By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: Plans to regularly close a riverside footpath in Bath have been put on hold as councillors clash over plans to evict boaters living alongside it.
Bath and North East Somerset Council had planned to begin temporarily closing the footpath next to the Recreation Ground on days when Bath Rugby is playing there from September. Now that plan has been “paused” while the evidence and governance behind it is reviewed.
The plan drew criticism from some councillors as it emerged at the same time as the council ordered houseboat residents moored along that path to leave, telling boaters they would face legal action if they were not gone by September. The council says the eviction is not connected to the river path closure, reasoning that the river is dangerous in bad weather.
Not all councillors — or boaters — are convinced. When the council decided to apply to the Land Registry to try and formalise its ownership of this stretch of the river bed, 11 backbench councillors challenged the decision over a “lack of transparency” and called it in to a scrutiny committee.
It was at this committee on July 15 where Saskia Heijltjes (Lambridge, Green), who led the cross party call-in, revealed: “Yesterday I received an email from an officer confirming that the proposed match day river path closure has now been paused and is currently under reviewing pending proper evidence, consultation, and governance.
“I very much welcome that but I would ask: If the path closure requires all that before proceeding, why did this land registration not?”
She said: “The council has owned this river bed in practice for a long time. It has chosen to register formally at precisely the moment when a £1.85m feasibility study for the radial gate is underway or about to be underway, when Bath Rugby’s £70m stadium redevelopment is about to start, and when boat dwellers on that same stretch are being told to leave.
“That may all be a coincidence but the decision report makes no attempt to explain the connection and this panel has every right to ask for one.”
Deputy council leader Sarah Warren (Bathavon North, Liberal Democrat) said the perceived coincidence was due to the fact that the council had temporarily engaged a member of staff dealing with the river and moorings, and registering the ownership of the river bed was one of the recommendations he had made while in post.
Ms Warren said: “There is no specific project currently identified. […] In future there might be projects relating to ecological improvements or flood prevention which might be of interest in this location. Any future decision will be subject to its own approval process.”
The call-in signed by councillors raised a number of concerns, including the impact on the boaters being evicted from the river, but the council’s top legal officer said their objections were “primarily misconceived”. He said that the meeting could only discuss whether a reference to “subsequent implementation of other associated projects” was specific enough.
After a sometimes tense meeting, in which committee chair Andy Wait (Keynsham East, Liberal Democrat) repeatedly reminded councillors to not ask questions about the boaters or river in general, the committee voted to dismiss the call-in.
The council ordered boaters off the stretch of river in May and they have until September to leave before the council takes legal action. Percy Walton has lived in a boat on the Pulteney stretch for four years and said previously he would stay as long as he could and try to fight the eviction legally. He said: “I don’t think we fit in with their designs for the future. It’s a bit discriminatory against us.”
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