Council makes ‘no apology’ for giving the go-ahead for cycle safety measure
Plan has faced school protests from parents and opposition councillors
Tuesday, 21st October — By Tom Foot
A SAFE cycling lane is set to go ahead despite school protests from parents and opposition councillors.
The Cycleway 43 scheme – between Edgware Road and Gloucester Place in Marylebone – had been “called-in” by the Conservative group following complaints.
Ward councillors Barbara Arzymanow, Ian Rowley and Karen Scarborough said they had moved following concerns raised by more than 50 parents at Wetherby Prep School worried about cyclists zipping through George Street.
Cabinet councillor Max Sullivan defended the scheme saying he would give no apology for introducing cycle safety measures.
An objection letter from the three ward councillors said: “The Marylebone councillors cannot support this badly designed and poorly thought-out proposal.
“If the cabinet member was confident about these proposals short-cuts would not have been made.
“Not all the information was provided at the time of the consultation launch and excluding parents at the school on the corner of Bryanston Square and George Street also raises questions.”
There were also concerns that the coming pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, which is expected to create traffic chaos in Marylebone, had not been factored into the planning of the project.
A report from the council had acknowledged that the Mayor of London’s proposal for Oxford Street, which will also ban cycling, would make George Street “one of several important alternative routes for cycling”.
Of the 153 responding to the consultation, just 13 were in favour, a meeting of the climate action scrutiny committee heard on Tuesday.
Permission for a new cycleway running between Bayswater Road and Gloucester Place was granted by the council in December 2021. But the scheme was reviewed in 2023 leading to George Street being included for the first time.
At the hearing, Cllr Sullivan said: “I make no apology. I was elected on a manifesto to make walking and cycling safer. I make no apology for delivering on those commitments. We are moving forward into delivery. That’s all I’ll say in the report.”
After the hearing Cllr Sullivan said: “The committee’s decision was a vote of confidence in our plans to deliver a safer, more pleasant street for walking and cycling on George Street.
“And it is desperately needed, Westminster has the highest number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads of any London borough.
“Most of those people killed and seriously injured are travelling on foot or by bicycle, and they are killed and seriously injured when colliding with cars and goods vehicles.”
Cllr Sullivan said the Conservatives had “spread misinformation and fear” about the scheme that they had supported while in power, adding: “This Labour council was elected on a mandate to make walking and cycling safer and more pleasant, and we make no apology for getting on and delivering it.”
