Paving Promises: Council’s Active Travel Commitments Dodging Potholes

B&NES Greens remain concerned about ongoing safety hazards on North Road, which continue to endanger cyclists, especially children commuting to school and university. Despite promises from B&NES Council, the road is still neglected, with deep potholes creating hazardous conditions.

The council has allocated a £3.6 million resurfacing budget for this year, covering 38 separate roads. While some of these, including North Road, have been scheduled around the school summer holidays to limit traffic disruption, the repeated delays and inaction on North Road are unacceptable. The council’s procrastination ignores the urgent need for safer roads for students cycling to Ralph Allen School and the University of Bath. This persistent postponement not only contradicts their commitment to active travel but also endangers vulnerable road users, showing a disregard for road safety.

Green Councillor Saskia Heijltjes adds, 

“In December 2023, a severe accident on North Road resulted in serious facial injuries to a cyclist, underscoring the urgent need to prioritise road safety and reduce pressures on local healthcare services. When a local parent queried Council Leader Cllr Kevin Guy about the timing of the resurfacing, he suggested that closing the route in term time would be impractical. Delaying resurfacing until the summer holidays prioritises driver convenience over the safety of vulnerable road users, which goes against the council’s commitment to promoting active travel.”

Despite repeated calls for urgent action from local parents, the Bicycle Mayor of Bath, and the Greens, the council has failed to provide clarity on when North Road was last resurfaced or when necessary repairs will be made. Historic asset information reveals that apart from a micro asphalt surface treatment in 2001 on a section of North Road in Bathwick, there are no other records indicating when the road was last resurfaced.

Green Party Leader, Councillor Joanna Wright, a former Cabinet Member for Transport, reiterated the group’s longstanding advocacy for immediate improvements to North Road’s active travel infrastructure and road safety: 

“We have consistently advocated for immediate improvements to North Road’s active travel infrastructure and road safety. The council’s inaction jeopardises the safety of our community.”

The Greens call on B&NES Council to prioritise the resurfacing of North Road without further delay. The safety of all residents, especially children cycling to school, must be ensured as a matter of urgency.

GREEN GROUP AMENDMENT FOR School Street & Immediate retraction of paper parking permits for all Councillors. Also, to cease providing free parking in Bath via MiPermit for Councillors representing wards within the City of Bath while performing Council duties.

ITEM 8 – BUDGET & COUNCIL TAX Amendment from the Green Group Amendment for:

i)               School Street;
Bath and North East Somerset Council has declared a Climate Emergency and wants deliverable actions to reduce vehicle mileage by 25% per person by 2030.

ii)             Parents driving children to school creates car journeys in B&NES and it is known that in Bath alone 51% of car trips between 8am and 9am are related to education.

School streets are traffic restrictions implemented in front of schools during opening and closing times. They aim to enhance road safety and air quality, encouraging more children to walk or bike to school. This benefits their health and well-being while also reducing vehicle miles in B&NES. The Green Party is calling for a budget spend of £200,000 for a one-off school street in B&NES to be delivered out of the capital budget spend to be delivered from the £2.887m Local Highways Improvement (LHI) (formerly Transport Improvement Programme) as set out in Annex 5 (iii), in agreement with the relevant Cabinet Member and responsible Officer. Removing the proposed safety improvements in Bloomfield Rd and Widcombe Hill which are set at £240,000 combined because these schemes do not deliver LTN 1/20 compliant cycling infrastructure.

ii) Immediate retraction of paper parking permits for all Councillors.  Also, to cease providing free parking in Bath via MiPermit for Councillors representing wards within the City of Bath while performing Council duties.

Bath and North East Somerset has declared a Climate Emergency and is committed to providing the leadership to enable this scale of ambition to be realised. Councillors recognise that this requires a significant and fundamental shift within all sectors of the community, including those holding public office.

B&NES Council has in place an electronic parking system in place called MiPermit that allows all councillors to park anywhere when undertaking council duties for free. Presently 15 councillors in B&NES use paper parking permits which allows them to park anywhere in B&NES at any time, without having to verify their parking decisions. The MiPermit system ensures that possible misuse of this paper permit by councillors for possible shopping or attending sporting fixtures cannot take place, due to the need to properly date and time parking, which can be verified and justified to HMRC.

HMRC sees “Parking charges as earnings”, “unless the charge was for parking at or near your workplace” therefore the possible misuse of the paper parking permit could be seen by HMRC to be giving  “your employee money to pay for parking charges, it counts as earnings and you must add it to your employee’s other earnings and you may have to deduct and pay tax and National Insurance”. By not declaring proper use of the paper parking permits HMRC could see the actions of the councillors as fraudulent. https://www.gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-car-parking-charges/whats-exempt

The Green Party is urging an immediate end to paper parking permits for all Councillors. Also, to cease providing free parking in Bath via MiPermit for Councillors representing wards within the City of Bath while performing Council duties.

