Old Shoreham Road: Latest update on future of cycle lane

Representatives of each side presented petitions to a Brighton and Hove City Council meeting last week amid claims of the process being subverted with fake names and sabotage.

The mayor of Brighton and Hove, Councillor Alan Robins, told the meeting of the full council that he was aware of the claims.

He said: “This behaviour, where it has occurred, is very disappointing for the local democratic process. Going forward, we have put in place additional verification measures.”

Hove resident Daren Callow told councillors that a “well-planned high-quality” cycle lane was needed along the road.

But Old Shoreham Road resident Jeremy Horne called for the Old Shoreham Road to be dropped as a potential cycle lane route just as a 16-month temporary cycle lane was scrapped.

Mr Callow said: “Many families want to get their kids on bikes, not just for health and independence, but to reduce the number of cars on the school run.

“Cycling, scooting, walking or wheeling is a great start not just to the school day but to their lives.”

He urged the council to implement its “Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan” (LCWIP) which includes a permanent cycle lane along Old Shoreham Road as a medium-term priority.

Mr Horne said that signatures doubled on his petition when councillors voted for the plan in March, adding: “Which shows just strongly residents feel about this.

“Many of them said to me early in the campaign, what’s the point? They’ve only just got rid of it. Of course, they won’t bring it back.

“They were evidently more stunned than most at the approval of the plan.”

Mr Horne described the temporary Old Shoreham Road cycle lane as a “massive failure” that brought “16 months of misery” for residents, with families unable to open their windows.

Green councillor Steve Davis said that the temporary lane was “introduced in haste” by the previous Labour administration during a “most incredible time” – the first coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

He said that Old Shoreham Road had been in the LCWIP from the start and that it complied with government guidance which recommended putting cycle lanes on the most direct routes.

The Old Shoreham Road cycle lane has been a source of controversy

Cllr Davis said: “We have no designs to go out at any point soon and put a cycle lane back down the Old Shoreham Road.

“We plan to do this at some point but after we’ve acted with transparency, engagement and consultation.”

He said that when the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee debated the LCWIP, 80 per cent of its members voted for it, including the Old Shoreham Road as a route.

Independent councillor Peter Atkinson, who represents North Portslade, said that he had tried to take an even-handed approach to the lanes but it was clear that cyclists were not using the route.

He said: “I don’t know if you remember the film Field of Dreams where Kevin Costner builds a baseball pitch in the middle of nowhere and crowds eventually flock to the site.

“His motto in the film was ‘build it and they will come’. Well, this simply didn’t happen with these lanes, even after 16 months, and it won’t happen in the future.”

Labour councillor Gary Wilkinson said that much of the infrastructure introduced as part of the government’s pandemic emergency active travel guidance had been kept, except for the Old Shoreham Road cycle lane.

He said: “The Old Shoreham Road features in the council’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. It does not detail any designs. It’s a strategic plan of intent covering the next 10 years.

“Cities adapt and change over time so it is important to ensure a future vision that is flexible and robust in the face of growth, development and climate change challenges.”

He said that it would be wrong to “play the feelings” of a rushed design on to any future cycle lane.

Conservative councillor Nick Lewry said that the cycle lane had caused congestion, leaving residents unable to open their windows because of the resulting pollution.

He said: “It was so unpopular with residents that, in my ward of Hangleton and Knoll, people living in a row of houses facing the road held a small street party on the day the lanes were removed.

“These residents had borne the impact of high levels of pollution and unbearable traffic congestion on their doorstep for 16 months, caused by the removal of two lanes from the four-lane arterial road.”

He said that bringing back the cycle lane would damage support for cycling in Brighton and Hove.

Councillors agreed to refer the petitions to the environment, transport and sustainability committee which is due to meet on Tuesday 21 June.