..IN THE
NEWS...IN THE NEWS LABOUR COUNCILLOR BLASTS
BRIGHTON’S NEW SEAFRONT CYCLE LANE
Five Labour council- lors have criticised Brighton’s seafront cycle lane. They said that putting in a cycle lane next to the existing one at the expense of a lane of traffic was “ideo- logically driven, poorly planned and totally unnecessary”. Cr Jackie O’Quinn, the former chair of the Licensing Com- mittee on Brighton and Hove City Coun- cil, said: “I am writing on behalf of all the local taxi drivers who at pre- sent are having an unacceptably diffi- cult time working in the city due to the mayhem and grid-
lock that has been created by the clo- sure of two lanes of the seafront stretch of the A259. “This was done to create a ‘temporary’ cycle lane which would purportedly make social distanc- ing easier so comes under the covid-19 emergency banner. “Although many wonder how it actu- ally achieves that, as it is hardly used, with cyclists prefer- ring to use the cycling lane that was already there. “There have been strong signs that the cycle lane will actu- ally become perm- anent and be ex-
tended further along the seafront, caus- ing even more havoc. “I have been a mem- ber of the Licensing Committee for over five years and was chair for four years and am now opposi- tion spokesperson. “During that time, I have done my best to stand up for the taxi trade with the help of other mem- bers Licensing Com- mittee members. “We have stood up to Uber, we have fought to get a bet- ter deal over the train station for taxi drivers and recently we wrote to a gov- ernment minister to ask that money was
made available for taxi drivers for per- spex screens and PPE, especially as many taxi drivers are of BAME origin and therefore espe- cially vulnerable to Covid-19. “We were met with a very disappointing and loud silence. “During lockdown there were only 27 per cent of local taxi drivers working and, even then, the pick- ings were slim. “Many taxi drivers were on the edge of despair as they fell through the gaps in many of the assis- tance schemes from the government. “Finally, lockdown
ended and taxi drivers hoped for recovery, which look- ed likely until the double whammy of the closure of two lanes on the A259. “This is a main arte- rial road and as such it needs the traffic to run smoothly. Unfortunately,
it
does no such thing currently and is causing misery not only to taxi drivers but to countless other people trying to get across the city as the impact of the closures affects many of the sur- rounding roads. “Please remember our taxi drivers are a lifeline for the dis-
abled and vulner- able and are vital for the tourist trade. “If we want the city to recover economi- cally, we need to be a lot smarter tand keep the city moving. “By all means have cycle lanes but let’s use some common sense, consultation and compromise in order to establish where they can work best without causing conflict bet- ween drivers and cyclists and putting the city’s economic recovery at risk.” The statement was also signed by three other Labour mem- bers of the Licensing Committee.
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