By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: A Bath woman has praised Bath and North East Somerset Council for stopping giant cars “bombing through” her neighbourhood.
The council has closed three roads to through traffic in the Lower Lansdown area just above the city centre as part of its programme of liveable neighbourhoods, which are also known as low traffic neighbourhoods or LTNs. The scheme has been hugely controversial — with campaigners warning that it is making roads past schools more dangerous.
But Bethany Claus Widick, who addressed a full meeting of Bath and North East Somerset Council on May 22, said the scheme had made a “clear and positive impact” on safety and quality of life in the neighbourhood, and had stopped it being used as a cut through for parents taking their children to school.
She said: “There were giant SUVs bombing through our neighbourhood, often with one child in the back, at excessive speeds. They would ignore pedestrians and we and our daughter were almost hit multiple times while walking to and from school.
“We didn’t walk our dog during school run times because we were concerned for her safety due to some near misses.”
She claimed that opposition to the scheme came primarily from people from outside the area wanting to keep using the cut through. She said: “Their poor planning and me-first attitude shouldn’t require us to accept a dangerous situation.”
The council closed Catharine Place, part of Gay Street, and — controversially — Winifred’s Lane to through traffic in November 2024. Ms Claus Widick told councillors: “The neighbourhood is quieter, traffic is calmed, and we have seen more people walking and biking on a daily basis.”
But campaigners opposed to the scheme have warned that closing Winifred’s Lane has just pushed the traffic around the winding lower part of Sion Road. Videos show cars mounting pavements and an independent assessor commissioned by campaigners opposed to the scheme found it had increased traffic on the road, which goes past a primary school, by 720%. The group said: “This is a school child accident waiting to happen.”
Meanwhile, one man who lives in one of the few houses on Winifred’s Lane said people who lived on the street had been “completely ignored” by the council. The measures are currently in place on a trial basis, and a consultation ran alongside it until the end of April.
A decision will be taken later by a council cabinet member on whether to make the scheme permanent. Although the consultation will be taken into account, top councillors have repeatedly stated that consultations are not referendums.
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The journalists are funded by the BBC as part of its latest Charter commitment, but are employed by regional news organisations. A total of 165 reporters are allocated to news organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland including Bath Voice. These organisations range from television and radio stations to online media companies and established regional newspaper groups. Local Democracy Reporters cover top-tier local authorities, second-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
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