This council is demanding all residents to cut vehicle miles by 25% per person by 2030. Councillors can also use public transport or walk, wheel, scoot or cycle instead or use the Tier e-scooter or e-bike.

The sum of £1,100 as part of the savings from this retraction of paper parking permits and MIPermit is to be divided among the 11 community libraries within BANES to support the vital work they deliver for the community.

Proposer for Green Group Amendments, Schools Streets and Parking Permits Given by Cllr Joanna Wright

Last year in the 2023/24 Council budget meeting 32 Lib Dems voted against the Green Party Amendment for a School Street in B&NES, promising that school streets were going to be delivered in some form in the next budget. To date, we have see no delivery of a school street in B&NES and only the suggestion of “soft school street” options and £40K for school improvements to the smallest school in B&NES, which does not suffer from through traffic.

For the last 30 years, children have increasingly been taken off the roads, and have been replaced with cars instead. This creates a vicious cycle whereby the volume of traffic makes the roads unsafe so parents will drive their children everywhere.

Parents driving children to school is a massive problem in Bath with 51% of trips between 8am and 9am are related to education. 

60% of parents are worried about traffic speeds outside schools when their children walk to school. 

School streets would offer a solution to these problems.

School streets are restrictions on traffic at school opening and closing times to improve road safety and air quality and increase the number of children travelling actively to school.

Traffic restrictions are enforced using access signs, temporary bollards, and in some cases Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras.

Since July 2021 BANES became one of 12 local authorities in England, outside of London, to be given new civil enforcement powers to use Automatic Number Plate Recognition.

These new powers could be used to implement school streets. Revenue from enforcement could contribute to the cost of future school streets.

School streets are being implemented across the country.

Why are there no plans for school streets in Bath?

BANES states that it is committed to reduce vehicle mileage by 25% per person by 2030. It is implementing roadblocks through the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement. It is implementing Resident Parking zones and increasing the cost of parking, yet the very people making these decisions have the ability in some cases, through the paper parking permit system given to councillors, to park anywhere at any time.

Our amendment to the budget calls for a school street in B&NES. It also importantly demonstrates to all residents that councillors should be no more privileged than any other group when moving around the district and the Green Party is urging an immediate end to paper parking permits for all Councillors. Also, to cease providing free parking in Bath via MiPermit for Councillors representing wards within the City of Bath while performing Council duties.

Therefore, I propose the amendments as set out for a school street and changes to councillor parking permits.

Seconder Statement to the Amendments – Stated by Cllr Saskia Heijltjes

I would like to second the Green Group Amendments for a school street to be delivered in B&NES in 2024/24 and for changes to Councillor parking permits.

This council is repeatedly asking residents to re-evaluate how they move around and we have signed up to the Climate Emergency, to the West of England’s Joint Local Transport Plan, the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans and created the Journey to Net Zero Forum.  These documents and groups are committed to changing how we travel around.  Yet the very people who have voted in this chamber for these changes are still given the ability to park anywhere in B&NES.  This is not setting an example.  It is clearly showing that we think ourselves privileged and exceptional. I have no doubt that many councillors have many other commitments and need to be able to move around the district in the most efficient way possible.  But we do need to remind ourselves that as decision makers then we need to be showing that we too can change in part our transport behaviour.  For Bath Councillors, we do have buses, the option to use e-scooters or e-bikes and these alternatives offer a way to reduce road miles. Should a Bath councillor with a disability need support for access, then we appreciate that this should be given.

According to ROSPA, every month 1,200 children are injured in traffic related collisions within 500 metres of their school. We know anecdotally, many parents are too anxious to allow their children to walk or cycle independently because they are so concerned about dangerous drivers. In 2022, 40% of children aged between 5 and 10 were driven to school. In the context of one quarter of primary school children becoming obese by the end of year 6, and the resulting lifelong health implications, we believe it is vital to enhance opportunities for children and young people to walk and cycle safely.

Some of the 15 Liveable Neighbourhoods areas are near schools, but this is not good enough. A Liveable Neighbourhood near a school doesn’t offer the same experience as a school street and therefore doesn’t achieve the goal necessarily to reduce parents driving their children to school.”

We know that many councils are delivering at speed schools streets – Islington has 34 school streets. A year has passed and still children in B&NES have not one school street.

