Majority of consultation respondents in favour of east of Bath Park & Ride

Bath & North East Somerset Council has released the results of its recent public consultation on plans for a new east of Bath Park & Ride, revealing that the majority of respondents are in favour of the proposals.

A break-down of the responses have shown that:

• Based on responses from those who supplied an a identifiable postcode, Bath and North East Somerset residents were 51.5% in favour and 48.5% against the proposal to build a Park & Ride east of Bath.
• The majority of respondents from within the City of Bath (66.2%) were in favour of a new Park & Ride to the east.
• The majority of respondents from within the Bathavon North area were against the provision of a Park & Ride (74.8%).
• When including those from outside BANES and those where only partial postcodes or no postcodes were given, the result was almost equally divided between those that supported a new park and ride in the east of the City (49%) and those that opposed it (51%).  
• Three sites were suggested for the Park & Ride. Of those who gave their views on a preferred location – 54% chose site B (west of Mill Lane), 31% identified site A (east of A4/A46 Junction) and 15% chose site F (east of Mill Lane).
• More than 4,000 respondents completed the survey.

Councillor Tim Warren (Conservative, Mendip), Leader of the Council, said: “These consultation results show that, whilst a clear majority of respondents from Bath support the need for a park and ride, residents of the villages to the east of the city understandably have greater concerns about the proposals. 

“We continue to believe that an east of Bath Park & Ride has an important role to play in improving transport, tackling congestion and supporting our local economy. 

“However, given the fact there are clearly many people with strong views on both sides of the debate on this issue, we decided that the matter needs to be considered at a meeting of all councillors in order to agree the best way forward for this project. “

“I would like to thank everyone who engaged in this consultation, the results will be considered carefully by the Council at the meeting next week.” 

Given the importance of this decision and the strength of views made during the consultation, Full Council will have an opportunity to discuss the issue at its 5.30pm meeting on 12th November and the views expressed at that meeting will help the Cabinet in its final decision.

A report with feedback from the consultation is publicly available via the agenda papers for the Council meeting: http://democracy.bathnes.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=272&MId=4222.