The Council is encouraging local people to give their views on wide ranging plans to improve the urban environment in Bath City Centre. The plans include creating a more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly environment in a number of city streets by:

· Creating a more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly City Centre, by introducing vehicle access changes on a number of streets;

· Expanding pedestrian areas on High Street, which can currently be over-crowded and hard to navigate at busy times;

· Developing improved pedestrian crossing areas on High Street and improving existing bus stops.

Local residents aspire for creating a City Centre environment where pedestrians and cyclists have priority, and where public transport is free to move on Bath’s historic streets.

We hope that these plans to improve transport offers the opportunity to help deliver this by using access restrictions at key times on some of the City Centre’s busiest streets and making the High Street even more pedestrian friendly. The proposals represent the popential first steps towards a friendlier environment for pedestrians and cyclists.

One of the key proposals being made is to restrict access between 10am and 6pm to vehicles on Upper Borough Walls, Parsonage Lane, Westgate Street, Cheap Street, Bath Street, Hot Bath Street, York Street, Abbey Green, Abbeygate Street, Swallow Street, Stall Street, Beau Street, and Lower Borough Walls.

The consultation document can be found by going to www.bathnes.gov.uk and under the ‘Of Interest’ section clicking on ‘City Centre Proposals – have your say’.

The consultation period will run until Monday, 14 September. Information will also be displayed at the Bath Central Library, on the first floor of The Podium shopping centre, from 2 – 9 September. The improvements are envisaged to take place in 2011.

Please make sure you have your say on these proposals.

Bath MP Don Foster has vowed to continue to fight the controversial proposed-BRT route, after it passed through B&NES Council’s Development Control Committee at the third attempt.

The BRT is now subject to an Article 14 declaration, which means that Secretary of State John Denham will decide whether or not to call for a public inquiry into the scheme. Don said,

In many ways last week saw a sad day for local democracy, the Conservative Cabinet have just forced this scheme back to the planning committee until they got the result they wanted.

Local people must be understandably worried as to how this decision has been reached, especially after public letters from the Department for Transport and Government Office of the South West. However, it is still possible that we can overturn this decision, as John Denham will have to cast his eye over the proposals first.

Cllr Gerry Curran (Lib Dem, Twerton), the Liberal Democrat lead on Development Control, commented, “I will continue to oppose this unwanted scheme.

At each planning meeting to discuss the BRT, the Council has had to back down over a number of claims. They will now readily admit that it will do nothing to reduce congestion or pollution. It is just a waste of tax payers’ money, to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

Local Lib Dems will be adding their voice to those calling for a public inquiry into this proposal, and will be writing to John Denham shortly.

What we really need is work to improve the Lower Bristol Road, such as the widening that has been promised for years. This would actually help to reduce congestion in Bath.