DAVID Patrick (Residents matter, The Argus July 10) accused me of having no contact with residents in the area about my opposition to the Old Shoreham Road cycle lane and said residents should have a say.

On the contrary, I have been deeply involved with the residents and have helped put together leaflets supporting a residents’ petition which are currently being distributed in the area.

As I have said to Mr Patrick in person, the ward councillors themselves were not consulted on this cycle lane before it was installed.

It popped up in the dead of night without warning through an executive decision.

This is not the way it should have been done.

As Hangleton and Knoll councillors we are not against cycle lanes where they are safe for all road users.

But we have been dead against this cycle lane from the start and will fight to have it removed as it is causing major congestion due to the rubbish tip and dangerous situations for road users.

This same concept was put forward by council officers when the Conservative Group was in administration.

We commissioned a traffic study to look at the issue and it came back with the clear conclusion that removing two lanes from Old Shoreham Road would cause traffic chaos, so we did not proceed.

Unfortunately this Labour administration didn’t do their homework and the result is traffic chaos. More than 3,000 people have signed a petition to have the road revert to a dual carriageway to ease traffic congestion and we look forward to representing these residents at the next council meeting.

Councillor Dawn Barnett

Hangleton and Knoll ward