Business owners in Ayr are preparing another fightback against proposals to install cycle lanes in the town centre, after councillors discovered the plans they believed had been abandoned are still part of the £20 million 'Accessible Ayr' project.
An internal dispute has emerged at South Ayrshire Council, with officials suggesting that the results of a previously held public consultation required further examination. Councillors, who thought the controversial plans had been dropped, reacted with anger to the news, which has triggered renewed public backlash.
Businesses Organise Public Meeting
Bosses at Tempura, who were among those to voice concerns earlier in the year, are now organising a public meeting for fellow businesses in a bid to officially protest. Posting on social media, they said: "Back in January MANY local businesses and residents came together to oppose the proposed cycle lanes on Alloway Street and Sandgate."
"Following the backlash, South Ayrshire Council publicly announced that the redesigned plans would NOT include these cycle lanes. Fast forward to this week, and the revised plans STILL include them!"
"Almost £20 MILLION is set to be spent on just the FIRST PHASE of this project, yet the concerns raised by so many local businesses and residents remain. We opposed these plans in January and we will all oppose them again!"
Concerns Over Parking and Access
There are serious concerns across the local business community about the removal of parking, access for customers, deliveries and the impact these changes could have on the town centre. "A meeting will be held for local businesses across Ayr to come together and discuss the proposals and the potential impact on our town centre," the statement added.
"If you own or manage a local business and would like to join us at Tuesday’s (October 6) meeting then please drop us a private message and we will send you the time and location." They added: "This is about the future of Ayr town centre and the many independent businesses that work hard every day to keep it alive."
Councillors Demand Clarity on Funding
The development comes as senior councillors aired fears that South Ayrshire was being held to ransom over the inclusion of the cycle lanes in order to gain outside investment for the Accessible Ayr project. Town centre councillor Bob Shields told the Ayrshire Post: "Like every other councillor, I believed the cycle lane element of these proposals had been ditched back in January. We were all stunned to see them back on the paper at Tuesday's meeting."
"The question I have for officers is if we ditch the cycle lanes, do we then lose the £20 million of investment for town centre improvement? They need to be clear and open about that."
At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Ayrshire Roads Alliance boss Jane Corrie said Transport Scotland had been "non-commital" when asked whether funding would be handed over without the cycle lanes. She added: "They said they couldn’t be confident that it would achieve the funding without that active travel element being incorporated."
"What we want to do now is go back out and gather properly the feedback that was expressed through social media so that we can be properly informed, so that we can liaise with businesses and residents to see if there is a way that these proposals can be amended to alleviate their concerns. It is important that we do that through proper consultation rather than just through the social media channels that we were receiving the feedback through."
