Dear Widcombe Association Member
Liveable Neighbourhoods consultation
Please find attached our response to this consultation from the Widcombe Association. A residents association based in Bath representing residents and businesses in the historic Widcombe Parish (now part of Widcombe & Lyncombe Ward). The response represents the views of the main committee of the WA, which has taken account of members views expressed to us. As you would expect there is a diversity of views across Widcombe and we don’t claim to speak for every member. We have also encouraged our members to respond individually.
20201010 Response to Liveable Neighbourhoods – WA
If you have any questions or would like more information please contact either myself or Mike Wrigley our Transport lead
We have also attached the response by the Federation of Bath Residents’ Associations (FoBRA) to the Liveable Neighbourhoods (LN) Strategy consultation.
This was originally a paper advising FoBRA members (33 individual Bath residents’ associations, with a combined membership of some 5,000 residents of the city) on the LN Strategy. FoBRA members agreed that the paper taken as a whole sets out the principles that we believe B&NES Council should follow in implementing the Strategy.
Individual FoBRA member associations will be responding to the consultation separately.
FoBRA response to Liveable Neighbourhoods strategy consultation
LIVEABLE NEIGHBOURHOODS – A CONSULTATION BY BATHNES COUNCIL
As part of its strategy to tackle traffic and transport issues, and enhance urban environments, the Council has launched an initiative called Liveable Neighbourhoods. This has three strands: Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Residents’ Parking Zones and On Street Charging for Electric Vehicles. Consultants have produced reports on each of these topics, together with an overall summary, all now subject to public consultation.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods aim to reduce vehicles moving through predominantly residential areas, using a variety of measures such as bollards, bus-gates, public realm enhancements and changes in road width and surfacing. These would be designed also to enable people to walk or cycle in greater safety. Many communities have been campaigning for action to prevent short-cuts through their own neighbourhoods and this component of the strategy is to ensure coherence when all these proposals are brought together.
Residents’ Parking Zones have existed in Bath (and other parts of the District) for some years, and expanded as commuter parking has spread further from the City Centre. A number of additions are planned including one for Greenway Lane, Lyncombe Vale, Lyncombe Vale Road, Rosemount Lane and Perrymead. The Council has decided that there should be a comprehensive review of Residents’ Parking Zones to enable compatibility with the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and to establish priorities.
On Street Charging for Electric Vehicles: the Council wants to enable the transition from petrol and diesel to electric vehicles and has begun to examine providing on–street charging points.
Widcombe Association Committee has discussed the three reports underpinning the Liveable Neighbourhoods’ strategy and is broadly in favour. However, none of the reports puts forward specific proposals at this stage. The consultation primarily concerns principles underlying the strategy.
Your committee has raised concerns that need to be addressed for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, primarily that of traffic displacement. Vehicles prevented from taking short cuts through residential areas would be concentrated on principal roads, with homes and uses such as schools along them. The strategy has to be in conjunction with measures to reduce the overall amount of traffic coming into the city including the Clean Air Zone. Another concern is the extended timescales envisaged to establish Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. The review of Residents’ Parking Zones (and for specific new proposals to come forward) is also likely to take a significant time. Ideas for Electric Vehicle Charging Points are at a very early stage.
Taken together these measures would in time fundamentally alter Bath and how we all get around. The Council’s survey is an opportunity for you to comment on what is envisaged. You can find the consultation documents at https://beta . bathnes . gov . uk/liveable-neighbourhoods-consultation together with the reports and summary by the Council’s consultants, Jacobs.
The survey closes on Wednesday 14th October, 2020.
M J Wrigley
Widcombe Association
23rd September
