Western Road Red Route Approved by Cabinet, Now Called In: What the Council's Papers Say Before the 6 October Meeting
Western Road, Hove, between Holland Road and Montpelier Road
Brighton and Hove City Council's Cabinet approved a Red Route on Western Road on 17 September, but the decision is now under review. A group of 14 councillors has called it in, and the council's Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee will examine it on Tuesday 6 October at 5.30pm. The Red Route would run between Holland Road in Hove and Montpelier Road in Brighton, with double red lines enforced by cameras, 10 loading bays and extra disabled bays. It would start as a trial under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order lasting up to 18 months, on a road the council is rebuilding first. Work there was due to start on 28 September, and Brighton and Hove News reported that the stretch is set to be closed until 6 November.
The council's 10 September announcement said Cabinet would discuss the plans the following week. This article covers what Cabinet decided, how the Red Route would work, what residents and businesses said in the consultation, what the council's own report says it cannot yet prove, and what the call-in means. It follows our earlier articles on the rebuild and Red Route plans and the 45-day closure.
What Cabinet decided on 17 September
The council's decision record shows Cabinet agreed that the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order for Western Road between Holland Road and Montpelier Road should go ahead. In the same decision it:
- Noted the legal correspondence
Cabinet noted the issues raised in Pre-Action Protocol correspondence, which is the letter that comes before a possible court claim, along with the updated Equality Impact Assessment and the scope of the planned monitoring. - Recorded the primary aim
The decision says the main purpose of the scheme is to reduce congestion so that bus reliability improves during the experimental period. - Noted the resurfacing
Cabinet noted the resurfacing programme for this section of Western Road.
The Cabinet report explains the background. Cabinet first approved the design and implementation of a Red Route on 20 March 2025, and the Cabinet Member for Transport and City Infrastructure approved the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order on 26 May 2026. The council then received Pre-Action Protocol correspondence from representatives of the Western Road Community Group challenging the plan, instructed external Counsel and replied. Cabinet was asked to take a fresh decision in light of the additional information. The council's decision page now lists the item as called in and says the decision is being reconsidered.
How the Red Route would work
- 1Cameras, but not automatic fines
The Cabinet report says camera enforcement is not an automated process. Trained officers review possible contraventions, and a second authorised officer checks the evidence before any Penalty Charge Notice is issued. - 2A trial first
The order can run for up to 18 months, with a statutory six-month period after it starts for objections and representations before any decision on making it permanent. The council's Red Routes page says changes can be made quickly during the first 12 months. - 3A warning period
The report says enforcement will begin with at least two weeks of warning letters, followed by two weeks of non-enforcement. - 4Loading bays
There will be 10 loading bays with 140 metres of loading space in total, and the council says no business will be more than about 70 metres from a bay. Bay use will be monitored. - 5Disabled access
The report proposes 4 more disabled bays on Western Road and a new one in Upper Market Street near the WellBN Brunswick clinic, with a three-hour maximum stay. Drivers and taxis can still drop off disabled passengers along the route.
A Red Route before and after: a road with parked cars, and the same type of road with red lines and a marked loading only bay. Image: Brighton & Hove City Council
Signs used on Red Routes in Brighton and Hove, for loading bays, disabled bays and no stopping. Images: Brighton & Hove City Council
The council has published a map of the disabled bays showing the area within 50 metres of each bay, and a letter sent to residents about the change.
The council's map of the proposed Western Road Red Route, with a 50 metre radius around each disabled bay. Image: Brighton & Hove City Council
Where the road works stand
The council's 18 August announcement said the rebuild between Holland Road and Montpelier Road was due to start on Monday 28 September and take around 45 days, with phased closures. Brighton and Hove News reported on 28 September that:
- Closure
The stretch between Holland Road and Montpelier Road is set to be closed until 6 November. - Buses
More than a dozen bus routes are being diverted for several weeks. - Pavements and businesses
They stay open as usual, with three crossing points allowing people to cross the road while work takes place. - The Red Route
Once the work is complete, the road is set to be marked with double red lines, enforced by camera.
The report cites a council Facebook post saying the work is being done after the summer holidays and before Christmas to minimise disruption. We could not find a council page with the full diversion list, so check Brighton & Hove Buses and the council for live updates.
The numbers behind the scheme
- 700Buses a day that use Western Road, according to the council
- 705On-foot enforcement visits to the area between April and the beginning of August 2026, which the report says is one of the highest rates in the city
- £50kThe extra net income the council has budgeted for the scheme each year, against a parking surplus of £22.5 million in 2024/25
- £988,431The tendered value of the resurfacing works, which the council says is covered by Department for Transport highways maintenance funding
The council's announcement says daytime bus journeys between Hove and Churchill Square now take 16.7% longer than they did in 2015, and that in 2025/26 it issued 684 Penalty Charge Notices and recorded 2,315 vehicles driven away during the observation period before a notice could be issued. Brighton & Hove Buses said in the announcement that over 22 million bus passenger journeys a year are made on services using the corridor.
