Council motion to delay cycle lanes defeated

A council motion filed by the Liberal Democrats that would have delayed the consultation and potential implementation of cycle lanes in Southport has been defeated.

At a full council meeting in Crosby on Thursday evening, Cllr John Pugh submitted a motion to delay the plans until they were considered by a cross-party working group.

Cllr Pugh introduced his motion suggesting that he was offering the Council a way out of their “dilemma” over cycle lanes.

Cabinet member John Fairclough warned the room of the dangers of global warming, citing that Sefton Council lost 13m of coastal land due to climate change in the last year. The room was informed that 40% of local car trips were under 2 miles.

Cllr Fairclough said that Sonya Kelly, who was elected for Labour in Birkdale in this year’s local elections, had recommended he submit the decision to the Council scrutiny committee at the end of the consultation process.

Labour councillor for Kew Sean Halsall, who was recently elected as chair of the Southport Labour CLP, spoke briefly to concur with Cllr Fairclough’s statements over the climate emergency.

Sinclair d’Albuquerge, Conservative councillor for Cambridge disputed the Council’s assertion that cycle journeys on the installed lanes had increased, suggesting issues with the presented data. He suggested that an increase was to be expected as compilation of stats started in the winter and journeys increased to the summer.

Cllr Prendergast said that local residents were not asking for a moratorium, but rather that the consultation proposals were halted outright.

A Conservative amendment that would have seen the full withdrawal of the proposals was defeated.

The full motion was well defeated with only members from the Liberal Democrats voting in favour, while Sefton’s Conservatives abstained.