Agenda item

Mr John Eke made a statement to the Panel regarding a 7.5T HGV Weight Restriction for The Street, Stowey. A copy of the statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book, a summary is set out below.

He explained that The Street is a busy, steep, narrow and twisting road with several pinch points made worse by poor oncoming visibility. This makes HGV traffic exceptionally dangerous to other road users including vehicles, school transport and the many cyclists, horse riders and walkers. He added that HGV traffic causes substantial road and property damage, obstructs traffic and undermines the environment and local amenities.

He informed the Panel that the narrowest part of the road at the lower end of the village was only five metres wide and insufficient room for a lorry and car to pass at crawling speed let alone two lorries at greater speed. He said that the screeching of brakes and near misses was a common occurrence.

He spoke of how he had lived at the lower end of Stowey for 44 years, during which time the impact of HGV traffic had steadily worsened. He added that the situation had become exacerbated by HGV Sat-Nav routes through Stowey, growing airport traffic and use of the Street as a ‘rat run’.

He explained that in January, yet again a 6 axle lorry hit and damaged the wall outside of his house whilst trying to avoid a smaller lorry coming up the road, the third such HGV accident outside our house in the last 6 months. The incident was reported to the B&NES Traffic Department but repairs are still awaited.

He said that representations had been made on numerous occasions in the past for HGV traffic to be banned from using the Street in Stowey, except for local access and that his colleague Alana Weeks would deal with that in her presentation.

Mrs Alana Weeks made a statement to the Panel regarding a 7.5T HGV Weight Restriction for The Street, Stowey. A copy of the statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book, a summary is set out below.

She informed the Panel that on October 3^rd 2000 the B&NES Transportation Sub-Committee resolved to introduce a 7.5T HGV Weight Restriction on 3 roads near Stowey Quarry including The Street. She added that the proposal was included in the 2000 / 2001 Capital Programme.

She said that the grounds for the decision were the unsuitability of The Street for HGV traffic, namely damage and costs caused by HGVs, road safety and pollution. She added that the resolution was not implemented, apparently because an employee left B&NES and that whilst this was a governance issue it was also an opportunity and asked for the resolution to be implemented forthwith.

She then spoke of Stowey Quarry and how B&NES had never intended for the 100 quarry lorries per day to use The Street. She said that the 1997, 2007/8 and proposed 2010 planning conditions consistently provide that Stowey Road/A37 was the designated route.

She explained that in 2012, B&NES and local residents (backed by the Parish Council, PACT and Police) agreed:

·  A 30mph speed limit on The Street (introduced in August 2012)

·  And a 7.5T HGV Weight Restriction (subject to funding and a TRO); and the route plan was approved in January 2012.

She said that the 2010 Quarry planning application, which included funding for a 7.5T HGV Weight Restriction, was rejected in November 2013. However B&NES confirmed its continued support for the 7.5T HGV Weight Restriction (subject to funding and a TRO) in January 2014.

She added that residents were therefore shocked to learn at a Parish Council meeting on 5 February 2014 that B&NES no longer accepts the need for a 7.5T HGV Weight Restriction.

She informed the Panel that the view of the Divisional Director for Environmental Services on March 18^th 2014 was that B&NES’ prior support for the 7.5T HGV Weight Restriction was no longer relevant and that a vehicle count would be undertaken to determine current need.

Councillor Vic Pritchard addressed the Panel. He thanked the members of the public for their statements and said that they represent the views of Stowey as all residents support this proposed action.

He said that the resolution that was approved by the Transportation Sub-Committee in 2000 was proposed by the now Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Caroline Roberts and that all actions necessary would be used to introduce the TRO.

He commented that having a vehicle count would be nonsense and asked the Panel to use their powers to persuade the Cabinet Member to implement and release the necessary funds, believed to be in the nature of £5,000.

Councillor Caroline Roberts commented that with regard to Stowey she was in favour of a weight limit to protect our roads.

The Divisional Director for Environmental Services commented that due to the passage of time between now and the original decision some form of survey would be expected and evidence required should any forthcoming decision be challenged. He offered to report back on the matter to the Panel in July.

The Chair asked for the report to be added to the Panel’s workplan.

Councillor Pritchard wished to address the Panel on another matter. He questioned the number of signs in Stowey that related to flooding as he had been contacted by residents that felt there were too many. He said that there were only 3 fords in the area and he was concerned that the numerous signs in advance of the fords were because officers were not sure exactly where the floods would occur.

He also said the signs were put in place without having a discussion with residents. He added that residents were promised a retrospective consultation and asked when that would take place.

Councillor Caroline Roberts replied that she felt the warning signs were adequate as a preventative measure to protect the public. She added that talks with the residents of Stowey and other affected areas would take place prior to July meeting of the Panel.

Councillor Tim Warren addressed the Panel. He spoke of his disappointment at the lack of content in the Bath Transport Strategy document that was launched at the Bath City Conference.

He said he would have preferred to have seen an actual strategy coming forward rather than a series of questions and no real detail but did not wish for the process to be delayed any further.

He called for a real cross party strategy that all groups could genuinely get behind and give direction for the next 20 or 30 years. He stated that the Council alongside the public must agree on the vision, the objectives, the transport initiatives, the criteria for selecting these initiatives and the relevant importance of each. He added that in the short to medium term the Council needs to know the approximate cost, timescale and feasibility of each scheme.

He commented that he understood that the main initiatives coming out of this consultation to go forward into a strategy were a walking network, a cycle network, a traffic management review, a bus review, a review of Park & Ride facilities, with an East of Bath Park & Ride the most crucial. He said this could be served by buses, trains or even boats. He said he was also pleased to see that an A36 / A46 link road was mentioned.

He stated that he believed that to make the Bath Transport Strategy work new public transport initiatives in North East Somerset will be required and discussions with Wiltshire as well.

He said that he would like to meet with Councillor Caroline Roberts and her officers to discuss the next stages and to then form a transport group including members of all political parties, the Transport Commission and a few informed community members who have shown an interest in the past.

He added that the group would need to be visionary and ambitious with clear transport initiatives and not frightened to make decisions. He said that a strategy could then be presented to the public with a clear set of initiatives, a provisional timetable, approximate costs and how it will be funded.

He concluded by saying that the Council could not move forward if every four years a strategy is ripped up and started anew and that the Conservative Group would do everything in its power to produce a resilient long term strategy.

The Chair thanked him for his statement.

Councillor Roger Symonds commented that he agreed with the views of Councillor Warren and welcomed his offer for parties to work together.