Date published: 2025-01-23 | Category: Liveable Neighbourhoods, Transport and Development
Residents and businesses are being asked to share their views on designs for five Liveable Neighbourhood schemes aimed at improving residential streets and making active travel safer and more attractive.
Bath & North East Somerset Council is seeking feedback on the overall package of measures for five Liveable Neighbourhoods in:
- Southlands
- Whitchurch village and Queen Charlton
- Church Street and Prior Park Road
- Chelsea Road and
- Entry Hill.
This is a public engagement, not a formal consultation, on measures for which the council has already secured funding from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority. It will run from Monday 20 January until 28 February.
Councillor Manda Rigby, cabinet member for Highways, said: “While the designs are preliminary, they are based on considerable consultation and design work conducted with communities, including ward councillors, over several years. We are now seeking feedback on the proposals before developing more detailed designs.
“As part of our engagement, residents and businesses in and around the Liveable Neighbourhood will receive letters and leaflets outlining the proposals on a map. This includes full details on the aims of the scheme, how they were developed, how they can feedback their thoughts and what will happen next.”
The Liveable Neighbourhood programme aims to reduce the impacts associated with excessive traffic in residential areas, such as short-cutting, congestion and speeding; and to create environments where it is safer and more attractive to walk, wheel and cycle. Currently 42 percent of all journeys in Bath are under 3km and in private vehicles.
Significant consultation and shortlisting of proposals has already been conducted in the five areas, and the designs reflect the proposals that were outlined in the final business case for the LN programme, submitted to West of England Mayoral Combined Authority last autumn.
In Southlands, Church Street and Queen Charlton, through-traffic restrictions were trialled as pilot schemes in 2022/23 and have now been made permanent. In these areas, the council is proposing a range of improvements to complement these existing pilots, including better crossings and improved facilities for those wishing to travel actively in the area. For Southlands, a permanent design for the through-traffic restriction is also proposed.
Proposals for Chelsea Road and Entry Hill do not include any through-traffic restrictions. However, in 2022-23, the council introduced residents’ parking zones in these areas to tackle pressures on parking and associated traffic congestion which residents felt strongly about.
To complement the RPZ in the Entry Hill area, the council is now proposing a set of traffic lights, single file traffic and wider pavements on Entry Hill bridge. This is to deter through-traffic from using Entry Hill as an alternative to the main road (A367 Wellsway).
In Chelsea Road a series of continuous crossings are proposed over side-roads to give pedestrians priority over approaching vehicles.
The council also hopes to engage on Temple Cloud’s LN later in February, once plans are ready to share.
The council’s intention is to gather feedback on these preliminary proposals before preparing and engaging residents on more detailed designs. It would then, where appropriate, install the measures under standard Traffic Regulation Orders following a 21-day statutory public consultation.
A full description of the proposals - and a feedback form - are available from individual LN web pages at www.bathnes.gov.uk/yourLN
Public engagements on wider LN proposals for the five remaining LNs are likely to happen later in the spring/summer 2025. They are:
- Lower Lansdown and The Circus
- New Sydney Place and Sydney Road
- Pulteney Estate
- London Road and Snow Hill
- and Lyme Road and Charmouth Road
The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority is responsible for distributing the UK Government’s City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) funds to viable schemes in the region. Funding to install 11 LNs was secured in September 2024 following submission of full business case to WECA in the autumn. The council was then awarded the remaining £3.78m of the £5.1m funds originally earmarked for the project from the UK Government’s City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement fund, plus an additional £1.81m which it estimates it needs to deliver the programme.
ENDS