Brighton Active Travel urged the council to keep the temporary Old Shoreham Road cycle lane in Hove at a meeting this morning (Tuesday 10 August).
One of the group’s members, Max Glaskin, led a deputation to the Brighton and Hove City Council meeting at Hove Town Hall.
He told the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Sub-committee, made up of three members – that scrapping the cycle lane could end up costing the council millions of pounds.
Mr Glaskin said: “This small sub-committee has to make a decision that could impact everyone in the city for decades.
Before it does, we would like answers to three questions. First, if the council removes the Old Shoreham Road temporary cycle lanes, it will be more dangerous for anyone who would like to ride a bicycle in the north west of the city.
“There is no direct, safe alternative route nearby that can serve the schools with their 6,000 pupils.
“How would making the road more dangerous get more people walking and cycling?
“If the council removes the Old Shoreham Road temporary cycle lane it will lose millions of pounds in funding. The government says so.
“Already it’s withholding more than a quarter of a million pounds that would otherwise help hard-working families, disabled people, women and children.
“Next, we’ll lose access to millions for making the seafront, London Road, Lewes Road and Western Road safer.
“The government could even instal commissioners to take transport out of the hands of all elected councillors.
“How would councillors plug the funding gap triggered by removing the Old Shoreham Road cycle lanes when the government stops its money?
“Finally, it’s time to stop spreading myths. Journey times have not got worse. There is not evidence that pollution has got worse. The electorate has not voted to remove the cycle lanes.
“Only 11 per cent of the people who responded to the consultation were under 35. That’s just one in
every nine of the city’s population. But they account for a whopping 50 per cent. That’s one in every
two people in the city.
Brighton Active Travel is a Green set up just to campaign for OSR cycle Lanes.
Didn’t work did it Greens.
Labour finally found its backbone and it’s good bye to you all very soon.
“The government could even instal commissioners to take transport out of the hands of all elected councillors.”
This would definitely be a fantastic idea as our councillors are utterly incompetent and dogma led.
Why are these pop up activist groups being given endless news space?
Would I and my best mate get the same coverage if we invent a new group name for ourselves?
As it is, most of us Brighton locals ARE concerned about ‘active travel’ and about the climate emergency but we don’t need our views dragged down an ideological cul de sac.
That active travel must be part of an integrated travel and road strategy that works for all city residents – and not one solely in the hands of cultist cycle lobbying groups and their fellow car-hating nut jobs who’ve edged their way into jobs with the council.
Now that it has finally been accepted that you can’t just impose cycle routes on people, I hope someone with common sense can look at a map of Brighton and Hove to work out how best we might travel from a to b, whether that is on foot or by bicycle or by other means especially including public transport.
We also need to acknowledge that you don’t reduce carbon emissions if by closing roads you simply divert traffic and increase journey times.
It’s also time to address the electric scooter issue, rather than pretend they don’t exist.
Probably a bit of a waste this story as the council agreed to remove the temporary cycle lane.
Well, it took them long enough, in spite of a lot of opposition.