“Such derogatory remarks have no place in a civilised society”: Councillor slammed for branding cycling campaigners “the Active Travel Taliban” and for “spreading unwarranted misinformation” about bike lane scheme

The Labour leader of Wirral Council has hit back at a Conservative member of the local authority who claimed that the “Active Travel Taliban” is behind plans to introduce a new continuous cycle lane in the borough against residents’ wishes, and that the project is a “monumental waste of taxes” – as the Labour councillor accused his Tory counterpart of “spreading unwarranted misinformation” about the plans and argued that “such derogatory remarks have no place in a civilised society”.

Last week, Wirral Council Conservative leader Jeff Green branded the Labour-run local authority’s plans for a protected cycle lane connecting Birkenhead and Liscard, which will be discussed this week in a meeting of the council’s environment and transport committee, as “bonkers” and claimed “there is no desire” for the active travel infrastructure in areas it will pass through.

The proposed 3.5-mile new cycle lane, which forms phase one of a wider active travel project hoping to link Birkenhead to New Brighton, will “make streets safer for local people and provide high quality facilities for pedestrians and cyclists”, says Wirral Council.

The proposals, which were approved in 2022, but have so far failed to develop beyond this initial phase, aim to tie into a broader regeneration scheme and help “deliver a sustainable left bank of the Mersey which includes increased levels of journeys being undertaken by active modes as a key part of the vision”.

Funded by active travel grants awarded to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, a recent Wirral Council environment committee report said that the £10m scheme needed to be delivered between 2027 and 2032, or Wirral could face “losing out on a significant funding opportunity”.

A recent consultation exercise received only 366 responses, with 45 per cent of respondents supporting the plans, compared to 44 per cent who voiced their opposition, and 11 per cent who were neutral on the issue. In Birkenhead, 75 per cent of respondents were in favour, but in Liscard 62 per cent opposed the plans.

However, over 50 per cent of residents who responded to the consultation either agreed or strongly agreed that the council should improve roads, cycle lanes, and footways to “help people who wish to walk and cycle achieve a more active lifestyle”.

> Are people who want safe cycle lanes the “Active Travel Taliban”? One local Conservative leader thinks so, as he brands new cycling scheme “a monumental waste of taxes” and a “recipe for disaster” – but cyclists say he’s “wildly out of touch with reality”

However, speaking after the results of the consultation were published, local Tory leader Green claimed that the “majority” of residents were “against the scheme”, describing some of the project’s design elements – such as floating bus stops – as a “recipe for disaster”.

“In February, I was invited by Cllr. Ian Lewis to meet with him, and the Leader of the Council, and the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and hear their concerns over this proposal,” Green said last week.

“It was clear then that the proposals for so-called floating bus stops and sharing the pedestrianised Liscard Precinct with cyclists is a recipe for disaster.”

> Warning government considering ban on floating bus stops "could stop new protected cycle lanes"

He continued: “Following complaints from local councillors, the Town Hall was forced to re-run the consultation and the results are, frankly, damning.

“The views of residents are clear – this is a monumental waste of taxes. A scheme that does not command the support a majority of the people most affected is not, in my view, viable. Wirral Council does not ‘know best’ – we exist to serve our residents.

“And in spite of the ‘Active Travel Taliban’, residents remain opposed to the loss of parking, pedestrian crossings, and trees that this scheme would require.”

Green’s Conservative colleague Lesley Rennie also said the cycle lane “will be a disaster for residents and all road users”.

> Councillor suggests mandatory number plates and penalty points for cyclists — so that bikes are on “level playing field with lorries, vans and cars”

Green’s claims and inflammatory language were widely condemned on social media by cyclists and active travel campaigners, who heralded them as evidence that “the Tories are wildly out of touch with reality”.

Responding to what he described as the local Conservative Party’s latest attempt to “rally yet again to block/delay local active travel infrastructure”, Ed Lamb, a Green Party councillor for the Wirral, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “As I’ve said at a couple of recent talks, some elected folks just do not ever want this stuff to happen – even if they have voted otherwise in the past!

“They are not serious about regeneration, health, climate, and we are allowed to ignore them. On Wirral there is no overall control. Tories often hold a lot of sway on committee items. This one? Let’s hope not…”

> On your bike! How did the politicians who made questionable comments about cycling get on at the general election?

And following Green’s comments, the council’s leader Paul Stuart noted that the government grant-funded project is still subject to a “thorough” review before it is approved, which will seek to ascertain its “value for money”, and that the scheme “encompasses more than just a cycle lane”, Birkenhead News reports.

“Characterising this as a foregone conclusion and inferring that council taxpayers are funding this scheme only serves to spread unwarranted misinformation,” Stuart said.

“Cllr Green fails to acknowledge that this grant money is earmarked explicitly for projects of this nature. Failing to explore grant funding opportunities in Wirral would constitute a squandered opportunity that would otherwise require the grant funding to be returned before any serious consideration has been given to schemes it has been awarded for.”

He continued: “It is not acceptable that Cllr Green resorted to labelling any individual, including our residents, as ‘Active Travel Taliban’. While people will have differing opinions, such derogatory remarks have no place in a civilised society.”