By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: Bath and North East Somerset Council is asking people for their views on plans for five liveable neighbourhoods, as it gears up to roll out the rest of the planned schemes.
The council is rolling out 11 liveable neighbourhoods (also called low traffic neighbourhoods or LTNs) across the district. Five are already partially in place, with their through traffic restrictions launched as trials.
Now the council is launching a “a public engagement” on the full package of measures for five liveable neighbourhoods before it finalises detailed designs: the Southlands, Whitchurch village and Queen Charlton, Church Street and Prior Park Road, Chelsea Road, and Entry Hill liveable neighbourhoods.
But this time, the plans will not involve closing any more roads to through traffic. The through traffic restriction elements of the Southlands, Church Street and Queen Charlton liveable neighbourhoods are already in place, having been introduced as trials.
Closing Southlands to through traffic in November 2022 was highly controversial. It was made permanent in January 2024, although people on the street protested against it and the plan was “called-in” for a debate at a council scrutiny panel over local concerns.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is now asking the public for their views on the measures to complement these restrictions, including better crossings and improved facilities for active travel. The public engagement will also look at replacing the planters on Southlands with a permanent design for the through traffic restriction.
The planned liveable neighbourhoods in Chelsea Road and Entry Hill do not include any through-traffic restrictions. In Entry Hill, the council is proposing a set of traffic lights, single file traffic and wider pavements on Entry Hill bridge; while a series of continuous crossings over side-roads are proposed in Chelsea Road.
Council cabinet member for highways, Manda Rigby, said: “While the designs are preliminary, they are based on considerable consultation and design work conducted with communities, including ward councillors, over several years. We are now seeking feedback on the proposals before developing more detailed designs.
“As part of our engagement, residents and businesses in and around the Liveable Neighbourhood will receive letters and leaflets outlining the proposals on a map. This includes full details on the aims of the scheme, how they were developed, how they can feedback their thoughts and what will happen next.”
The public engagement will run until February 28. While the people are being asked for their views, the council has insisted it is “not a formal consultation.” The council said it wants feedback before preparing and engaging residents on more detailed designs.
A council statement said: “The council’s intention is to gather feedback on these preliminary proposals before preparing and engaging residents on more detailed designs.” Work requiring a traffic regulation order would be subject to a statutory 21-day consultation.
Liveable neighbourhoods are intended to make residential streets safer and more pleasant for cycling and walking — but have been highly controversial in Bath. Thousands of people signed petitions against through-traffic restrictions which were brought in on Sydney Road and Winifred’s Lane.
The council had originally planned to bring in 15 liveable neighbourhoods across the city, but this has been cut back to 11 due to “funding constraints” and the impact of inflation on construction costs. The funding for the 11 schemes — which comes from the government’s City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement fund — was approved by the West of England Combined Authority in September 2024.
Other public engagements on the remaining six schemes are expected to happen later this year. Plans for the liveable neighbourhood for Temple Cloud could be ready for public engagement in February. But it is not expected to be until the spring or summer this year that public engagements are launched for the Lower Lansdown and The Circus, New Sydney Place and Sydney Road, Pulteney Estate, London Road and Snow Hill, and Lyme Road and Charmouth Road liveable neighbourhoods.
Through-traffic restrictions have already been installed on Sydney Road, Gay Street, Catharine Place, and Winifred’s Lane ahead of the full schemes coming into place.
A full description and feedback form for each proposed liveable neighbourhood is available here on the council website: www.bathnes.gov.uk/yourLN
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