Decision day as BRT comes to Planning Committee

The B&NES planning committee will meet this afternoon to decide on the Council’s planning applications for the Bath Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route.

Local residents campaigning against the plans have been supported by Bath opposition Councillors representing the wards through which the BRT would run. The committee will meet at the Guildhall at 2 p.m. and dozens of residents are registered to speak.

It is clear that this is the wrong route for the rapid transit bus route, which will divide a community in two, by what has been described by residents as a “Berlin Wall”.

With the loss of the green space on which the BRT will be built, children will have no choice but to negotiate an extremely dangerous road to access the nearest park to play.

All this is being planned while there are perfectly acceptable alternative routes which the Council has still not considered properly. Nor has sufficient research been carried out into tackling the real causes of congestion such as the school run.

As a result local children will be deprived of valuable open space; local people will be subjected to the constant noise and inconvenience of an extra road with intrusive CCTV cameras and increased security concerns. The proposed BRT route must not go ahead.

The committee only have to review the number and wide range of the objections to accept that the BRT scheme as presented is ill thought out and is not weighed against researched alternatives.

There is no evidence to support the claim that this scheme will reduce congestion and pollution. In fact residents along the BRT route will be subjected to increased levels of vehicle noise and pollution and busses will still arrive at the bottle neck at Windsor Bridge and will not realise any ‘journey time saving’.

Residents east of Station Road will either be subject to compulsory purchase or as the report says ‘an unacceptable loss of privacy’.

The Planning Committee should be aware that the BRT is just another road and has no restrictions to access set out within the conditions. It will be a green light to joy-riders.

Tories give Blue Light to Bristol Airport Expansion

Liberal Democrat Councillors were tonight forced to vote against their own motion when a wrecking amendment was tabled by the ruling Conservative Group. The amendment was also supported by Labour and independent Councillors.

The Lib Dem motion was to have clearly shown the Council’s opposition to expansion on environmental, economic and congestion grounds.

This disgraceful Conservative amendment reversed our motion to such an extent that we were forced to vote against it. Our position was clearly stated in the original motion. We believe unfettered airport expansion to be incompatible with efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, we are concerned about increases in traffic – especially in rural areas, noise and that the economic and jobs benefits have been overstated.

We can only conclude that the Conservatives decided to table this wrecking amendment because they are in favour of airport expansion with the resulting increase in air pollution, noise pollution and congestion on our roads.

It seems that it is only the Lib Dems who are concerned about climate change. The Tories and Labour in B&NES have endorsed unlimited airport expansion.

Government admits “Twenty is Plenty”

This week the Labour government have admitted that “Twenty is Plenty” and will be encouraging Councils across the country to reduce the speed limit on residential roads to 20mph.

Liberal Democrats in Bath have been campaigning across the city for 18 months, calling for this change, and hundreds of residents have signed a petition calling for 20mph limits. The British Medical Association have also backed 20mph limits, because 20mph is a much safer speed than 30, and its introduction will lead to safer communities, especially for children.

Bath MP Don Foster said,

It is clear that speeds in residential streets are just too high, and I am delighted to see that the government has now realised that ‘Twenty is Plenty’.

The response to this campaign has been positive, and we have had some success in Bath in gaining a lower limit for individual streets, but what we need is a shift across the city to lower speeds.

These comments from the government are a good start, now we need action to make it easier for councils to reduce speed limits.

The speed of traffic on residential roads is an issue that comes up at almost every door we knock on, people have been very happy to support our campaign for 20mph limits.

These days it is not often that the Labour government is ahead on an issue, but our Conservative Council has stalled on the grid when it comes to reducing speed limits. It is time they took notice of this Lib Dem campaign, because ‘Twenty is Plenty’.

News on the 20A/20C

On Friday of last week, the Council released its ‘decision paper’ outlining the future of the 20A/20C service.

As Don Foster announced a couple of weeks ago, Wessex Connect made an offer to take on this route and that has been accepted by the B&NES.

However, there will be no services after 7.30pm and fares are set to rise by 10% on this service. The Conservative Council will be reviewing the money they are spending on this service in September – which means that the service is not guaranteed past the autumn.

One issue that remains unresolved is that of ‘multi-operator’ tickets, and the refunding of travelcards. B&NES say they are working towards resolving these issues, and I hope they are making it a priority so that come 11th May bus users do not lose out financially.

This is especially important in light of the school run. We need to make sure that parents can afford to send their children to school on the bus, and if they have to buy two different tickets then that will certainly not be the case. A cursory glance at the lack of traffic on the roads this morning shows what a difference the school run makes to congestion in the city!

Remember, the on-line petition is still running. Why not forward this e-mail to your family and friends and suggest they click on http://ourcampaign.org.uk/onthebuses

2 years on, will Council finally join ‘Cycle To Work’ scheme?

Keen cyclists Councillor Roger Symonds and Councillor Paul Crossley have been trying for the last 2 years to persuade B&NES Council to sign up to ‘Cycle To Work’ – the Government initiative which offers employees VAT-free bikes, repaid by loans that are exempt from income tax and national insurance, through a salary sacrifice system. The Council does not pay towards the bike and acts only to enable the facility to process through its payroll. It is successfully operated by many local companies and many Councils across the country.

