Puzzled councillors have been demanding to know why significant amounts of public money have been spent on making the Queen’s Road-Houghton St-Talbot St cycle lanes more secure with permanent looking fixtures attached to the road replacing temporary bollards.

The scheme implemented without consultation under government Covid-emergency regulations has still not been properly evaluated.

This should have been done after 6 months according to the rules and, if judged unsuccessful, should be removed.

According to Lib Dem leader,Cllr. John Pugh, it seemed like monstrous arrogance by the Council to just assume that the scheme would be positively evaluated.

“If it gets the thumbs down, all the money spent would be down the drain.”

However it turns out that the order for the new more solid fixtures was placed over a year ago with the money offered by the government back in August 2020.

The supplier a firm called Rosehill then were working flat out then as the government tried to boost cycling.

They could not supply any to Sefton until much later at a cost of £84,350.

Former councillor Jo Barton commented,

"It appears that the funding comes out of the dedicated Active Travel monies doled out by the government during the Covid lockdown. Sefton was at the back of the queue.

It may still be a complete waste though if the scheme itself is reversed! "

Originally Posted by editor

Puzzled councillors have been demanding to know why significant amounts of public money have been spent on making the Queen’s Road-Houghton St-Talbot St cycle lanes more secure with permanent looking fixtures attached to the road replacing temporary bollards.

The scheme implemented without consultation under government Covid-emergency regulations has still not been properly evaluated.

This should have been done after 6 months according to the rules and, if judged unsuccessful, should be removed.

According to Lib Dem leader,Cllr. John Pugh, it seemed like monstrous arrogance by the Council to just assume that the scheme would be positively evaluated.

“If it gets the thumbs down, all the money spent would be down the drain.”

However it turns out that the order for the new more solid fixtures was placed over a year ago with the money offered by the government back in August 2020.

The supplier a firm called Rosehill then were working flat out then as the government tried to boost cycling.

They could not supply any to Sefton until much later at a cost of £84,350.

Former councillor Jo Barton commented,

"It appears that the funding comes out of the dedicated Active Travel monies doled out by the government during the Covid lockdown. Sefton was at the back of the queue.

It may still be a complete waste though if the scheme itself is reversed! "

I’m sure Sefton Council will have “plans afoot” to make sure that the scheme will not be reversed.

Originally Posted by justbecause

I’m sure Sefton Council will have “plans afoot” to make sure that the scheme will not be reversed.

I came across some of these yesterday. First impressions are that since they stand proud to the road, they could pose a real hazard to pedestrians in less well lit areas. The posts are very flexible - great playthings for the local youths.

Originally Posted by editor

Puzzled councillors have been demanding to know why significant amounts of public money have been spent on making the Queen’s Road-Houghton St-Talbot St cycle lanes more secure with permanent looking fixtures attached to the road replacing temporary bollards.

No puzzle at all......the first iteration of bollards were mysteriously 'uprooted' and spirited away by person/s unknown. Is it any surprise that the second time around, these bollards have a more substantial base, than the easy-to-unscrew originals?

Originally Posted by The PNP

No puzzle at all......the first iteration of bollards were mysteriously 'uprooted' and spirited away by person/s unknown. Is it any surprise that the second time around, these bollards have a more substantial base, than the easy-to-unscrew originals?

And you’ll be the first one whining when a cyclist come to grief.

Originally Posted by justbecause

And you’ll be the first one whining when a cyclist come to grief.

And we wait patiently for that to happen...