Southport MP calls on Sefton Council to accept cycle lane consultation results

Damien Moore MP calls on Sefton Council to ‘listen to the people of Southport and scrap controversial cycle lane plans’ following resounding rejection by residents.

Yesterday, Sefton Council published the long-awaited results of their cycle lane consultation, which took place over the summer.

Almost 4000 residents took part and shared their feedback, and the results confirmed that the vast majority oppose Sefton Council’s plans.

It has been revealed that not a single one of the changes proposed in the Southport consultation received more than 50% support. One question – asking for views on reducing the number of lanes at Churchtown Lights from two to one – saw an astonishing 85% of respondents say that they were either ‘not very happy’ or ‘not happy at all’.

The report describes the aim of the consultation as being to ‘determine whether there was broad acceptance of the proposals’ and ‘broad support from the general public’. The results show clearly that this is not the case, increasing the pressure on Sefton Council to announce an end to the plans.

Following the publication of the results, Southport’s MP Damien Moore has called on the Labour Cabinet Member for Locality Services, Cllr John Fairclough, to make clear that the council will not go against the clear wishes of the town’s residents.

Damien Moore MP said:

“There can be no doubt - Southport residents have resoundingly rejected the measures which the council have proposed.

“The Labour leadership of Sefton Council now have a very clear choice: listen to Southport, or impose their £1.35 million plans against our wishes.

Labour’s Cllr Fairclough, the decision maker on this issue, has recently come under fire for his comments about those who completed the consultation, saying:

“It seems to have been mainly people who fit a certain profile who have responded in large numbers”.

Damien Moore MP has made clear his concern at the slur:

“The comments from Cllr Fairclough were completely unacceptable, and display a strong lack of understanding by Labour of Southport’s demographics.

“It is true that respondents generally fell within the 40 – 80 age bracket, but that is because Southport as a town has the highest proportion of over-75s in the UK, and according to census data the age of the average person in the town is 50.

“All residents were asked to take part in this consultation, and all of their responses are valid regardless of age. We all knew that the consultation was taking place, and enough time was given for responses to be submitted. You can’t discard the results and try again just because you didn’t get the result you were hoping for.

“I call on Labour not to continue to drag this issue out. Make clear now that the plans are finished so that we can put this embarrassing episode to rest.”