FEW people can be bothered to visit the council’s exhibition about changes to the city centre but they are ready to stick the knife in online.

The Argus has been to the public consultation on Brighton and Hove’s Valley Gardens scheme at Hove Town Hall three times to see what residents think about it.

But each time we have drawn a blank with hardly anybody there.

However bus users laid into the scheme and when we published their views, residents were quick to protest about the plans.

David Scott, from Brighton, said: “It looks like a massive step backwards.

“I can see bus drivers having to revise their routes quite considerably.”

Other commenters on The Argus website said “children and chimps” could have come up with better plans for the city.

The Valley Gardens scheme aims to improve air quality, road safety, safer walking and cycling and provide a more attractive and enjoyable public space.

The city council has organised drop-in sessions at Hove Town Hall for the next two weeks and from November 1 to 21 in the Jubilee Library, Brighton, for residents to voice their ideas on the plans.

A video of what the future pedestrian area will look like and details of the changes to existing roads have been put on the council website and triggered controversy across social media.

Peter Elvidge of the Brighton Bus Watch, a group that focuses on the welfare of bus users in the city, said: “It was initially quite difficult to find information about the drop-in sessions online.

“I felt like I had to dig to find details so I am not surprised not many people have showed up because it wasn’t very clear where or when it was.”

The plans involve significant changes to the bus routes around the Steine Gardens, which have caused concern for residents and bus users.

Billy Short, from Brighton, said the current bus stops between the war memorial and Pavilion Gardens are some of the “busiest in town” but the new road layout did not offer any equivalent.

He said it would simply result in “a traffic bottleneck” when buses pull up to let passengers on and off.

Residents have attacked the council online for not using the money to go towards improving existing areas such as the Madeira Terrace and to build more social housing to combat the

rising levels of homeless in the city.

Brighton resident Lorraine Foster said: “Our so-called council are leaving our parks, gardens and structures to rot and they are considering these plans. It’s bloody criminal.”

Karen Healey, also from Brighton, said the new plans will create “total chaos as usual” and the money should instead be spent on improving roads and more social housing.