A council has had its funding allocation from Transport for London suspended after the borough’s mayor unilaterally removed a protected cycle lane.
TfL only learnt of the removal of orca kerbs and wands along London Road in Croydon when the Mayor Jason Perry published an Instagram video bragging about dismantling the infrastructure.
In the video, published on 4th May, three days before the local elections, Perry said, “you told me they were a big issue. They impeded the local roads. They were causing congestion. Buses couldn’t get through, and we even had emergency vehicles being held up when they were on a call.
“Not only that, it also took out parking bays for local trade, which meant that people couldn’t stop and couldn’t shop in our local businesses.
“And if you’re a cyclist, they were actually quite dangerous as we weren’t able to get the right mechanical vehicles in to clean those lanes up. They had to go.
“I took decisive action to remove those wands […] and we’re now taking them out in the town centre. Your council should be making it easier for you to get around the borough, for you to get to where you want to go, for you to access your local shops.”
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Perry, a Conservative, was subsequently re-elected as mayor later that week, although Croydon’s Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) say the Instagram post was what landed him in hot water, with the video alerting TfL to the unlawful removal of the infrastructure they had funded.
TfL has now suspended more than £2 million in funding towards the borough until it pays back the £234,917 which had been granted for the lanes’ construction since 2020/21. Croydon Council has committed to repaying the sum, though no timetable has been reported.
In the meantime, the funding freeze is delaying the progress and installation of several pieces of active travel-related infrastructure in the borough, including Healthy Neighbourhood schemes, comprising new zebra crossings and contra-flow cycle lanes, and additional bike parking spaces.
Perry, who has served as Mayor of Croydon since 2022, has been involved in removing protected cycle lanes before, having removed the wands on Brighton Road. However in 2023, a cyclist threatened legal action after he hit a remaining orca kerb and broke his wrist.
The below Google Maps image shows the road before the kerbs were removed, whilst previous maps show the road had not been narrowed to accommodate the protected cycle lane, contradicting the mayor’s claim that the lane would “hold up” buses or emergency services.
> Croydon cyclist breaks wrist after hitting base of cycle lane wand removed by council
More recently, a cyclist in Enfield who hit a kerb began pursuing a personal injury claim against the council in July, after he sustained life-changing injuries. Enfield Council are defending themselves, arguing the kerb itself is not defective.
Reacting to the news of Croydon’s funding freeze, London Cycling Campaign’s Head of Campaigns and Community Development Simon Munk wrote on Bluesky: “You cannot expect TfL and Londoners to pay councils to install safety & active travel schemes, then pay to rip them out, or even to pay for rubbish schemes that ignore or actively worsen active travel, road danger reduction, climate emissions reductions. This is a council leadership gone rogue.
“It’s great to see Will Norman, the Mayor of London and TfL taking action on behalf of Londoners and planet to ensure our money isn’t misspent and that all London boroughs act responsibly on climate, health, road danger, pollution, noise and more.”
Norman, Walking and Cycling Commissioner for London, told the LDR: “It is right that the council is required to repay the TfL funding that was spent on the cycle lane they removed without consent. Funding for their Local Implementation Plan has been paused and any future support will be subject to a revised plan being agreed.
“This should send a clear message to all boroughs: if you accept TfL funding, we expect you to deliver the projects that funding was intended to support and follow the legal processes.”
33 thoughts on “Funding to borough suspended after mayor removes £230,000 segregated cycle lane… without telling authorities”
Looks like the mayor could use a bit of physical exercise. How about cycling around your borough?
@Blackthorne83 He’d love to, but some bastard’s stolen the cycle lanes.
@Blackthorne83 Come on. He’s already on a fact-free transport diet…
@Blackthorne83 He would, but he’s eaten his bike
“TfL has now suspended more than £2 million in funding towards the borough until it pays back the £234,917….”
I wonder if Mayor Jason Perry will be making a video about him having a ceremonial handing over of a comedy cheque for £234,917 to TfL? That’ll really impress the voters. Not to mention how much it cost to remove the cycle lanes, still, it’s only taxpayers’ money, not his.
The tories seem intent on proving that they’re even stupider than Refuk, and given the news yesterday, that’s a pretty high bar.
20 MPH speed limits: Killing pedestrians and cyclists is bad for their brains.
If you want to argue that the protected cycle lane is a good thing, at least make actual arguments and not “but there’s space for an ambulance in the main lane”. Well that’s great isn’t it, but what about when there’s traffic that can’t move to the side because you’ve wasted taxpayer money on utterly unnecessary infrastructure?
Yeh, because it’s so much easier to ‘move over’ when there are cars parked in what was a cycle lane…
Do you know the main reason emergency vehicles are held up? Cars. Can I assume your solution to this is to do away with cars?
