The decision to make an experimental through-traffic restriction in New Sydney Place and Sydney Road permanent has been upheld by a panel of councillors – but could face a legal challenge.
Looking down Sydney Place, with the LTN restriction in place
A Bath & North East Somerset Council scrutiny panel met yesterday, Thursday 13th March, to review the decision last month by Councillor Mark Elliott, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for resources, to make the Liveable Neighbourhood (LN) scheme permanent.
Twelve opposition councillors had requested the call-in. Councillor Shaun Hughes (Independent, Midsomer Norton), who was one of them, addressed the panel at the start of the specially-convened meeting, saying: “Public perception is that this council has designed a scheme that benefits a minority of more affluent residents, rather than the majority.”
He added: “My hope is that today’s call-in will adopt a common sense, non-political approach as the alternatives such as judicial reviews are not in anyone’s interests especially this council.”
The trial was installed last April under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO). Bollards prevent drivers from cutting through to avoid the A36/Bathwick Street junction, keeping access to homes and businesses from either side.
Speakers in favour of the LN at yesterday’s meeting included travel behaviour change expert Sarah Toy who said: “To make Bath’s streets safer and healthier, there needs to be change and that change can only come from car drivers. You can see from the evidence of the trial how the Sydney Road experimental filter has changed lives for the better.”
She said people have changed their behaviour “as evidenced by the 3,000 vehicles per day that have disappeared”.
Ms Toy continued: “The neighbourhood is measurably safer, quieter, cleaner and more convivial, with more children walking to school via Sydney Road. These are markers of the success as set out in the council’s original scheme criteria.”
She added: “As a transport professional, I am confident the council’s consultation process has been robust, fair and inclusive. The reason for calling in this scheme is political, not evidence-based.
“The vocal minority campaign against has been delivered in an aggressive and bullying way which I know has frightened people away from publicly supporting the scheme.”
One of the other speakers in favour of the LN was Alistair Gavin Douglas who said he and his wife remembered the many “perceived inconveniences” when previous Bath access roads were changed, for example Union Street and the Royal Crescent, which are now “sacrosanct” for preserving a safe space for pedestrians, the disabled and cyclists.
Robin Allan there are “green shoots of progress” from the ETRO, with more than 70% of children at the local primary school walking to school, while at King Edward’s School in North Road, transport services have been adapted and this has already delivered a 30% increase, removing a lot of car drop-offs and pick-ups.
Speakers against the LN being made permanent included Dr Ian Orpen from Bathampton who until three years ago owned a property in Sydney Road.
He said the engagement process fails the legal standard known as the Wednesbury principle. The ‘Wednesbury unreasonableness test’ determines if a decision made by a public authority is lawful.
Dr Orpen said the consultation is also likely in breach of the Equality Act by virtue of an inadequate Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA).
He called for further engagement which would allow a modification, removing the road closure and replacing it with traffic calming measures which would still deliver a LN “but without the harmful consequences of the current arrangement of displaced traffic onto boundary roads”.
Councillor Mark Elliott at the meeting
Neil McCabe from UNSUNG – the UNited Sydney Unliveable Neighbourhoods Group – said the council’s “failures” in closing the Sydney Road branch of the A36 have left it “wide open” to legal challenge.
He said: “Data for the last 25 years show the A36 Sydney Road branch carried one third of A36 traffic much more safely than the Beckford Road branch. In addition, traffic has increase 20% to 50% on highly unsuitable roads such as North Road and Sham Castle Lane.
“B&NES has therefore deliberately breached its legal obligation to secure safe traffic movement by pushing traffic onto less safe routes.”
He said perhaps the most damning evidence in court would be that of the head of Bathwick St Mary Church Primary School who “believes it is imperative to reopen Sydney Road to keep children safe”.
Mr McCabe urged any decision on the ETRO to be deferred until the full effect of traffic resuming on the A36 has been analysed, and the council has assessed its “liabilities”.
Bathwick resident Jon Avent listed 12 “failures” of the council, including to engage, listen and consult effectively with local residents, to deliver net benefit by ignoring significant congestion and increasing the safety risk on boundary roads, and to achieve public support including the local primary school and businesses.
He claimed cabinet members and the LN team have failed to act in line with the Nolan Principles (standards in public life) and said council leader Councillor Kevin Guy (Liberal Democrat, Bathavon North) is “open to scrutiny”.
Mr Avent said Councillor Guy had written to a Sydney Place resident confirming his “personal commitment” to deliver the scheme and had mentioned that Councillor Manda Rigby (Liberal Democrat cabinet member for highways who represents Bathwick) “could not have worked harder” to keep the project at the top of the list.
Mr Avent said: “Despite the scheme being 12th on the shortlist with marginal, if any, benefit in delegating authority to Councillor Rigby, the scheme suddenly became fourth to be rolled out. This was clearly a politically-driven fait accompli, led by Councillor Guy.”
