“Typical left-wing council ignoring the majority vote”: 28 cycle lanes given go-ahead at council meeting disrupted by locals protesting “ludicrous” decision

A meeting in which councillors gave the green signal to build 28 new cycle lanes was the scene of a protest against the infrastructure by a group of around 80 anti-bike lane campaigners, who described the plans as “ludicrous” and had to be urged by the local authority not to be abusive and rude.

The funding for the schemes has been provided via the government and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority grants, with 12 of the routes around Birkenhead planned to be delivered in the next seven years.

While Labour, Green, and Liberal Democrat councillors voted to move forward with the plans, the Conservatives continued their long-standing opposition against the plans, having previously branded the new cycling scheme around Birkenhead as “a monumental waste of taxes” and a “recipe for disaster”, and people advocating for them as the “Active Travel Taliban”.

Just a few months ago, a rather quirky resident from Wirral tested their penmanship by writing a bizarre anti-bike lane poem that was published in the local newspaper, protesting the “cycle crusade” council’s “absurd” and “crazy scheme”.

However, things took a turn at the Environment and Transport Committee meeting on Monday, when around 80 people showed up to show their discontent with the proposed cycling infrastructure, shouting at the councillors to scrap the plans in Wallasey.

Liverpool Echo reports that one woman was heard saying: “I have never heard such a load of crap in my life. I could be watching Emmerdale.”

> "They'll carry on with their cycle crusade, while we're stuck in the mess they made": Local paper publishes bizarre anti-bike lane poem protesting council's "new crazy scheme"

Dr Fred Newton, the GP at Grove Road Surgery, said that he was concerned about a proposed route through Wallasey arguing it could impact emergency services, put people off attending appointments, and potential bollards could create a risk of injury to elderly patients. Concerns were also raised about impacts on deliveries and parking.

Emma Gold, meanwhile, said that roads were already congested in Wirral and argued “the idea of cycle lanes in a community like ours is ludicrous for so many reasons,” adding: “We are a community and we will continue to make ourselves heard.” A petition against the plans was also put forward and signed by over 1,000 people.

However, the local authority had informed the public that it had shifted the priority of some plans “to reflect concerns raised”. The plans included in the proposal are also subject to further review, surveys, technical work, and public feedback with routes having the flexibility to be altered further down the line.

Residents in favour of the cycle lanes being built have also highlighted these factors, while also criticising the lack of responses from the general public. According to the council, Over 30,000 people had been reached through social media posts and 22,000 subscribers via email as well as eight in-person sessions but only 1,130 responded.

The councillors also raised concerns about the funding available for future road safety improvement and regeneration projects if the current plans were scrapped. Cllr Steve Foulkes said there was £1.6bn of investment coming down the line for the Liverpool City Region which would go into improving roads, pavements, and lights alongside any cycle lanes.

He said that the council was looking to make roads safer for everyone and “trying to future-proof our roads for the generations ahead,” adding: “All you can see is negatives because all you have been told about is the negatives.”

> “Such derogatory remarks have no place in a civilised society”: Councillor slammed for branding cycling campaigners “the Active Travel Taliban” and for “spreading unwarranted misinformation” about bike lane scheme

Cllr Allan Brame also argued that it was the council’s responsibility to make cycling safer, pointing to a comment from a member of the public that “no one in their right minds would currently cycle on Wirral’s roads”.

“We haven’t got many (cycle lanes) and the trouble with the ones we do have is they are totally disjointed,” he said. “They take you safely a few hundred yards and then they dump you in the middle of a busy, dangerous roundabout.”

He said the plans were looking to create through routes for people pointing to the experiences of his daughter in London who cycles to work with increasing numbers of people cycling, adding: “It’s a far bigger place than Wirral, it’s got far busier roads, it’s got lots of shops, it’s got lots of businesses and yet it can manage to get cycle routes where significant numbers of people are cycling.”

However, Conservatives strongly criticised the policy arguing the council needed to listen to the public. Cllr Vida Wilson said the Fender Lane cycle route near her ward was a “white elephant,” adding: “When are the majority going to realise that these cycle lanes aren’t supported by the majority of people in Wirral?”

> Controversial cycle lane ‘opposed’ by David Attenborough to go ahead after extremely narrow vote – as council says trees at centre of heated row are only being felled as “last resort”

Cllr Jenny Johnson said public response was appalling and called the policy “a complete fallacy,” adding: “We should be going back to the drawing board and doing it properly.” Citing statistics showing low numbers of people cycling each week in Wirral, she questioned “where are the cyclists?” and “why on earth are we creating cycle lanes when the people of Wirral do not cycle?”

She argued there was a lack of evidence supporting the plans and accused councillors of trying to quell opposition, adding: “Sometimes it’s good to turn away from funding when the funding isn’t what the people want.”

Previously, local Tory leader Green claimed that the “majority” of residents were “against the scheme”, describing some of the project’s design elements – such as floating bus stops – as a “recipe for disaster”. He said that “in spite of the ‘Active Travel Taliban’, residents remain opposed to the loss of parking, pedestrian crossings, and trees that this scheme would require.”

Ed Lamb, a Green Party councillor for the Wirral, responded to Green’s comments on social media, saying: “As I’ve said at a couple of recent talks, some elected folks just do not ever want this stuff to happen – even if they have voted otherwise in the past!

“They are not serious about regeneration, health, climate, and we are allowed to ignore them. On Wirral, there is no overall control. Tories often hold a lot of sway on committee items. This one? Let’s hope not…”