Brighton & Hove City Council
Transport & Sustainability Committee
1.00pm21 June 2023
Council Chamber, Hove Town Hall
Minutes
Present: Councillor Muten (Chair) Czolak, Davis (Opposition Spokesperson), Asaduzzaman, Bagaeen, Grimshaw, Miller, Pumm, Robinson and Thomson
Part One
1 Procedural Business
1(a) Declarations of substitutes
1.1 Councillor Grimshaw was present as substitute for Councillor Wilkinson.
1.2 Councillor Czolak was present as substitute for Councillor Galvin.
1.3 Councillor Thomson was present as substitute for Councillor Loughran.
1(b) Declarations of interest
1.4 There were none.
1(c) Exclusion of press and public
1.5 In accordance with section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the Act”), the Committee considered whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during an item of business on the grounds that it was likely, in view of the business to be transacted or the nature of proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present during that item, there would be disclosure to them of confidential information (as defined in section 100A(3) of the Act) or exempt information (as defined in section 100(I) of the Act).
1.6 Resolved- That the press and public not be excluded.
2 Chairs Communications
2.1 The Chair provided the following communications:
“I wish to welcome all members and officers to the first meeting of the newly formed Transport and Sustainability Committee. The enormity of the agenda items on the former Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee as held by recent former administrations has meant that the proper attention to the full range of issues could not be held. Our environment is important. So, Labour has set up two committees to ensure proper focus and security can be achieved through the setting up on this committee and the City Environment, South Downs and the Sea Committee.
Thank you for attending this meeting at short notice. A need to review the A259 Hove Street to Wharf Road Active Travel Scheme has arisen; the contractor – RJ Dance (contractors) Ltd - is under contract and therefore we need to consider the proposals in this report as a matter of urgency to avoid ongoing costs. Therefore, this item should not wait until the next scheduled Transport and Sustainability Committee meeting on 6th July. I wish to thank officers who have managed to turn this around in a very short period to enable us to make our decision today.
The electorate of Brighton and Hove made a clear unambiguous choice on 4th May 2023. This city has put its faith in a party that listens; a party with vision and a party that sets out to restore basic services and deliver sustainable travel for all its residents.
As Chair of the Transport and Sustainability Committee; I want show leadership in how we treat people. How we refer to each other. The polemic divisive and sometime toxic comments between people who chose to cycle and those who choose to drive has no place in our welcoming diverse city. As an administration, we want to give people genuine freedom of choice; encouraging environmental considerations in choices made and to bring about affordable ways we chose to travel safely around our amazing city. As such I look forward to our discussion regarding the report on our agenda today”.
3 Public Involvement
No items of public involvement were received.
4 Member Involvement
No items from Members were received.
5 A259 Active Travel Improvement Scheme Fourth Avenue - Wharf Road
5.1 The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture that report provided an update on the A259 Fourth Avenue to Wharf Road Active Travel Scheme and made recommendations on how to proceed. This follows a request by the Administration to review the whole of the seafront pedestrian and cycle provision between West Street and Wharf Road. The aim is to further enhance the road layout to better support all road users including pedestrians and cyclists, by creating a bi-directional cycle lane for the whole route.
5.2 Councillors Davis, Bagaeen, Robinson, Pumm, Miller, Grimshaw, Asaduzzaman and Czolak asked questions and contributed to the debate of the report.
5.3 Councillor Davis moved a motion to request a recorded vote on the recommendations.
5.4 Councillor Bagaeen formally seconded the motion.
5.5 A recorded vote was undertaken with the following outcome:
Recommendation 2.1:
Councillor Asaduzzaman: For
Councillor Czolak: For
Councillor Miller: For
Councillor Thomson: For
Councillor Pumm: For
Councillor Robinson: For
Councillor Grimshaw: For
Councillor Bagaeen: Against
Councillor Davis: Against
Councillor Muten: For
Recommendation 2.2:
Councillor Asaduzzaman: For
Councillor Czolak: For
Councillor Miller: For
Councillor Thomson: For
Councillor Pumm: For
Councillor Robinson: For
Councillor Grimshaw: For
Councillor Bagaeen: Against
Councillor Davis: Against
Councillor Muten: For
Recommendation 2.3:
Councillor Asaduzzaman: For
Councillor Czolak: For
Councillor Miller: For
Councillor Thomson: For
Councillor Pumm: For
Councillor Robinson: For
Councillor Grimshaw: For
Councillor Bagaeen: Against
Councillor Davis: Against
Councillor Muten: For
Recommendation 2.4:
Councillor Asaduzzaman: Against
Councillor Czolak: Against
Councillor Miller: Against
Councillor Thomson: Against
Councillor Pumm: Against
Councillor Robinson: Against
Councillor Grimshaw: Against
Councillor Bagaeen: For
Councillor Davis: For
Councillor Muten: Against
5.6 Therefore recommendation 2.1, recommendation 2.2 and recommendation 2.3 were carried. Recommendation 2.4 failed.
5.7 Resolved-
1) That the Committee agrees to redesign the A259 Fourth Avenue to Wharf Road scheme.
2) That the Committee notes that significant additional funding will be required to redesign and deliver the final scheme. The final scheme design and funding requirements will be subject to a further report to this committee, including funding sources such as other external grant or reallocation of the Councils Programme.
3) That Committee delegates authority to the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture to take all steps necessary to terminate the current call-off Contract for the A259 Fourth Avenue to Wharf Road Active Travel Scheme and notes the financial implications of both the stand-down charges and termination fees as detailed in section 7 of this report.
6 Items referred for Full Council
6.1 Item 5: A259 Fourth Avenue to Wharf Road Active Travel Scheme was referred to Full Council for information.
The meeting concluded at 2.30pm