Opposition grows to Bath transport scheme

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Opposition is building to plans for a new park and ride site to the east of Bath.

The city council is preparing to put its £58million transport improvement scheme under the spotlight this week. Through a public exhibition at the Guildhall it hopes to fight a public backlash against the two most controversial aspects of the scheme – the proposed 1,400 space facility at Bathampton Meadows and the £16m Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme linking Newbridge with that site.

But parish councils from the three largest villages to the east of Bath and a new action group set up to fight the proposals have issued two separate campaign leaflets attacking the council's choice of site and the BRT.

Bath and North East Somerset transport chiefs have repeatedly argued that urgent action is needed to tackle Bath's congestion problem because gridlock currently coststhe local economy £50m a year.

They also say the authority is certain to lose £54m of Government investment if the BRT route from the Newbridge park and ride to the new A4 east of Bath park and ride is altered or scrapped. It has invited business leaders to a conference to discuss traffic congestion next week to try to persuade them of the scheme's benefits.

But opponents say Bathampton Meadows is the wrong place for a park and ride because the floodlights will be seen for miles around.

Batheaston, Bathampton and Bathford parish councils all believe the facility should be built on a disused airfield at Charmy Down, off the A46. Batheaston Parish Council chairman Councillor David Lavington said: "The proposed park and ride in Bathampton Meadows would ruin a large natural meadow, green by day and dark by night, which serves as a fitting introduction to Bath's famous townscape, recognised by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site. There is a less damaging, more convenient and cheaper site available at Charmy Down, which is almost entirely invisible to the public."

The parish council accused Bath and North East Somerset of publishing misleading information about the cost of developing Charmy Down, and the number of cars that would use it. The parish council also points out that five official reports in the past rejected the meadows option. Meanwhile, the newly formed Save Bathampton Meadows group has issued its own leaflet and will be staging a protest outside the Guildhall at 2pm on Saturday. Its leaflet argues park and ride is an outdated concept and says the council's own figures suggest that, in the time it takes to get it up and running, the growth in traffic would already have exceeded any reduction in congestion that the site might bring.

But the council says existing park and ride sites at Lansdown and Newbridge are full by noon at the very latest, with demand outstripping the supply of car park spaces.

A letter from the Government Office for the South West to the council said changing the BRT route would require the resubmission of the business case for the Bath Transport Package. A spokesman said resubmission would put the £54m package to tackle traffic congestion at "significant risk". "This would result in no expanded park and ride provision, no improvement to 10 major bus routes in the city, and no chance of enhancing the pedestrian environment."

Read this article on the Western Daily Press website.