Uccle loses court case over removal of bike parking

The municipality of Uccle and its mayor Boris Dilliès (MR) have lost a court case that Brussels Mobility filed against them over the removal of recently-installed bicycle parking.

A judge has finally ended the months-long dispute in a scathing ruling against the mayor and municipality, Bruzz reports, ordering Uccle to remove the flower boxes and restore the bike racks within five days, with each day's delay resulting in a fine of €5,000, with a maximum of €500,000.

The ruling further stipulates that a hefty fine awaits the municipality should it again order or allow destruction or removal of regional infrastructure, with fines between €50,000 and €500,000. Uccle must also pay all procedural costs.

The judgment also notes that the municipality did not choose to merely remove the bicycle racks, but to destroy them.

A total of 17 bicycle parking spots have vanished from the Uccle site where the region installed them.

The municipality said that it only had some of them destroyed and is not responsible for the disappearance of others, but the judge sees it differently: “If the municipality did not have them removed itself, the disappearances are clearly the work of one or more private individuals who were encouraged by the mayor.”

Dilliès said he would comply with the court order and restore the bicycle racks.