Proposed New Sydney Place and Sydney Road
Traffic Changes
At the BERA meeting on Tuesday 9 January we discussed residents concerns about the upcoming trial of the through-traffic restriction on Sydney Road at the junction with the New Sydney Place. Mark Thurstain has written a letter on behalf of BERA expressing our concerns about the proposal to Councillor David Wood. If you are unhappy about the proposals we suggest that you also email David Wood ([email protected]) using some of the information below as soon as possible.
Issues of concern that were raised in the community meeting of the 9th January 20024 include the following points:
Issues of concern that were raised in the community meeting of the 9th January 20024 include the following points:
- Nobody on the Estate was consulted in the summer when the consultation and co-design process happened. It seems to have just been people from Sydney Road and New Sydney Place
- Notification about the trial (the decision about which will be made in January, by Councillor David Wood, who lives in Temple Cloud and represents the Mendip Ward) was only received on 12th December by a limited number of Estate residents who received a letter from the Liveable Neighbourhood Team
- We understand that it is only people within 200m of the proposed restriction that were consulted. How can this be right when the people most negatively impacted live on the Bathwick Estate?
- The timing of the trial means that traffic volumes are not be representative of the longer-term pattern – there are currently roadworks in the A36, the new Holburne Park housing estate is not open and the restriction to HGV traffic across Cleveland Bridge is due to stop in December 2024
- More school children walk to school (Bathwick St Mary's and KES) using Beckford Road. Increased traffic on the same road puts their safety at risk
- Poor air quality due to stationary traffic on Beckford Road has plagued us for some time. Increased traffic volumes as a result of the restriction will exacerbate this
- There is a general expectation of the return to traffic queues on Beckford Road, making exiting the Estate particularly problematic
- How can Sydney Road be ‘not classified’ when it is the same width as Beckford Road. (Non-classification means that it is treated as a residential road). We understand from Manda Rigby that traffic volumes on both are broadly the same.
- We have concerns about access to Darlington Street and Bathwick St Mary's School as well as broader issues around impact for people trying to get to KES
- What will be the impact on visitors to Bath who are likely to drive down Sydney Road?
Email from the Chair of BERA to David Wood
Dear Councillor Wood
I understand that you are the councillor with decision making authority with respect to the proposed trial for through-traffic restriction on Sydney Road at the junction with New Sydney Place.
I am writing to you on behalf of the Bathwick Estate Residents Association (BERA) to make you aware of the considerable anger of many people living on the Estate concerning this proposal, and the lack of consultation about it. We are a large community of around 400 households who stand to be majorly affected by this proposal.
The consensus of a well-attended community meeting, held at the Sydney Gardens Pavilion on the evening of the 9th January, was that traffic volumes on Beckford Road will be increased as a result of the proposed restriction. The increase in traffic will inevitably make the limited access to the Estate (which is only provided via two junctions on Beckford Road – with Forester Road and Beckford Gardens) more challenging than it already is. Furthermore, we are extremely concerned that this issue that will be severely aggravated by a massive increase in traffic volume if HGVs are once again allowed to use Cleveland Bridge - something that has not been factored into the proposal.
These points should have been addressed as part of a proper community consultation. The first that anyone on the Estate knew about the proposal was a letter from the Liveable Neighbourhoods Team dated 12th December 2023 to notify us of the imminent trial. The letter states that “the proposal is the outcome of significant consultation and co-design already carried out with the local community as part of our liveable neighbourhood program” (my emphasis). As far we are aware, nobody in our local community has been consulted about this project, save one BERA member who lives on the corner of Beckford Road and Forester Road.
The absurdity of this position was compounded by the fact that only some of the Estates residents received the letter from the Council on the 12th December: as far as we can tell, only some residents on Powlett Road and some on Forester Road. It is simply unacceptable to exclude many impacted residents from the decision-making process. People are furious.
Had we been invited to participate in the consultation, concerns about the impact of the restriction – including access to the Estate; the Cleveland Bridge HGV issue; concerns about air quality on Beckford Road (which has until recently been a major problem due to traffic queuing down the hill); the poor timing of the trial in the context of A36 roadworks; and the impact on access to Bathwick St Mary’s Primary School as well as other destinations in our locality - could have been addressed.
We are not opposed to the concept of Liveable Neighbourhoods per se but feel that the trial has been forced upon us without consultation and we urge you to suspend of the trial until our community has been properly consulted. I understand from our local councillors (Manda Rigby and Toby Simon, cced) that there are various trials happening in multiple tranches across the district until the end of Q1 2027 and so a short delay to the New Sydney Place restriction trial in order to address our community’s concerns should not be onerous.
On behalf the BERA and the Estate, I would appreciate a meeting with you to discuss this further.
With kind regards,
Mark Thurstain
Chair, BERA
I understand that you are the councillor with decision making authority with respect to the proposed trial for through-traffic restriction on Sydney Road at the junction with New Sydney Place.
I am writing to you on behalf of the Bathwick Estate Residents Association (BERA) to make you aware of the considerable anger of many people living on the Estate concerning this proposal, and the lack of consultation about it. We are a large community of around 400 households who stand to be majorly affected by this proposal.
The consensus of a well-attended community meeting, held at the Sydney Gardens Pavilion on the evening of the 9th January, was that traffic volumes on Beckford Road will be increased as a result of the proposed restriction. The increase in traffic will inevitably make the limited access to the Estate (which is only provided via two junctions on Beckford Road – with Forester Road and Beckford Gardens) more challenging than it already is. Furthermore, we are extremely concerned that this issue that will be severely aggravated by a massive increase in traffic volume if HGVs are once again allowed to use Cleveland Bridge - something that has not been factored into the proposal.
These points should have been addressed as part of a proper community consultation. The first that anyone on the Estate knew about the proposal was a letter from the Liveable Neighbourhoods Team dated 12th December 2023 to notify us of the imminent trial. The letter states that “the proposal is the outcome of significant consultation and co-design already carried out with the local community as part of our liveable neighbourhood program” (my emphasis). As far we are aware, nobody in our local community has been consulted about this project, save one BERA member who lives on the corner of Beckford Road and Forester Road.
The absurdity of this position was compounded by the fact that only some of the Estates residents received the letter from the Council on the 12th December: as far as we can tell, only some residents on Powlett Road and some on Forester Road. It is simply unacceptable to exclude many impacted residents from the decision-making process. People are furious.
Had we been invited to participate in the consultation, concerns about the impact of the restriction – including access to the Estate; the Cleveland Bridge HGV issue; concerns about air quality on Beckford Road (which has until recently been a major problem due to traffic queuing down the hill); the poor timing of the trial in the context of A36 roadworks; and the impact on access to Bathwick St Mary’s Primary School as well as other destinations in our locality - could have been addressed.
We are not opposed to the concept of Liveable Neighbourhoods per se but feel that the trial has been forced upon us without consultation and we urge you to suspend of the trial until our community has been properly consulted. I understand from our local councillors (Manda Rigby and Toby Simon, cced) that there are various trials happening in multiple tranches across the district until the end of Q1 2027 and so a short delay to the New Sydney Place restriction trial in order to address our community’s concerns should not be onerous.
On behalf the BERA and the Estate, I would appreciate a meeting with you to discuss this further.
With kind regards,
Mark Thurstain
Chair, BERA