Also, if you’re unable to get out of their way on that road, could you consider not driving, please, because it seems you don’t have the necessary skillset.
@OldTom additionally the guidance “take appropriate action to let [an emergency vehicle] pass” doesn’t *require* that you have to drive onto the cycle lane / footway to demonstrate you’re doing so. In fact you’re enjoined not to endanger other road users or pedestrians and avoid mounting the kerb.
I believe in NL separated cycle paths next to roads are built to a spec that envisions motor vehicles crossing them and so it may be possible for those to *use* the cycle path to get round motor traffic in a pinch. Of course in the UK most cycle facilities (even bi-directional ones) are too narrow to allow this…
@chrisonabike Ambulances routinely use the Embankment cycleway when the road is blocked by cars. It’s one of its selling points.
@iamonlyme spending taxpayer money on utterly unnecessary infra? You might be taking about Glasgow?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M8_Bridge_to_Nowhere
Or perhaps Utrecht?
So many places got excited about bringing traffic into towns (some still are). Seems people believed the “artists’ impressions”! But what was great at first becomes a very expensive way of making urban spaces worse as more people drive more.
@chrisonabike ‘Traffic in Towns’ or the Buchanan Report 1963, forecast everything that’s happening now. Build more roads, get more traffic, so we need more roads so we get more traffic, so we need more roads…………….
The essential futility of building more roads has been apparent for over sixty years, but some people still see it as ‘the’ answer.
Well, looks like a good chunk of the electorate are still happy to vote for parties who will promise them “one more lane”…
Reform / Restore pretty much guarantee that (albeit some of their councillors realise that following the party lead won’t help *them*).
But those “we’ll end the war on the motorist” parties often include the Conservatives (not certain about Lib Dems) and not infrequently Labour. Although hard-core “knock down the school and build a freeway” types will feel a little defrauded by what they do (or don’t) in power.
Look for “we’ll set the fuel duty escalator in motion again and take some of that cash for public transport” to find the real “woke anti-car” parties. Honourable mention to “change the default urban limit from 30mph to 20mph”…
@chrisonabike “Look for “we’ll set the fuel duty escalator in motion again and take some of that cash for public transport” to find the real “woke anti-car” parties. Honourable mention to “change the default urban limit from 30mph to 20mph”…”
The only party with anything like those policies I’m already a member of: Greens.
Arrogant obnoxious Tory.
Now the wands are gone, I look forward to the cycling lanes being cleaned regularly – and not parked in (thereby leaving plenty of room for the buses and emergency vehicles)
(all to delivered before Coventry win the FA cup again)
Jason Perry is a high functioning, dynamic achiever. And he is only 23.
In addition to tackling such a high volume of active transport projects, he recently completed an Airfix B29 Superfortress kit – admittedly he did glue one of the wings on upside down with the engines facing backwards.
Stewart Lee’s let himself go since he became the mayor of Croydon.
Croydon used to be “on my patch” when working in London. Croydon is not a centre of wealth, and if anything, quite the opposite.
From census data, 33.6% of Croydon residents have no access to a car, and nationally, where safe accessible Active Travel routes are put in, the uptake is over 30% year on year. Evidence of this is little more than 10 miles away from Croydon, with relatively easy access by bus, train or tube.
As a result of removing Active Travel infrastructute, 1/3 of Croydon residents now find it more difficult to access local shops and businesses, and if those residents now feel the need to try to budget for a car, there will be less money to spend with local shops and businesses, and those currently with access to a car will find it more difficult to access local shops and businesses because of the greater volume of cars. And, we cannot forget the greater demands on local health and care budgets because of greater levels of ill health and disability because of cars.
In short, I am desperately trying to escape local polititians trying to create a 1980s 100% car owning model of UK that has long sinced proved to not be achievable.
@John Emms My parents in law lived (they both died in the same year two years ago) in Croydon and as they lived to a very ripe old age I made a lot of visits there over the last couple of decades and it was noticeable that bicycle use increased considerably with these new, now removed, cycle lanes. I know it’s a cliche but there is still no better sentence to sum it up than “build it and they will come”.
@John Emms I have friends in Croydon. When I visit, cycling down from Greenwich, its pretty crap for cycling from where the Waterlink way ends. You really need to be a confident cyclist on many of the roads. You’re correct, that its a borough that would greatly benefit from active travel. There are so many small measures could be made to improve things and its frustrating to see. Especially when there is funding available to them to get these schemes in place.
A good move by TFL, and I hope the funding is recovered. If it was freelancing, can he be forced to put them back?
Active Travel England now need to do the same, to bring mouth-breathing goons such as Perry under control.
