County council settles cycle litigation

West Sussex County Council has agreed to pay £25,000 in legal costs after settling a court case about the removal of a popup cycleway.

The cycleway was installed in Upper Shoreham Road, Shoreham, in September, 2020.

It was one of six in the county paid for using grant money from the government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund.

By January last year it was gone, after a public backlash prompted the council to remove them all.

The move did not sit well with Cycling UK, which sought a judicial review, accusing the council of acting illegally and ignoring government guidance.

Last Wednesday, the charity announced that the council had chosen to settle the case ahead of a High Court hearing.

Cycling UK’s solicitors Leigh Day said a court order had been made upholding the claim that the council did not follow statutory guidance when it decided to dismantle the cycle lane.

Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s head of campaigns, said: “In Shoreham, Cycling UK has drawn a line in the sand, showing there are repercussions for councils which ignore government guidance. Hopefully, West Sussex County Council’s acceptance they acted illegally will put a stop to short-sighted decisions like this happening across other parts of the UK.”

While some proved unpopular, Cycling UK said the Shoreham lane was used for more than 30,000 cycle trips and featured in a government publicity video highlighting the community benefits of the lanes during lockdown.

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said: “We have settled the court case so as to avoid further cost to the public purse in relation to a decision taken some time ago and which has no implications for other proposals or schemes.

“We have accepted that we should have included in a council report a clearer account of government guidance and its effect before taking the decision.

“This may or may not have led to a different a decision about the temporary cycleway in Shoreham.”

The spokesman added that there was no prospect of the cycleway being restored.

“He said: “The declaration therefore has no significance other than to resolve the litigation Cycling UK chose to undertake.

“We decided to minimise costs by making the declaration rather than have the matter go to a further hearing where the best outcome Cycling UK could reasonably have achieved would have been the declaration now agreed.”