Meeting documents

 Introduction

• My name is Alison Weston. I am speaking on behalf of our campaign group Response2route.
  
• We are a community group who aim to stop the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route to run through Newbridge and Lower Weston.
  
• We are here today to call upon councillors to vote down the proposal to proceed with Compulsory Purchase Orders
  
• We demand immediate withdrawal of the proposed route through Newbridge and Lower Weston. It would be an unforgivable mistake to impose this scheme on our community with flagrant disregard for public opinion.
  
• Now I will address resident's key concerns and issues with regards to the planned route:

 Key arguments

We remain insistent that:

• The social and environmental costs are unacceptable.
  
• We question the feasibility and believe there is a real financial risk.
  
• There is uncertainty of outcome.
  
• We also believe that no serious consideration has been given to alternatives.

Social and environmental cost

• We reiterate that the negative impact on the local community is immense.
  
• Of the routes that could have been chosen, the preferred route still remains the one which will carve through the heart of a community, crossing the river to reach its destination.
  
• This route will negatively affect the quality of our living environment, damaging the health and sustainability of our community.
  
• Buses will run extremely close to homes, causing pollution, vibration, noise and visual intrusion.
  
• A physical barrier will be formed across the length of our community.
  
• The route will also see:
  
• Successful businesses losing their premises
  
• 40 years of wildlife and established trees being lost to a tarmac strip
  
• And a quality green space which is valued and USED by local people, forever lost.

Feasibility and Risk

• We reiterate that there are a number of feasibility issues and risks which will mean the scheme is certain to rise significantly over the £16 million budget.
  
• The number of empty Park and Ride buses passing through the area today suggests that the route will not be financially sustainable and the route will never pay for itself.

Uncertainty of outcome

We reiterate that the proposal is a gamble with uncertain outcomes which we believe could cause more congestion, not less.

• It is likely there will be new traffic congestion where buses will cross existing roads, Newbridge rd and Windsor Bridge Rd in particular.
• The Newbridge Park and Ride will attract new traffic to rural Bath.

Alternatives

• No serious consideration seems to have been given to alternatives.
  
• The council appears to have dismissed their own `low cost alternative' shown in The Business Case, despite this plan addressing, more efficiently, the issue of congestion in Bath.
  
• The council's preferred option still remains to be an `of the moment', glossy package which will not provide a long term integrated strategy.
  
• The option of the Lower Bristol Rd has not been given serious consideration. The recent leaflet received by residents showed figures which have no real bearing in an attempt to justify dismissing on road alternatives. These alternatives, in reality, would clearly have a dramatically lower impact on people, environment and would cost much less.

Conclusion

• To conclude I will propose that;
  
• Since there have been changes made to the situation of the Park and Ride on the Eastern side of Bath, it is now clear that it is possible for the council to make changes within the plan without losing funding for the package.
  
• We demand the immediate withdrawal of the proposed route through Newbridge and Lower Weston. These changes must be made to the Bath Transportation Package as early as possible so that a decent transport plan can be put forwards to the government.
  
• I finalise by, once again, emphasising that the current routing is an unacceptable burden upon our community.