Sefton council press office criticised over Promenade cycle row

Normally Sefton Council’s press department concentrates on telling us useful information about what is happening in Sefton, keeping us posted on bin changes, leisure opportunities, community welfare etc but more recently has been pressed into fighting political battles for Sefton's beleaguered, Labour administration.

A prime example of this was an attack this week issued by the Council’s press department by Cabinet Member, Cllr.Hart, on the opposition leader of Sefton, Liberal Democrat , Cllr.John Pugh-  over comments he made on the cycle route, planned by Sefton to run down part of the middle of the Promenade. Cllr.Pugh made the point that cycle routes down the middle of major roads are pretty well unheard of elsewhere in the UK for fairly obvious reasons.  

“I’m well used to being criticised by political opponents and other parties”, says Cllr Pugh, “ but not usually by the Council’ s press department who we all as council tax payers fund. The normal expectation is that we politicians do our own PR."

"The sadness of this is,” Cllr Pugh continues," that I entirely appreciate the point Cllr. Hart was trying to make and we are not actually disagreeing on that much.

 We both accept that the Promenade scheme is about far more than a cycle route and the works certainly encompass far more than putting down a path. 

The big question is how it stacks up as cycle scheme because a crucial element of the funding for it comes from the Active Travel Fund which is a government fund set up by the national government to encourage walking and cycling.

My view as a Southport councillor who cycles is that there may be more appropriate, less disruptive and more effective ways of doing so in Southport. 

Cllr. Hart,  as a Maghull councillor in charge of the Council’s Highway policy, takes issue with that view.

If, however, Cllr Hart were to propose a cycle right path down only part of the middle of a major Maghull road, be intersected by several pedestrian crossings and parallel to another existing completely 'car free' cycle route, I don’t think Maghull and Lydiate residents would hold him in the high repute they do. They would think he had taken leave of his senses - especially if he then went on and told them the existing cycle track would be out of action for 105 weeks while the new scheme was being built.

There may be compensating benefits of the Promenade scheme in the beautification of the part of the Promenade opposite the new Conference Centre and I have stressed that. 

But there are also associated problems of access for cars to and from Ocean Plaza and from the Promenade to Lord St which residents have not been slow to point out. 

In order to evaluate the project we must ask why are Sefton really doing it. Is it to 'shoe horn' more money into the Events Centre scheme or is it primarily about encouraging cycling which is how it is usually presented to councillors and public alike ?  

You can argue for both,  but it’s a moot question whether the Department of Transport whose limited funds to encourage cycling are being used to help ultimately finance the scheme would be altogether happy with a project that has such limited benefits to local cyclists and duplicates an existing route. Might they, not at worst, feel Sefton was getting their money on false pretences ? "