in 25 weeks and the energy we have burned on behalf of the council is equivalent to 255 Mars bars.

"We've also saved plenty of carbon emissions as well. Just think of travelling all the way from the top of the country to the bottom in your car when we've managed it without using one bit of carbon," he added.

Councillor John Jarvis, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for the environment and strategic housing, said: "As a council we are committed to reducing the impact of our activities on the environment and this is just one example of how we are achieving this.

"It is amazing to think that this huge distance has been covered in just six months and shows how we all need to think carefully about how many small journeys we make by car because these certainly add up over a period of time," he added.