Issue - items at meetings - Active Travel Fund - Old Shoreham Road

Report of the Executive Director for Economy, Environment & Culture.

RESOLVED:

(1)           That the removal of the Phase 1 temporary cycle  lane on the Old Shoreham Road be agreed and that officers be instructed to take all steps necessary or incidental to the removal of the cycle lane a soon as reasonably practicable, and

(2)           That council officers be instructed to urgently develop and provide committee Members with proposed criteria for any further consultations and data reporting in relation to future active travel measures, in order to demonstrateempirical evidence to support a balanced analysis.

5.1          The Assistant Director, City Transport introduced the report which had resulted from a decision of the Special Environment, Transport & Sustainability (ET&S) Committee held on the 21^st July 2021 and concerned the potential closure of the cycle lane on the Old Shoreham Road. He noted that the report covered the sustainability, equalities, legal and financial considerations associated with the removal of the cycle lane and also referenced recent government guidance issued to local authorities. One aspect being that the £278k funding allocated by the government could be withdrawn should the decision be taken to remove the cycle lane. He also noted additional information had been circulated with the addendum papers which detailed further correspondence from the government and its position in relation to the removal of cycle lanes installed as part of the Active Travel response to the pandemic. He stated that having taken into account the various considerations it was proposed that the cycle lane should be retained, and further monitoring undertaken with the results reported back to a future meeting of the ET&S committee.

5.2          The Chair then asked the Monitoring Officer to clarify the legal position and duty of the sub-committee in reaching a decision on the matter.

5.3          The Monitoring Officer reminded the Members of the Sub-Committee that they had three choices before them, to retain the cycle lane, to remove the cycle lane or to remove part of the cycle lane. In making their decision, Members needed to be mindful of all of the relevant considerations that had been outlined in the report and previous reports as well as the Council’s policies on climate change, reduction of carbon emissions and its own Active Travel programme. There were too many to list, but Members needed to be satisfied that they had all the information and had taken this into account when reaching their decision.

5.4          The Chair noted that there were two amendments which were detailed in the addendum papers and invited Councillor Wilkinson to move the Labour amendment.

5.5          Councillor Wilkinson moved an amendment on behalf of the Labour Group which was formally seconded by Councillor Nemeth.

5.6          Councillor Nemeth moved an amendment on behalf of the Conservative Group which was formally seconded by Councillor Wilkinson.

5.7          The Chair then called a short adjournment at 11.27am.

5.8          The Chair reconvened the meeting at 11.30am.

5.9          Councillor Wilkinson thanked officers for the report and noted that a great deal of work had gone into producing it for the urgency sub-committee. He then outlined the reasons why the Labour Group believed in the need for the cycle lane to be removed and for the Council to take on board the views of residents albeit that they were in contradiction to those of the government. He felt that the Council was best placed to acknowledge where a temporary measure had not been successful and to respond to local views and to work with communities to improve their environment. It was therefore the right course of action to take in removing the cycle lane.

5.10      The Chair noted that there were no other comments and asked the Head of Democratic Services to undertake a vote on the amendments.

5.11      The Head of Democratic Services put the Conservative Group’s amendment to the vote which was carried by 2 votes to 1.

5.12      The Head of Democratic Services put the Labour Group’s amendment to the vote which was carried by 2 votes to 1.

5.13      The Head of Democratic Services then circulated a revised set of recommendations which took account of both amendments being carried and then put the revised recommendations as amended to the vote which was carried by 2 votes to 1.

5.14      RESOLVED:

(1)       That the removal of the Phase 1 temporary cycle  lane on the Old Shoreham Road be agreed and that officers be instructed to take all steps necessary or incidental to the removal of the cycle lane a soon as reasonably practicable, and

(2)       That council officers be instructed to urgently develop and provide committee Members with proposed criteria for any further consultations and data reporting in relation to future active travel measures, in order to demonstrateempirical evidence to support a balanced analysis.

5.15      The Chair noted the decision and brought the meeting to an end.