Neil McCabe and Jon Avent at the traffic restriction on Sydney Road
Lead call-in member Councillor Colin Blackburn (Independent, Westmoreland) told the panel: “I was first made aware of this LN in late 2023 when a ‘closed’ consultation was taking place, directed at only a select few properties, all in line to benefit from this road closure, not a modal filter or other method of improvement previously discussed when this area was consulted on more generally.
“I was surprised, to say the least, that this even appeared on the horizon – seemingly bumped up the list after a private email between the council leader and a resident; promises were made. I wasn’t as surprised though as the hundreds of residents this was about to affect, who had no idea what their elected council was up to.”
Councillor Blackburn added: “An LN is meant to bring improvements to air quality, not pass it on and increase it elsewhere.”
He said there had been “manipulation of consultations and data”.
He said he has received emails and phone calls from residents across B&NES about the call-in with comments including “thank you so much for standing up for democracy and common sense”.
Councillor Elliott told the panel: “A key part of the LN policy is to keep through traffic off minor roads and on main roads. This scheme obviously achieves that.
“It has been implemented correctly, legally. That is the advice from our legal team. So, the only question becomes does the disadvantages of the scheme outweigh the meeting of the policy aim. The data shows the disadvantages of the scheme are not significant… I therefore decided to agree with the officer recommendation and make the scheme permanent.”
It had been claimed at a recent public meeting that the council would have to repay the cost of the project – £306,000 – to the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) if it wasn’t pursued, but Councillor Elliott said that is not the case.
He also told the panel: “All the elements of the scheme are temporary, contrary to what has been said. For example, the build-out at the bottom of North Road will have some adaptions for cyclists.”
He said his decision couldn’t be delayed because of the purdah period in advance of the West of England Mayoral election on 1st May; after the election would be too late to accord with the ETRO’s 18-month timescale.
Councillor Elliott called the decision “constitutional” and said it has been the council’s most consulted-on programme. He said: “WECA told us to stop consulting and get on with it.”
He acknowledged the 76% against the scheme from the wider area but said that crucially within the neighbourhood directly impacted by the scheme, 72% of residents support the measures.
He said Beckford Road has experienced a 35% to 40% increase in traffic which has only translated into journey times being between five and 13 seconds longer. The longest is 50 seconds in peak hours on Bathwick Street.
He added that the data clearly shows that concerns about traffic displacement have been “exaggerated” and can be effectively mitigated; trial data had been “independently verified”, and the council had not relied on data collected when the A36 was closed.
He dismissed insinuations that there has been anything other than “sound decision-making”.
Councillor Elliott added that assertions made by First about delays to bus services “are not backed up by evidence” for this scheme. He also highlighted its strong economic value and said active travel has already increased by 18%.
He said there is no evidence showing business losses directly due to this scheme, and the council remains committed to working with businesses to support any adaptations needed.
The cabinet member also said this week’s announcement that a government study says lorries and motorway traffic heading to the south coast should avoid Bath and go via Wiltshire means traffic will likely significantly reduce on the A36 in the city.
How the panel voted
The panel faced three options: to agree with the call-in and ask Councillor Elliott to reconsider, to ask for the decision to go to full council, or to reject the call-in.
Panel member and Labour group leader Councillor Robin Moss, (Westfield), said it was the second time in 13 months that the panel had visited issues around LTNs (the first being Southlands at Weston) and on both occasions the need for a circulation plan for Bath had been highlighted.
Councillor Joanna Wright (Green Party, Lambridge) brought forward the policy of LNs on the council at the time when she was a member of the Liberal Democrats.
She said it was about getting the right measure in the right place and a circulation plan for the city is needed as there is no coherent joined-up thinking.
Councillor June Player (Independent, Westmoreland) said so many residents feel not engaged and urged the panel to call for the decision to be reconsidered.
Councillor Jess David (Liberal Democrat, Moorlands) felt a “reasonable decision” had been made by Councillor Elliott. She said the divisiveness caused by the scheme was regrettable and that a city plan would supply a framework.
Panel chair Councillor Andy Wait (Liberal Democrat, Keynsham East), said he was impressed with the passion of the speakers, particularly Alistair Gavin Douglas and the centre of Bath is far better now.
He said he was in support of dismissing the call-in: “We are trying to educate people to move away from the motor car.”
The panel’s six Liberal Democrat members voted to dismiss the call-in. Councillors Player and Moss agreed with it and Councillor Wright abstained.
After the meeting, Councillor Elliott said: “I am pleased the panel dismissed the call-in, having heard that the decision had been made after careful consideration, with the right processes in place and following wide consultation.”
‘We have lawyers involved’
After the meeting, Neil McCabe, spokesperson for UNSUNG, said he was “disappointed” at the decision, but it was not unexpected.
He said: “This is very much framed by the proponent as motorist versus pedestrian. They’ve completed ignored all of the residents getting the additional traffic going around the area.
“The next step is to seek our options on legal action terms of whether this was an unreasonable decision in terms of Wednesbury, if they have breached transport law and if they have breached the Equality Act.
“We do have lawyers involved in this who think we are chances of success are pretty good.”
UNSUNG is now fundraising as it only has six weeks to put in a legal challenge.
