COUNCILLORS yesterday met for a final meeting over the future of a controversial cycle lane - and voted to scrap it.

Labour and the Conservative councillors on Brighton and Hove City Council voted two to one against the Greens to axe the temporary cycle lane on Old Shoreham Road.

Motorists who had gathered outside Hove Town Hall as the meeting took place were jubilant at the result, with climate activists disappointed that the route will be lost.

The cycle lane showdown saw Green councillor Amy Heley attack Labour's support for scrapping the lane as "full of hypocrisy" and opposition to the cycle lane as "shameful".

In her opening remarks at the meeting, Cllr Heley said removal of the lane would fly in the face of the council's climate target, as well as its public health commitment.

"It is about much more than just one cycle lane, this is about how we view the funding of the public services we are here to deliver for the benefit of our residents", she said.

"It is a great shame and an embarrassment to the city councillors of other parties decided investment in our city should rest on the insistence that a new safe travel route needs to go, when they know so much more is at stake."

The vote to remove the lane came despite a threat that government vital funding may be withheld if cycling schemes were not given enough time to "bed in".

Cllr Heley added the threat of funding cuts could also result in the council finding it more difficult to bid for funding in future.

She said: "This decision has the implication of stripping a council already suffering from years of budget cuts from access to public funding that residents not only deserve but desperately need."

Cllr Heley also said that stark warnings about the threats from climate change mean that "bold and brave decisions are needed" to prevent the worst effects of the climate emergency.

However, Labour councillor Gary Wilkinson said that such measures "cannot proceed without support of our communities."

He said: "We remain steadfast in our support of our residents, who have overwhelmingly told us that this lane does not work."

Conservative councillor Robert Nemeth described the introduction of the cycle lane as "undemocratic", and said thousands of residents near to the road have been subject to traffic, congestion and pollution and have complained about the lane's lack of usage.

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