Local residents, commuters and visitors have less than two weeks left to have their say about the three potential locations for a new east of Bath Park & Ride site.
Responses to Bath & North East Somerset Council’s public consultation can be made online via www.bathnes.gov.uk/eastpandr up until 18th October.
Cllr Tim Warren (Conservative, Mendip), Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “This project has been discussed and debated for nearly thirty years – it is of course vital that it is delivered in a way which is sensitive to the local area and which benefits all residents, commuters and visitors, but a decision now has to be taken to move this forward in the interests of everyone.
“These plans are a key part of the Council’s wider strategy to improve transport and tackle congestion in and around Bath.”
The objectives of the bus-based Park & Ride Scheme include:
- To reduce congestion within the city. This is essential to support the city’s economic development and Enterprise Area helping to create new jobs and homes.
- To reduce the volume of traffic on London Road as part of a series of traffic management schemes including the Park & Ride and the A36/A46 link road which is being actively sought.
- To reduce car use in the city centre and increase the proportion of journeys made by public transport.
- To improve connectivity to support business and growth of the wider region.
The three sites for consultation are: Land east of A4/A46 junction; Land west of Mill Lane; Land east of Mill Lane.
Cllr Anthony Clarke (Conservative, Lansdown), Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “The first and most important step is to develop a bus-based park and ride to tackle the issues around congestion and to support the growth in jobs and employers.
“As well as addressing parking issues in Batheaston and the surrounding area, our ambition is for the east of Bath site to become the greenest Park & Ride ever – with the potential for a Park & Rail, via a walkway, from Site B; links to cycle routes into the city; and possibly even a ‘sail & ride’ option.”
The option of a combined Park & Rail linked to Site B supersedes previous suggestions for a completely separate Park & Rail at Bathampton.
The Bathampton proposal has been assessed in an independent report by leading engineers Mott MacDonald who concluded that the scheme was not economically viable, compounded by significant practical difficulties and was not supported by First Great Western or Network Rail.
Mott MacDonald’s independent report into the separate Bathampton Park & Rail site, states: “The [Bathampton] scheme as proposed, being dependent on moving the junction, is unlikely to be delivered and is compounded by practical difficulties of locating station platforms and vehicular access to the site. Consequently construction costs would be very high.
“In our view, not only are the quoted costs unlikely to contribute towards a convincing business case but the substantially increased costs associated with the scheme after the GWML upgrade would result in a strongly negative case.”
The full independent report is available on the Council’s website at: www.bathnes.gov.uk/ParkAndRideMM.
Members of the public are encouraged to share their views on the three possible Park & Ride sites by visiting the online consultation page where you can see plans for the different sites and compare their benefits and challenges: www.bathnes.gov.uk/eastpandr.
The consultation will run until 18th October. At the end of the consultation, officers will analyse the results, which will be put before councillors for a decision.
Once a preferred site has been chosen it will be included in the Council’s Placemaking Plan.