Shopkeepers are outraged after they were left out of meetings to plan a multi-million cycling scheme.

Enfield Borough Council will receive £30million from London Mayor Boris Johnson to improve cycle lanes in the borough as part of the Cycle Enfield scheme, formerly known as mini-Holland.

But the Green Lanes Business Association was not invited to a meeting to discuss draft proposals with the Cycle Enfield Partnership Board.

The board held its first meeting on January 5, inviting ward councillors, disability groups, London cycling campaign, local cycling groups and the Enfield Business and Retailers Association.

Costas Georgiou, chairman of the Green Lanes group, was appalled by the actions of Enfield Borough Council to ‘cut them out’ of initial discussions.

He told the Enfield Independent: “It is disgraceful that we have not been kept out of the loop and it is obvious why because we oppose cycle lanes coming down Green Lanes.

“Businesses in Palmers Green are not anti-cycling but we strongly believe that a cycle lane down Green Lanes will see a loss of parking and badly affect trade.”

Under initial plans which helped the council win the bid, parking would be removed on one side of Green Lanes through Palmers Green to make way for segregated cycle lanes.

The inclusion of Enfield Business and Retailers Association (EBRA) caused fury amongst businesses.

Mr Georgiou said: “EBRA is a council-funded association and they are not going to bite the hand that feeds them. It is a lack of democracy to cut us out just because we are showing opposition to the scheme.

“We have written to the council to ask them to consider including the association at the next meeting.”

Councillor Chris Bond, cabinet member for environment, has overseen the Cycle Enfield project. He said the council did not invite Mr Georgiou following his ‘anti-cyclist campaign’ he ran in last year’s Enfield elections.

He added: “Councillors and other groups were at the meeting on behalf of residents who would have been able to express their views to them before the meeting.

“This is by no way the last time that businesses and residents can express their views and we are looking to do things differently when it comes to consultation.

“I totally disagree that EBRA would not express concerns because they are funding by the council and have expressed issues on behalf of businesses.”

Cllr Bond told the Enfield Independent that the council will be organising 'pop-ups' in Palmers Green, Enfield Town, Edmonton and Ponders End to take in resident and business views.

He said: “Instead of just writing to businesses and residents we will be actively visiting and arranging events to get everybody’s views before making our final plans.

Mr Georgiou has drafted a letter to businesses stating that the group has written to Andrew Gilligan, Mayor of London’s cycling commissioner, in a bid to ‘broaden representation’.