Decision details

(1)  To agree that B&NES Council is to assume the position of responsible body for the Bath Walking Wheeling and Cycling Links scheme to be delivered according to milestones agreed with the Mayoral Combined Authority in accordance with the CRSTS programme.

(2)  To delegate approval to the Executive Director - Sustainable Communities, in consultation with the S151 Officer, to accept the Grant Offer Letter (GOL) from the Mayoral Combined Authority when it is provided.

(3)  To approve capital budget of £900k to develop the Full Business Case (FBC), including final Preliminary and Detailed Designs for the scheme. This is entirely funded by CRSTS grant.

(4)  To agree that further approval of grant funding acceptance, is delegated to the Executive Director - Sustainable Communities, in consultation with the S151 Officer, at the time of Mayoral Combined Authority approval of the Full Business Case, for delivery of the works, scheduled for 2026.

The handover sees the council become the responsible body for the project and contract management, including the establishment of new contracts with consultants and other suppliers, as well as directly managing budget, programme and risk, and retaining responsibility for reporting to the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA).

Funding required for the council to complete the Full Business Case, including preliminary and detailed design, cost summaries and risk assessment, has been allocated by the MCA as part of its governance of the handover, via a change request. The scheme will be proposed for consideration by the MCA as a Low Risk Traffic Scheme (LRTS).

The BWWCL project is categorised as an Active Travel scheme within the CRSTS programme. The scheme has been managed to date by the MCA, which has engaged consultants for design and business case work themselves, acting as commercial client.

This has been in collaboration with B&NES as the key stakeholder, which has involved input as the Highway Authority as well as engagement with key teams across the council, including regeneration, planning, heritage, parks, equalities and community engagement, as well as interfaces with other council CRSTS projects such as Liveable Neighbourhoods, Bath City Centre and A4 Bath to Bristol.

The objectives of the scheme include more travel choices for everyone. As part of our Corporate Strategy, we want to make walking, wheeling, and cycling safer, more convenient and accessible, while helping to reduce congestion and improve air quality.

The scheme is part of our emerging Active Travel Masterplan (ATM), a comprehensive plan that sets out the existing and future network of active travel infrastructure.  Feedback on the consultation during the summer is currently being considered and an update is expected in 2024/25. The ATM consultation page can be viewed here:  https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/active-travel-masterplan

(1)  The Combined Authority could continue to lead the project, with council time limited to an advisory role and Highway approval only. However, the council is the Highway Authority so the delivery of highway interventions would be more complex in this delivery model. Local community engagement will be enhanced through increased cross-service liaison and interfaces with other council projects.

(2)  Not to proceed with the project beyond its current phase and return CRSTS grant funds to the Combined Authority for distribution across other projects within the sub-region, or to be returned to central government. However, this is a transformational opportunity for the routes in question and not proceeding would prevent this scale of investment and improvement from taking place.