Senior Councillor Accused of Being Misleading on E-bike No Go Zone
Chiswick Calendar editor says Katherine Dunne told her decision made by Lime
Left: Bridget Osborne. Right: Cllr Katherine Dunne
October 26, 2025
A senior councillor on Hounslow Council has been accused of making a misleading statement on the subject of e-bikes in the borough.
Cllr Katherine Dunne is the Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment & Transport gave an interview to Chiswick Calendar editor Bridget Osborne which was published on 14 October.
She was seeking to respond to the wave of negative publicity, including articles in the national press, to the exclusion of Lime bikes from the borough following the award of contracts to two new providers, Voi and Forest.
Previous users of Lime bikes have been infuriated by them powering down on arrival at the borough’s border and the need to switch to one of the other providers who currently do not offer the level of availability provided by Lime. Chiswick-based comedian Dara Ó Briain described the ‘No Go Zone’ for Lime as being like ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ in Cold War Berlin and e-bike use has fallen dramatically across Chiswick and Brentford under the new arrangements. According to a Freedom of Information request Forest and Voi riders together made over 73,000 e-bike trips in the borough between 11 August and 15 September, compared to the 128,000 trips which Lime says were made on its bikes this July.
Cllr Dunne conceded that it was farcical that bikes were powering down at the borders but told Ms Osborne that this decision was Lime’s, not the council’s and ‘after further negotiation’ Lime had agreed to stop switching off power to their bikes as they passed through the borough.
Ms Osborne says the interview was conducted over the phone with notes taken and the article was sent to Cllr Dunne with no changes requested.
On 16 October, two days after the publication of the article, Lime announced that it was to resume providing power to its machines in Hounslow borough. This enabled them to be ridden through Chiswick and Brentford, but it was still no longer possible to park or hire one of their bikes at the borough boundary. Lime said that it had made the move unilaterally without agreement with Hounslow Council.
Following the announcement Cllr Dunne issued a statement to ChiswickW4.com saying, “When the new contracts commenced, the Council requested that Lime activate a ‘No Go Zone’ geofencing around Hounslow to prevent Lime e-bikes from entering the borough. This was intended to reduce the risk of abandoned Lime e-bikes. Lime has since chosen to remove this restriction and introduce a ‘ride-through’ zone.”
This directly contradicted the explanation given earlier in the interview with the Chiswick Calendar.
Ms Osborne told us, “She either lied to me or wasn’t across what her officers were doing, and neither is a good look.”
When asked about Cllr Dunne’s apparently misleading statement, a spokesperson for the Labour party in Hounslow said, “On the specific point about allowing ride-throughs, it has always been our position that we do not want Lime to allow their bikes into the borough. This is to avoid Lime bikes being abandoned within Hounslow and causing an obstruction.
“However, it is up to Lime to enforce this 'no go' policy, through their use of 'geofencing'. They did initially decide to enforce it. They have since reversed their decision.”
Large numbers of Lime bikes deposited on Acton Green which is in Ealing borough
They also provided a letter written by Cllr Dunne, which they say had also been sent to Chiswick Calendar. This confirms that it was the council that requested the ‘no go zone’ with the aim of reducing the number of bikes in the borough.
It also addresses the dramatic fall in the number of e-bike hires in the borough since the new providers took over saying, “Behaviour change takes time. As the new operators continue to establish their presence across the borough, we expect journey numbers to increase steadily. It’s also worth pointing out that there are seasonal variations in ride numbers.
“We want more people to be cycling in Hounslow. Time will tell whether the new lower prices, better parking management, new bike models and stronger service standards lead to an increase in uptake.”
Cllr Dunne concludes, “For all the noise this has generated, I feel we’re losing sight of the bigger picture. Fundamentally, this is a story about a local council, acting on behalf of its residents, who ran a fair and competitive tender process to ensure better parking enforcement and better value for money.”
Cllr Dunne, who represents the Syon & Brentford ward, was removed as Deputy Leader of the Council in May 2024 but continues have responsibility in Cabinet for transport resulting in her overseeing the award of new contracts for e-bike hire.
She had previously been the leading advocate on the council of an active travel policy in the borough and had won praise and support from figures such as Jeremy Vine for the borough’s transport policies. However, the new arrangements for e-bikes have resulted in her facing fierce criticism due to the widely publicised problems that have ensued. She has said that the principal factor in deciding to replace Lime was financial, as Voi and Forest offered a significant boost to council coffers under the terms of the new contract. As the assessment made by council officers for each service based on quality and overall provision was similar, it was believed that the change was to the benefit of the wider community in Hounslow.
Mr Vine told the Chiswick Calendar, “What’s especially concerning is the email saying Lime were ‘required’ to disable their bikes on entry into Hounslow. The council told everyone this was an act of self-sabotage by Lime, but it seems that wasn’t true.
“Next time this decision must be made by people who actually use e-bikes for their commute. How could they have given a licence to Voi, which stop as soon as you enter Hammersmith?”
Questions have also been raised about a statement made by Cllr Dunne to The Chiswick Calendar in which she categorically says the borough is now bound to continue with Voi and Forest. However, a clause in the contract with Voi and Lime states, ‘The Concession acknowledges that in entering into this Agreement no form of exclusivity is granted by the Council, and the Council is at all times entitled to enter into similar contracts with other operators in relation to the same or similar Services’.
A petition to bring back a full Lime service to the borough has so far received over 800 signatures but it is thought that public statements by the councils that the contracts with Voi and Forest are exclusive would prevent a new contract being signed with Lime.
The furore about this issue comes amid widespread speculation that Cllr Dunne is preparing to challenge for the leadership of the Labour Group in Hounslow. This has been reported on Brentford TV, a local Facebook group run by John Dale, and confirmed to us by local members of the party.
For the 2026 local elections, the Labour Party in Hounslow is selecting council candidates through a centralised process overseen by the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the London Labour Regional Office. This marks a significant shift from previous local member-led selections and it is understood that current leader Cllr Shantanu Rajawat will have an important say in who gets picked. This means that any leadership challenge is likely to come before the next election after which there are likely to be a higher proportion of councillors supportive of Cllr Rajawat. Cllr Dunne has been confirmed as standing again for her existing seat on social media. If she does seek to take over the leadership, she will be counting on high levels of disaffection over the exclusion of party membership from the process of choosing councillors. The controversy over e-bikes is likely to have little impact in any leadership struggle because for most of the borough usage was not high even when Lime was operating.
A new council will be elected on 7 May 2026.
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