Work on a new Central London cycleway is to progress as planned following a call-in by opposition councillors.
Three Conservative Marylebone ward members had requested a review of the decision to approve Cycleway 43 (Section B), to be installed along George Street between Edgware Road and Gloucester Place.
Westminster councillors Barbara Arzymanow, Ian Rowley and Karen Scarborough triggered the call-in over concerns including the timing of the consultation, loss of parking space and the impacts of the expected pedestrianisation of Oxford Street.
Members sitting on the Climate Action, Environment and Highways Policy and Scrutiny Committee however decided that no further action was necessary, meaning the scheme is free to proceed and will not be referred back to the Cabinet Member for Streets, Max Sullivan.
Cllr Sullivan, who rubber stamped the project last month, said the decision “was a vote of confidence in our plans to deliver a safer, more pleasant street for walking and cycling on George Street”.
Costed at around £1.5million the cycleway is to be delivered by Westminster City Council in partnership with Transport for London (TfL).
It will include a range of upgrades geared towards improving the environment for pedestrians and cyclists, from reallocating kerbside space and widening footways to the segregated cycle lane.
Permission for a new cycleway running between Bayswater Road and Gloucester Place was granted by the council in December 2021.
According to a report the route underwent further public consultation in 2023, in response to which George Street was chosen as the best option to introduce the cycle lane.
While the original consultation, which received more than 1,400 responses, indicated overall support for the scheme, a more local Traffic Management Order (TMO) consultation suggested significant opposition.
One person responding to the TMO, which received 153 responses, wrote they “cannot think of anything more ludicrous than this proposal”, adding: “In all this promotion of cyclists, there is no control over their behaviour and until that is addressed, pandering to them is at the cost of motorists and pedestrians.”
The three ward councillors also submitted an objection letter, writing: “The Marylebone Councillors cannot support this badly designed and poorly thought-out proposal. If the Cabinet Member was confident about these proposals short cuts would not have been made.
“For example, we note not all the information was provided at the time of the consultation launch and excluding parents at the school on the corner of Bryanston Square and George Street also raises questions.”
In a report published ahead of the scrutiny meeting, officers responded to each of the five points raised by the ward councillors.
These related to the timing of the TMO consultation, the maps, or drawings, published before and after the consultation, the widths of the vehicle highways and cycleway, loss of resident parking spaces on George Street, and the potential impacts of the expected Oxford Street scheme.
Officers’ responses outlined the details of the consultation plus the work done to ensure vehicle access is maintained on George Street.
They also noted there is a relatively low car ownership rate around George Street, and that the removal of parking spaces is not expected to result in occupancy rates of more than 80 per cent.
On the proposed pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, officers wrote there is no evidence the potential impacts of the scheme will make the cycleway ‘unsound’.
They added: “The potential prohibition of cycling along the pedestrianised section of Oxford Street necessitates the enhancement of alternative east-west cycling routes which the Council and the Mayor are working together to provide to both the north and south of Oxford Street.
“George Street, due to its proximity and connectivity, is likely to become one of several important alternative routes for cycling, reinforcing the importance of high-quality, continuous cycling infrastructure along demand corridors.”
Cllr Sullivan, speaking at Tuesday night’s (October 14) scrutiny meeting, told members that proposals for a cycleway in the area had undergone several rounds of consultation prior to approval being granted.
Asked by Chair Cllr Jason Williams whether he had any concerns about the TMO consultation crossing into the school holidays, Cllr Sullivan said: “We have had multiple rounds of consultation. Clearly there are different school holiday periods for different schools across the summer period. The work of the council can’t completely come to a halt for several months each summer in order to facilitate that.”
Cllr Tim Mitchell, a Conservative member of the scrutiny committee, said that while the Tory group is not against cycleways “in principle”, they remain concerned about this particular proposal and the consultation period held over the summer.
He added that in addition to the objections received as part of the TMO consultation, the committee had received representations from more than 50 parents over the previous 36 hours opposing the scheme.
Cllr Sullivan put to Cllr Mitchell that while he claimed not to be against cycleways in principle, “I would challenge you to tell me where in practice you’re in favour of cycle lanes, because so far I haven’t heard any of that”.
Cllr Arzymanow, asking questions on behalf of the three ward members, queried whether the width of the carriageway and cycle lane would be sufficient under Cllr Sullivan’s plans.
Cllr Sullivan confirmed the carriageway widths will meet established guidelines.
On the cycle lanes, he acknowledged that at some sections of George Street they will be at the minimum safe operating width, though said there will be further widening where possible.
He also accused Cllr Arzymanow of spreading a “dangerous, factually inaccurate claim” during consultation, namely that the works would not enable lorries, emergency services or waste recycling vehicles to pass one another.
He said: “That is dangerous misinformation which you were spreading during consultation, and it’s not true.”
Cllr Arzymanow told members George Street sees a lot of loading and unloading from vehicles, and that the primary demographic is the elderly.
“They will be trying to get a taxi, they will have to walk over the cycleway, and then you’ve got the utility vehicles of greater width,” she said. “There’s just not enough room on George Street for this ambitious scheme.”
Cllr Arzymanow added that morning she had come across a woman with a walking frame living locally who said it takes her five to 10 minutes to get from the reception of her building to her taxi, and that having to cross an additional cycle lane will be “very, very distressing”.
Cllr Arzymanow at one stage also tried to question Cllr Sullivan about him determining the handing over of Oxford Street to TfL not to be a key issue, meaning it could not be called-in, though this was prevented by the Chair.
The scrutiny committee voted along party lines to take no further action and not return the decision back to Cllr Sullivan.
In a video sent to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) following the meeting, Michael Bolt of the Marylebone Association said he was “really disappointed” with the outcome.
He said: “We don’t think, and the residents here don’t think, it’s the right place for it.”
He added there are concerns about coaches and buses filling much of the carriageway and that George Street, as it stands, gets “very few cyclists”.
He said: “A lot of disruption for the residents with very little benefit for cyclists and people who want to use this area. We just don’t agree with this.”
Cllr Sullivan told the LDRS: “[Tuesday’s] committee decision was a vote of confidence in our plans to deliver a safer, more pleasant street for walking and cycling on George Street. And it’s desperately needed – Westminster has the highest number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads of any London borough.
“We’ve engaged with resident feedback and made the scheme better as a result. Meanwhile the local Conservatives have spread misinformation and fear, now opposing the scheme they themselves initiated when they were in power. This Labour council was elected on a mandate to make walking and cycling safer and more pleasant, and we make no apology for getting on and delivering it.”
The implementation of Section A of Cycleway 43, which is to run between Bayswater Road and Edgware Road in the Hyde Park ward, was approved in July.
At the time of its approval last month, it was hoped work on Section B would begin in October and be completed by February 2026.
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