The proposal has also been backed by Bath MP Don Foster. Finally the Council leaders are said to be ‘considering’ the proposal through a feasibility study.

All employers should be encouraging staff to cycle to work. The more people that cycle, the safer and less congested our roads will be. Cycling is also great for keeping fit!

The Cabinet has made a big issue of congestion problems in Bath over the last six months, launching a website and advocating infrastructure schemes; however they are ignoring an opportunity to put in place a small-scale, cheap and popular idea which could make a real difference. The Government ‘Cycle To Work’ scheme is a great initiative and the Council is failing in its leadership role by not participating.

The Conservative administration has been dragging its feet on this issue and putting up all sorts of problems that simply show they do not understand.

Several employees and Councillors would like to take advantage of the Government initiative. We should be signing up now. At last it looks as though the Council will follow more enlightened employers such as the University of Bath and Bristol City Council where Cyclescheme has been running for years.

Foster optimistic over future of 20A/C route

Bath MP Don Foster has today met with Wessex Connect, part of Flights Hallmark Ltd, a company with a good track record working in a number of cities in the UK, including Birmingham and Bristol. Wessex Connect are hopeful of operating the 20A/C route from 11th May.

If First do not reverse their decision on this route, Don is optimistic that the service will continue anyway thanks to Wessex Connect.  We beleive that they are hoping to significantly improve the reliability of this service by making minor alterations to route, which are being made with the views of local residents in mind.

We are also pleased to learn that Wessex Connect are planning to use larger buses on this route, especially at peak times. Buses are often overcrowded early in the morning with Ralph Allen and University of Bath students using the service.

Don is also optimistic that Wessex Connect will offer a service on the 18 route. Currently, students living in Oldfield Park have to pay extra to get home from the University, as the standard fare is only valid as far as Sainsbury’s. Wessex Connect are planning to allow students to travel to Oldfield Park as part of the standard single fare.

Over 100 people have signed Don’s on-line petition to save the service at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/onthebuses.

Cuts to bus services (No.10 and No. 20a/c) not acceptable

Early morning services and the city’s circular route are to be cut from the bus timetable at the beginning of May as First Bus reduces the service they are providing.

Early services from Combe Down, Foxhill and Larkhall are being lost. The biggest impact will, however, come from the complete removal of the 20A/C service, which stops at Ralph Allen School, the University of Bath and the RUH.

Bath MP Don Foster said that the cuts are unacceptable and will be meeting with First Bus Managing Director Justin Davies to discuss the plans.

Don said, “Many people rely on early morning buses to get to work, what option will be available to them now? Local buses need to be able to serve the needs of residents, not force them into their car.

“The loss of the 20A/C route will be a massive blow. Many students use it to get to the university and it provides a direct link for residents across the city to our local hospital. The Council must look at finding another operator for this route.”

Please sign our petition, at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/onthebuses , calling for these services to be re-instated.

You can follow more about the story on the Bath Chronicle website

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Lib Dems nationally call for more powers to control ‘Studentification’

Commenting on the recent Government report into tackling the ‘Studentification’ of citys where there are too many Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in one area often rented to groups of students, Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: 
“The Government has consistently failed to take changes such as an increase in the student population into account when setting local authority grants. This is not just about housing but also about vital support services, as population changes affect policing, local health services and rubbish collections. Yet again the Government has failed to put its money where its mouth is."

"Now that changes to the planning rules have been accepted for HMOs, it is time for the Government to give similar powers to the areas at risk of becoming ghost towns thanks to the growth of second homes.”

“Twenty is Plenty” Campaign Has Public Support

Hundreds of people in Bath have signed a Lib Dem petition calling for 20mph speed limits on the most residential streets in the city. 

Doctors in the British Medical Association backed the 20mph limits earlier this year and residents city-wide are worried about the speed of traffic on the most residential roads.

Bath MP Don Foster, who is backing the campaign, said,

“We have received a very encouraging response to the campaign.  We are receiving positive feedback from across the city.  People want action to deal with this problem.  This campaign is about making our local communities safer places to live.  Parents in some areas are scared to let their children out of their front door.  That isn’t how life should be.”

Our Lib Dem Group Leader, Cllr Paul Crossley, visited Portsmouth last year, where over 90% of their roads now have a 20mph limit. He was very impressed with the scheme they have rolled out in Portsmouth and noted that it was clearly now very much the norm for people there to drive at 20mph, not 30.

The scheme has been very popular with residents, and has also made cycling in the city much safer.  One way roads in Portsmouth now also have contra-flow cycling, which makes it a preferable mode of transport for shorter journeys.  Setting up speed traps to catch speeders is all well and good, but what we need is real action to change the attitude to speed on these roads.  The current Tory Council just don’t seem to understand that.

We will continue to approach more residents in the Spring.  It is clear that the people of Bath think that ‘Twenty is Plenty’.

You can sign the Liberal Democrat petition on-line at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/twentyisplenty