Green Group Advocates Enhanced Council Transparency on Active Travel in B&NES

In a compelling address to the Climate Emergency and Sustainability Policy Development Panel this morning, Green Group Councillor Saskia Heijltjes underscored concerns regarding the Liveable Neighbourhoods programme, emphasising the imperative for heightened proactivity, transparency, and accountability in decision-making processes.

Councillor Heijltjes articulated valid concerns about individual Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders being designated as single-member decisions, whereby decisions are already finalised without comprehensive details being shared. The Green Group asserts that such decisions compromise the purpose of scrutiny panels, intended for thorough examinations of policy proposals, ensuring a fair and democratic process. Single-member decisions not only inefficiently utilise members’ time but also circumvent the scrutiny process.

“The decisions are already set as single-member decisions. Why discuss Liveable Neighbourhoods in this scrutiny panel if the decisions are predetermined and will be made by a single member?” questioned Councillor Heijltjes.

The Green Group calls on the scrutiny panel to insist that decisions related to Liveable Neighbourhoods undergo proper examination before reaching the Cabinet, stressing the critical nature of preparing a Full Business Case to access nearly £5 million of funding from WECA. Indeed, the group notes the Full Business Case’s vitality for upholding the integrity of the council’s decision-making process and ensuring accountability. The current absence of this Full Business Plan is unacceptable within a democratic system – we highlight the significance of presenting scrutiny panels with the Full Business Case for the Liveable Neighbourhoods programme.

This becomes particularly pertinent considering the Council’s failure in June 2023 to secure funding for the Active Travel scheme, led by the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Councillor Kevin Guy. Despite suggestions for active travel routes and public consultations offered through scrutiny panels, the Liberal Democrats dismissed members’ proposals and pursued single-member decisions. The later rejection of their Active Travel proposal and loss of funding by Active Travel and the Levelling-Up Fund raised questions regarding the legitimacy of the Liberal Democrats’ commitment to active travel in Bath and Northeast Somerset.

“BANES has missed out on active travel funding, urgently needed for more travel choices. Discussing a report with an update while decisions are already slated as single-member decisions is a waste of panel members’ time,” stated Councillor Heijltjes.

Additionally, the group expresses concerns about proposed Liveable Neighbourhoods, specifically pointing out potential counterproductivity in the Lyme Rd/Charmouth Rd scheme. Here, the Liveable Neighbourhood plan, Councillor Heijltjes argues that proposal do not align with the funding criteria for the Government’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements – again – putting BANES at risk of not securing the £5 million funding needed to achieve sustainable travel choices and meet Journey to Net Zero targets.

Councillor Heijltjes also notes the absence of an updated circulation plan, crucial for managing traffic in Liveable Neighbourhoods. The Green Group urgently calls for an update on the promised circulation plan, highlighting the potential risks associated with implementing Liveable Neighbourhoods without a comprehensive traffic management strategy.

“The circulation plan has been promised for some time now. Chair, please insist that this is brought in some form to the next panel meeting,” urged Councillor Heijltjes.

Manda Rigby states that The Liveable Neighbourhoods programme has engaged with resident and been ‘codesigned’ to enhance their communities and environment. Given the importance of collaboration with residents, why is that the Climate Emergency and Sustainability Policy Development Panel not being provided with such information?

Letter to Chronicle 16th December 2023 -URGENT NEED TO REPAIR POTHOLES

Urgent Need to Repair Potholes

The irony of Cllr Manda Rigby tentatively promising that potholes will be fixed in a year’s time on North Road is not lost on the many cyclists who travel this well used route. Again we hear that a serious accident has taken place this week leaving a member of the public with serious facial injuries having to attend the RUH. This is a public health matter, costing our NHS precious resources.

The North Road route up to Ralph Allen School and the University of Bath is strategically an important active travel corridor that should be made fit for purpose and regularly resurfaced and kept safe.

In the letters page last week (16th December 2023) Elisabeth, from Bath shared the many experiences that her family had also endured on this route, including her son being knocked off his bike by King Edward School..

On the 24th November 2023, school children, students and worried parents came together on North Road, to demand that “B&NES Council Stops Pot Hole Danger” . As Ward Members for Lambridge we know that many young people on the east of Bath regularly use North Road to get to schools in the area and parents often contact us, worried for their safety.

We are concerned that Cllr Rigby’s promise, to resurface North Road in the next financial year, is too long to wait. The Council under her direction should be acting now to ensure that the public are kept safe on the public highways. All Councillors at B&NEs recently voted unanimously for Vision Zero, which states that every road crash is preventable. Kate Uzzell from Road Peace also spoke at this Council meeting and told of the tragic death of her husband, a confident cyclist of many years who hit a pothole and was killed.
How many other crashes need to take place before North Road has its potholes fixed?

Cllr Joanna Wright and Cllr Saskis Heijltjes