I’m interested in why emergency vehicles did not fit in the cycle lane, and why Croydon does not have the appropriate vehicles.
Fresh from his nefarious and partisan posturing here as chairman of TfL, I see Sadiq Khan has been snapping himself on Facebook today pretending to cycle… in brand new Rapha kit (with a jacket despite the fact it’s like summer), brand new shoes and suspiciously immaculate looking road bike (different to the previous prop he used) with stock saddle set for a average height male… Almost as if he doesn’t really ride the bike at all but wanted to do a bit of political posturing.
Now, according to certain naive commentators here, Khan needs 24 hour protection and a cavalcade of bullet proof limousines to get anywhere in London… Even walking his dog.
So please do explain to me how he’s taking himself off for a nice bike jolly, when it’s apparently too dangerous for him to take his dog for a walk?
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DYJnNZRi1/
@jackcycles
Eh?
@AidanR Khan is a Muslim, Labour politician. jackcycles is a bad faith actor. I hope this answers your question.
@Nigel Garage You do make things difficult Nigel, because whilst one’s first instinct is to ignore you just as one would ignore a badly behaved toddler you tell so many lies that they can’t really go unchallenged. So, briefly:
– Khan is a genuine cyclist, as far as I recall he began cycling with an electric Brompton around 2019 and then graduated to a Giant Fastback. He regularly rides in Richmond Park and has participated in a number of cycling events, including the BHF London – Brighton ride;
– He is able to cycle in Richmond Park in the same way that Boris Johnson was able to jog around Green Park when he was prime minister and the King is able to go walking in the highlands, he is accompanied by his police close protection detail. He goes very early for safety reasons; someone I know who has seen him says he has two bodyguards on bikes with him plus a follow car. This is hardly surprising for a man who receives daily death threats. Just as an aside, it might interest you to know that unlike your hero and namesake Mr Farage, who whines like a baby about not being given enough security (even when it’s been proved that it was offered to him) and claims that he has to accept £5 million dodgy donations to pay for it himself, Khan originally refused security when he became mayor of London and only reluctantly accepted it when the police informed him that the threats against his life and against his family were extremely credible. It’s rather peculiar that you apparently find it amusing and baffling that Britain’s highest-profile Muslim politician with a global reputation which includes frequent attacks from the President of the USA should require security in this day and age. It’s a bit rich for someone who in their numerous previous, now banned, personae was enthusiastic in promoting hatred against Khan then to complain that he needs security because of the levels of hatred against him;
– That Rapha kit and shoes aren’t new, he’s been wearing them in photographs for months. If they were new, why would you think that was such a gotcha? He’s a very successful and well paid man, why shouldn’t he buy himself new cycling kit if he fancies it?
– On Sunday it was 15° at 7 am in London, quite cool enough to wear a light jacket as indeed I did all last week when leaving home at a similar time;
– I don’t know about the bike, as above previously he had a Giant Fastback flat bar bike, maybe like many people as they get the taste for more cycling he’s decided to upgrade to a full road bike. Again, why shouldn’t he and why do you think this proves he’s not a genuine cyclist? Why is it “suspicious” that his bike looks immaculate? He only seems to ride in good weather, he’s probably only had the bike a couple of weeks and maybe (I know this seems hard to believe) he cleans it?
Do try not to be quite so silly in future please.
@Rendel Harris
“Do try not to be quite so silly in future please.”
Good luck with that one. History suggests that Nigel/Jack is ineducable and so deep in his own little rut that climbing out is impossible.
Can confirm that SK is a regular cyclist. Sad he has to ride with security but glad whenever I have seen him out all the other riders just seem to respect his privacy.
Can anyone explain why he’s not being charged with criminal damage to those cycle lanes? If a member of the public unilaterally decides to remove communal assets, then they either have to replace it or the police are involved.
I thought you just got a crime number?
@mdavidford You mean “stolen bike lane” is treated like “stolen bike”?
Perry: “you told me they were a big issue. They impeded the local roads. They were causing congestion. Buses couldn’t get through, and we even had emergency vehicles being held up when they were on a call.
…
Not only that, it also took out parking bays for local trade, which meant that people couldn’t stop and couldn’t shop in our local businesses.”
So given the above issues should now have been resolved after all this, why is Perry not posting clips on social media about how Croydon has become a driving utopia…?
And with this point:
“And if you’re a cyclist, they were actually quite dangerous as we weren’t able to get the right mechanical vehicles in to clean those lanes up. They had to go.”
Why wasn’t that taken into consideration beforehand, or did they want to create an issue to then “resolve”.
(like our good friends Dung-Old Karen Taco Trump and NF etc do so often)
Though that point itself is questionable as apparently the correct equipment does exist.