Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet selected their chosen location for an east of Bath Park & Ride on site B (land west of Mill Lane) yesterday evening.
The Council say a new Park & Ride to the east of Bath is key to wider plans to improve local transport, tackle congestion and support the continued growth of the city and local economy.
This includes a package of transport measures such as improvements to the road network, cycle-ways and public transport.
The Council took the decision in November 2015 to move forward with plans for a Park and Ride to the east of the city following more than ten years of studies, reports and consultations on the issue.
Councillor Tim Warren (Conservative, Mendip), Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “Over the past year, the Council has undertaken an exhaustive process looking at all the potential locations for the long-discussed eastern Park & Ride.
“The conclusions of this analysis were that both sites B and F are suitable to meet the established needs for an east of Bath Park & Ride.
“However, after careful consideration, the Cabinet has decided to select site B as our preferred location because it offers the greatest potential for a future link to the local railway line and is less visible to those living closest. It is near to the city and well-located for cars coming from the A4, A46 and A363.
“However, whilst site B is our preferred location, its use is subject to the purchase of the land and securing agreement from Highways England over access from the bypass.
“As site F would also offer a suitable alternative, if these outstanding matters cannot be agreed the Cabinet has agreed to revert to site F, which is within the Council’s ownership.”
Councillor Warren confirmed at the meeting that the Council would not be using compulsory purchase orders as part of their proposals for site B.
Explaining the decision to move forward with plans for the Park and Ride, Councillor Warren added: “Bath will continue to see significant growth over the coming years, with thousands of new homes and jobs being created at major regeneration sites in the city.
“We therefore need to plan now for how to manage the additional demand this will put on our road network, and a new Park & Ride forms an important part of our wider plan to improve transport, tackle congestion and support the growth of our economy.
“All our studies show that without a new Park & Ride, traffic will be worse in the years ahead.
“However, whilst we must plan for the future, we also understand the concerns raised by residents in the local area and have taken these on board in reaching our decision.
“We are proposing to build a smaller site than originally planned, with extensive screening. This will be coupled with improved signage to encourage greater use of Lansdown Park & Ride by those arriving from the north.”
Hundreds lined the streets outside the Guildhall in protest.
Why site B was chosen:
- Site B with 800 spaces is located within close proximity to the city;
- Site B would attract users from the A4, A46 and A363;
- Site B is outside the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and not within the floodplain;
- Site B has the potential for a rail link in the future;
- Those living closest to site B have the least view of it.
Councillor Anthony Clarke (Conservative, Lansdown), Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “The east of Bath is the most congested part of our road network, and is the only side of the city which does not currently benefit from a Park & Ride.
“Without intervention, including a Park & Ride, this will only get worse as the city continues to grow with more jobs and housing.
“Our current three Park & Rides are used by more than two million passengers a year, a figure which has grown by sixteen per cent since 2009, and their usage will continue to grow as more and more people travel into Bath to work and visit.
“The need for an eastern Park & Ride is therefore well-established, and has the support of local business organisations, residents associations and transport lobby groups.
“Building the long-discussed eastern Park & Ride is therefore an important part of our wider plan to keep Bath moving, which also includes greater provision for cycling and walking, better rail services through the MetroWest project, and bringing forward plans for an A36-A46 link road to reduce through-traffic in Bath.”
Members of the public will have the opportunity to continue to put forward their views as part of the formal planning process.
Councillor Clarke said: “The next steps for the Council will now be to progress discussions over the land and highway access, with further work on the design, screening and mitigations as part of preparations for a full planning application.”
More information is available via the Council’s website at: www.bathnes.gov.uk/East-of-Bath-Park-and-Ride.
For details of the Cabinet papers, visit: https://democracy.bathnes.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=122&MId=4962.
Sally Calverley, the Green Party North East Somerset Prospective Parliamentary Candidate said: “This decision will go down in history as the day the council failed its residents.
“They have voted for a White Elephant, an unsustainable solution that fails to deliver value for money, fails to tackle congestion and fails to address air pollution in the city.
“By the time the Park and Ride is built it will already be obsolete – the council have missed the opportunity to take into account the changes to driving technologies, from electric and driverless cars.
“This failure by a council unable to plan for the future is a real kick in the teeth for B&NES residents who deserve better. This shows the need to have a strong green voice on the council, a party that listens and has an evidence based approach to fixing problems for residents.
“This is the wrong answer for the right question, we should be tackling congestion and air pollution issues, but this Park and Ride is not able to deliver that.”
The Green Bath Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bath, Eleanor Field, said: “This does not tackle the important issues facing Bath and its residents. Air pollution is an issue that needs tackling, with a common sense approach.
“This solution is not fixing these problems. It destroys our local countryside to no benefit to the environment or residents.
“We need the council to listen to residents, not force through an expensive, needless Park and Ride that will not have help the councils constituents.”
Darren Hall, the Green candidate for Metro Mayor called the plans “half-baked” and “clueless”. He said: “At long last, BaNES Council has finally listened to residents and realised Bath has a congestion and air-pollution problem.
“Now they are determined to force through this half-baked response that seems, frankly, clueless.”
“Trying to solve the congestion problem by bulldozing green spaces to build more car-parks is a strategy doomed to failure. Residents don’t want it, motorists don’t want it, campaign groups don’t want it.
“Air pollution is killing 30,000 people per year in this country. What we need is fast, clean, efficient public transport. We need a 21st Century solution, not one from the 1970s.”
In response to the decision, Dr Julia Reid MEP, UKIP’s environmental spokesperson, said: “After record numbers at tonight’s protest, and years of campaigning by local residents, it’s a real shame that the council have chosen to disregard their concerns. In doing this, the Tories in Bath have committed political suicide.
“Bath is one of the most stunning cities in the whole of the UK, if not the world. People travel from all over the globe to visit Bath, many of which do so because of its world heritage status and the outstanding natural beauty which surrounds it.
“However, I believe tonight’s decision to pave over Bathampton Meadows jeopardises that. We need to protect our greenbelt and stop our countryside being swamped by over-development.
“And speaking of ‘swamped’, that’s what will happen to Bath City center if they go ahead with their decision to pave over our flood plains.
“I can appreciate that there is a growing need to improve transport, tackle congestion and support the continued growth of the city, however, building a fourth park and ride on Bathampton meadows is not the way to achieve this.
“This park and ride is guaranteed to destroy the beloved views from Solsbury Hill (which inspired the lyrics of a Peter Gabriel song), disrupt local wildlife, and cost the tax payer millions at a time when cuts are still being made.
“Yet despite this, the Council’s cabinet members have still decided to go ahead with their plans, without having provided any evidence that this will lead to a significant reduction in congestion or air pollution.
“In fact, a park and ride at Bathampton Meadows is likely to encourage more people to use their cars when travelling to Bath from the east, as opposed to travelling by Train or using the standard bus service.
“It’s a really sad day for Bath and sad day for the people who have spent a lot of effort campaigning to block this decision. This decision won’t be the end of this saga, the people will keep on fighting.”
