THE CYCLE lane chief facing a backlash over controversial lanes has quit his role.

Green councillor Pete West, the man spearheading the roll out of new lanes across the city, announced his resignation today.

During his tenure, Brighton and Hove City Council removed sections of the A259 seafront cycle lane amid congestion concerns from Brighton and Hove Bus Company.

Long-time resident, councillor and cyclist Mr West previously told The Argus that the schemes are a stepping stone to a more active, safer and environmentally-friendly city, urging residents to “give them a chance”.

READ MORE: Environment chief on Brighton and Hove's new cycle lanes

Detractors, who now include the Labour councillors who originally introduced the schemes, have urged the Greens to slam on the brakes to assess the impact of the road changes.

Amid the backlash, Cllr West led a bid for £2.6 million of government money to expand the current schemes last month.

The Argus:

Credit Andrew Gardner/@andrewgardnr

But today, the Green Party announced he will be stepping down. When contacted, the party said it was always the plan that he would leave his joint-chair role due to "work pressures" outside of the council.

He said: “It has been an honour to serve as joint chairman of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee (ETS) Committee, alongside such a capable team.

“From School Streets to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, the ETS committee has a key role in supporting our communities, and the work set in train to date will be important in enhancing our city and our environment.

“I remain both a councillor for St Peter’s and North Laine ward and a member of the Green administration on Brighton and Hove City Council.

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“I would like to thank council officers for their support both in my time as opposition lead and official transport spokesperson.”

Councillor West has stood aside from the role as joint chair of the ETS committee and Councillor Amy Heley will now take on the role in full.

Cllr Heley said: “I want to publicly thank Councillor West for his work so far. It has been a pleasure to jointly chair the committee with him, especially in light of the short period of time within which Greens took charge of running the council.

The Argus:

“I look forward to progressing the ambitious programme of work on environment and transport being led by our Green administration, which was put firmly on the council’s agenda back when Councillor West was the opposition lead for ETS.

“Pete has laid a solid foundation for incredible transport improvements in our city, and I look forward to continuing this work on safer streets, cleaner air and our plans to help the city reach carbon neutrality by 2030.”