A row broke out between members of the public and the city councillors over disagreements surrounding large amounts of money being poured into cycling schemes.
Last Wednesday, after the formal arrangement discussions ended at the East Local Area Committee at Arbourthorne Social Centre, the public began to ask questions with many expressing their annoyance.
Some said they believed that the council was not spending enough money on more important issues that are impacting people, for example the housing crisis, instead spending money on environmental schemes that aren’t as important to them.
One member of the public at the meeting said: “These projects look pretty but they’re not helping the people in the city.”
Councillor Mary Lea responded by referring to one of the projects, the Dutch roundabout at West Bar in the city centre. that opened in December 2024, which has dedicated bike lanes and pedestrian crossings.
This project cost £18 million and started in April 2023, making it the third Dutch roundabout in the country.
The improvements were delivered as part of the council’s plan to improve sustainable links between the city centre and the Kelham and Neepsend area.
She said: “It’s only because we had a special grant from the government that enabled that to be done.
“There are a lot of cyclists in the city and we do want to increase cycling, we’ve got a climate emergency and we are doing everything we can to address that.”
However, the members of the public did not appear to be satisfied with her response, all agreeing that their voices are not being listened to.
The man added: “It’s alright batting these questions off and saying we’re not here to answer that but that’s the whole point of these meetings, to bring this stuff up.”
People need to speak up for these local residents, and as the public we will not be silenced.”
Councillor Lea explained how younger people are ‘as important’ as the people in the room and states that the council believes there are lots of cyclists in the city.
She said: “We are listening to you and that’s what these meetings are about to address these issues.”
