CALLS have been made for two senior councillors to resign over their handling of Chester’s active travel lanes.

They come after Cheshire West and Chester’s full council meeting voted last night (February 25) to ‘pause’ the lanes and ‘to commission further investigations into solutions to improve Active Travel’ in Upton and Boughton.

At the meeting, Conservative Cllr Neil Sullivan called on Cllr Karen Shore and Cllr Matt Bryan to resign from their cabinet positions, with an online petition from the People Against Travel Lanes Chester campaign group echoing those sentiments.

The petition says: “Since the bungled attempt to implement Bus Lanes on Boughton and Liverpool these two councillors have done nothing but hold the residents of Cheshire West and Chester in contempt. 

“Both councillors are ultimately responsible for the failure of leadership, they lack both the skills and tenacity to be in leadership positions and should resign from their respective portfolios immediately in order to restore the public’s faith in the council.”

It adds that the group believes the pair are ‘no longer in with the views of residents’, have been ‘unprofessional and think resorting to personal attacks on residents is acceptable’, and ‘have lead an incompetent and slow response to rising public concern’.

Cllr Shore is deputy leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways & Strategic Transport, whereas Cllr Bryan is the Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning & Climate Emergency.

A summary of the meeting from Local Democracy Reporter Ethan Davies

In response, Cllr Shore said: “Cllr Sullivan’s call for resignations is nothing short of political opportunism to deflect from his Government’s failures to allow local authorities to implement the schemes on a timescale that would have allowed greater engagement with local communities. 

“Cllr Sullivan’s behaviour, and that of his colleagues, has lowered the level of public discourse on this matter and the result is very personal attacks which represent a deterioration in this debate to what can only be described as bullying and harassment. I hope residents see this behaviour and this petition for what it really is. 

“Listening is not about being shouted down by the loudest voices. Leadership is about staying calm, being level-headed and creating a platform for all voices to be heard. That’s what people can expect from Labour in Cheshire West and Chester.”

Cllr Matt Bryan added: “Myself, Cllr Shore and the Leader of the Council have on multiple occasions offered the lead members of ‘People Against Travel Lanes Chester’ meetings that they have either refused or cancelled, and at the full council meeting on Thursday night there was a slot in public speaking time and during the item on their petition for people from the group to address the council on this issue. 

“Seventy councillors were waiting and ready to listen to members from the group, but unfortunately nobody was available to speak. The offer of a meeting still stands, but more broadly I hope the public can see that this has become a political campaign rather than a constructive discussion about the future of active travel in Chester and the wider borough. 

“Fortunately the taskforce we have set up is the platform for that constructive debate and I look forward to working with residents in this group on a way forward.”