Five senior, cross-party Councillors in Bath and North East Somerset have accused Council leaders of coercion and “thinly veiled threats”, with regard to a crucial planning vote on the controversial Bath Package of £54m of government funding for transport projects in Bath.

Councillors from the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Groups have called on GOSW and the Local Government Minister to reject the decisions taken by the Bath and North East Somerset planning committee of 20th May; saying that:

Voting was not free for all Councillors on the planning committee – members were “pressurised, encouraged or coerced” into voting in favour of the applications;
• One committee member was substituted at the last minute (despite being present in the room) by a Councillor who had not previously seen the applications or visited the sites;
• Proper democratic processes were not followed with regard to consultations;
• Key documents were suppressed or not released and inaccurate or misleading information was given to the public and members.

Councillor Gerry Curran (Lib Dem, Twerton, Lib Dem spokesman on planning) commented: The way the committee was conducted did nothing for the reputation of the Council. In my opinion, it brought that reputation into disrepute in the eyes of the public. People did not see the committee process as having been fair, open and honest and many are of the opinion that some members were predetermined in their view on the applications.

Council needs to be seen to be fair, open and honest. It has failed on this occasion.

“I have been working to persuade the Council to separate the BRT and the Newbridge park and ride elements of the final planning application in the hope that by doing so it will go some way towards restoring the Council’s damaged reputation.”

Councillor Caroline Roberts (Lib Dem, Newbridge) said that she decided to sign this letter because she was appalled by the way that this process was carried out, and how flawed this process was. She believe that whatever the actual outcome of the planning decisions, the public and Councillors have the right to know that the process was carried out in a fair and democratic way, and within the rules of the law.

Members of the planning committee should be fully briefed, should have visited the sites and should be aware of all the relevant information.

At a time when public confidence in some politicians is at an all-time low it is a shame that some members have taken the actions they did in this planning process.

Councillor Loraine Brinkhurst (Lib Dem, Newbridge) said that there has been a catalogue of procedural failings since the inception of the Bath Transport Package, most significantly the attempts to manage the decision of the planning committee on the 20th May; we will be making a separate complaint to the Standards Board on this matter.

We are not trying to stop the Bath Transport Package in its entirety, but rather we are calling for new individual applications to be submitted to allow a proper democratic and transparent process to take place.”