Decarbonisation or Detour? Controversy Surrounds Southport Promenade Renovation

The new scheme to revamp the Promenade is likely to be more problematic than it seems at first sight. 

That is the view of John Pugh, Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Sefton. He has asked Sefton to extend the consultation period which is less than a month and finishes on Friday. He argues that the scheme may not help decarbonisation and may in its current form generate other problems. 

“Many people in the area are still unaware of the schemes impacts. Critically it will end right turns out of Neville St and Marine Parade for cars in order to give bikes clear priority.

Limiting access by car to Ocean Plaza from the Promenade defeats the purpose of re-building the Marine Parade Bridge back 20 years ago. Ocean Plaza was built originally at a time when the Pier was the only link from the Promenade. The old Edwardian bridge had corroded away. The new bridge was seen as a significant economic boost to the development of and access to Ocean Plaza. Now many visitors in cars will have to make circuitous journeys and increase their carbon footprint.

A small span of cycle track down the middle of part of the Promenade dotted with pedestrian crossings may and probably will look attractive, but any real time cyclist will have to quickly adjust to normality and traffic at either end of that short span. With a major increase in the number of pedestrian crossings planned too, the cyclist will have to stop more times than with the current system. 

A seriously additional worry is that an increasing volume of 'cross town' traffic is going to be channelled along Lord St as the Promenade is made harder for cars.

Beautifying the space in front of of the new £72M Events Centre and making that the priority seems symptomatic of a 'putting all your eggs in one basket’ philosophy,  when there are so many other things that need doing. "

Cllr. Pugh added, “ We also risk  repeating the mistakes of  the cycle lane fiasco  -just doing stuff because the external funding is there. Sefton are plugging here into a multi-million pound pot for transport that focuses on cycling and decarbonisation. 

However, if all you do just makes cars go the long way to Ocean Plaza, you are not reducing carbon emissions.