What residents and businesses said
The council sent more than 4,700 leaflets and ran a consultation from 24 November 2025 to 4 January 2026. It received 1,032 responses: 937 from local residents, 52 from visitors, 32 from business owners or managers and 11 on behalf of organisations. The consultation report shows how respondents answered:
- 56.3%Said the proposals would keep traffic moving, with 34.7% saying no
- 52.5%Said the proposals would improve bus journey times, with 36.3% saying no
- 31.4%Said the proposals would improve loading capacity for deliveries, with 46.1% saying no
On safety, 52.6% said the proposals would improve it for pedestrians, 54.3% for cyclists, 50.8% for bus users, 47.2% for disabled people and 44.8% for drivers. The council's headline summary is that 50% believed safety would improve, 53% that bus journeys would speed up and 56% that traffic would keep moving.
792 respondents left comments. The most common theme, raised 201 times, was that the Red Route would harm businesses. Others said the road currently feels dangerous with illegal parking and congestion (102), worried about displacement to side roads (58), said there are not enough loading bays (52) or asked for existing rules to be enforced instead (50).
What the council's own report accepts
The Cabinet report is open about the limits of the evidence. It says Western Road has different characteristics from the roads where Red Routes were introduced, and that collision data does not identify incidents caused by loading or stopping at the kerb. It says the effects on footfall and air quality cannot be determined in advance, that it does not rely on claims the Red Route will increase footfall, and that economic effects will be monitored. It argues the uncertainties support using an experimental order, so that Western Road-specific evidence can be gathered.
On displacement, the report recognises concerns about parking moving into side streets, including around Brunswick Square and the Brunswick Town Conservation Area. It says more Civil Enforcement Officers will patrol those streets. The Equality Impact Assessment lists benefits for the 7,000 disabled people in the city with free bus passes, and risks including limited access for some Blue Badge holders with severe mobility issues and anxiety for people who find new restrictions hard to follow.
On other Red Routes, the council's April announcement says injuries across three locations fell from 31 in the year before to 19 and then 17, and that London Road recorded more than 100,000 extra movements of people in the year after its Red Route. The Cabinet report says officers do not treat those results as direct predictors for Western Road.
What supporters said
The council's announcement included comments from the Cabinet member and from bus representatives. Councillor Trevor Muten, Cabinet member for Transport and City Infrastructure, said:
If approved, we'll also introduce this scheme under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order, meaning we can monitor its impact in real-world conditions and make changes where needed.
Victoria Garcia, Accessibility and Communities Manager at Brighton & Hove Buses, said:
Red routes help keep bus corridors clear, improve reliability and allow buses to pull up safely and close to the kerb.
Nigel Perkins, Vice Chair of Brighton Buswatch, said the campaign group fully supports the plan and noted that the road is used by 10 different bus routes.
The call-in
Under the council's rules, six councillors from at least two political groups can call in a key decision before it is implemented. The call-in meeting papers show the request was made by 14 councillors: seven Green, five Conservative, one from the Brighton & Hove Independent Party and one Independent. The council's Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer assessed it as meeting the rules.
The committee cannot substitute its own decision. It can decide to take the challenge no further, refer the decision to full Council if it finds it contrary to the policy or budget framework, or send it back to Cabinet to reconsider. The papers say a decision can only be sent back for reconsideration once. Brighton and Hove News reported that the grounds include a lack of Western Road-specific evidence and the decision to assess economic impact only after the Red Route is in place.
One public deputation has been received for the meeting. It asks why the decision-making process did not consider the economic impact on Western Road businesses, and why the most drastic parking enforcement option was chosen without weighing anything less. The BBC reported that the Western Road Community Group is considering legal action.
What happens next
- The rebuild
Work was due to start on 28 September, with the road set to be closed until 6 November, according to Brighton and Hove News. Check the council and Brighton & Hove Buses for diversions. - Tuesday 6 October, 5.30pm
The Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee examines the call-in. - The Red Route
The council says the Red Route would be marked on the newly resurfaced road. The BBC reported it would start from November.
Read the documents
Cabinet decision record, 17 September 2026
Cabinet report: Update Report on Western Road Resurfacing Works and Red Route
Download the Cabinet report (PDF)
Call-in meeting papers, Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee, 6 October 2026
Western Road Red Route consultation report
Download the consultation report (PDF)
Brighton & Hove City Council: Red Routes
Open the council Red Routes page
The scrutiny committee meets on 6 October, and if it sends the decision back to Cabinet, the start of the Red Route could change.
More from ImJustBrighton
→ Western Road set for major rebuild and controversial Red Route
→ Western Road to close in phases for 45 days: dates, affected buses and what it means
