Opposition Anger As Hove Travel Meeting Remains A Mystery

Opposition councillors in Brighton & Hove have criticised Labour for a lack of transparency as they have been given no information about a special meeting 24 hours before it is due to start.

Green and Conservative councillors are frustrated they have no details about tomorrow’s Transport and Sustainability Committee meeting, which only appeared on the calendar after 5pm last Friday.

An agenda marked with a “report to follow” was published at 11.34am on Tuesday 20 June, with the A259 active travel improvement scheme between Fourth Avenue and Wharf Road, Hove as the sole item.

A Labour press release sent out more than an hour after the agenda – but before the report was published – confirmed it is a redesign of the scheme to allow two-way cycle lanes while keeping road traffic as it is.

The £475,000 project approved in September 2022 was funded with £171,000 from the government’s Active Travel Fund and £304,000 from the council’s Local Transport Plan fund.

It includes a separate cycle lane, an extra 70 cycle parking spaces – some for specially adapted bicycles – and 26 parking spaces for blue badge holders.

Green group convenor councillor Steve Davis, the opposition spokesman on the committee, said councillors have not been given enough time to scrutinise any decision.

The former chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability (ETS) Committee said:

“There’s a lot that isn’t clear right now, but the lack of transparency from the Labour administration forces us to assume that they are scheduling a special meeting with the hopes to rush through a decision.

“It’s unclear whether a report is still being written the day before the meeting or whether a report has been written and is being intentionally withheld to minimise scrutiny.

“Either way, councillors from all parties will have little time to look at the report. Even more importantly, the public won’t get the chance to input into whatever decision is being proposed.

“This is a concern for the business of the Transport Committee, but it’s also a worrying precedent. Labour might be the biggest group, but they still owe it to the council and to the city to be scrutinised for the decisions they want to make.”

Committee member Conservative councillor Samer Bagaeen also tweeted his concerns to the Local Government Chronicle and Active Travel England, stating councillors usually have the information they need at least five days before a meeting.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Councillor Bagaeen said:

“I’m very disappointed with the administration’s position that normally open and transparent ways of working can be swept aside and both scrutiny and information can be stymied and withheld intentionally on this important matter of active travel funding.

“The council has a lot to answer for.”

Councillor Bagaeen was sceptical about public support for the proposed cycle lane extension when the old ETS Committee voted it through in September 2022.

At the time, he highlighted there were 38 supporting responses out of a total of 48.

Transport and Sustainability Committee deputy chair Labour councillor Gary Wilkinson was also critical at the time, raising concerns about “floating bus stops”.

The chair of the council’s Transport and Sustainability Committee, Councillor Trevor Muten, said:

“The chair of the Committee may call a special meeting of the committee or sub-committee as the case may be at any time.

“The agenda for tomorrow’s meeting has been published and the item to be received at the meeting is a report on A259 Active Travel Improvement Scheme Fourth Avenue – Wharf Road.

“The committee report is currently being sent to members and being made available to the public council website.

“It will be clear from the report why a shortened time frame was required.”

The special Transport and Sustainability Committee meeting is due to start at 1pm at Hove Town Hall on Wednesday 21 June. The meeting is scheduled for webcast on the council website.