Campaigners' anger over transport go-ahead
The Government Office for the South West decided this week to let a controversial decision by Bath and North East Somerset Council to approve the Bus Rapid Transit scheme though Newbridge stand.
Senior civil servants working on behalf of Communities Secretary John Denham have also backed the council's decision to approve its own plans for a new park and ride site at Bathampton.
They say the schemes - part of the £57.5 million Bath Transportation Package - do not raise planning matters of national or regional importance and do not need to be scrutinised at a public inquiry.
City MP Don Foster has now raised the possibility of a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman over the authority's handling of the schemes.
In a statement, the anti-BRT group Response2route said it was "extremely disappointed" that there would not be an inquiry.
"We believe a scheme of this scale and cost should be examined by an external body. At no step of the way has there been an opportunity to challenge the fundamental case for the BRT.
"The council has failed to clearly demonstrate how the BRT will achieve its set goals, with the project being mismanaged from the start. The main argument for the scheme has been about obtaining government funding.
"We disagree with GoSW that the proposal will not give rise to national controversy.
"Wasting £50 million of public money on an unproven scheme, during a recession is in fact, of national importance.
"It looks likely that other sectors will be forced to make cutbacks on important things such as schools and hospitals. The transport sector should also be looking to spend money wisely. It is unclear why at this time of economic uncertainty, B&NES are being allowed to slip through the net with no independent scrutiny as they attempt to grab millions of public money to force through a scheme with no foreseeable merits.
"Response2route will continue to fight this unacceptable proposal."
The BRT application - which involves the compulsory purchase of nearly 60 plots of land - also includes the controversial expansion of the existing Newbridge park and ride site.
Helen Samuel of the Newbridge Matters! group fighting that scheme said: "The GoSW’s announcement that there will be no opportunity for the people of Bath to be heard at a public inquiry into the Newbridge and Bathampton planning applications is disappointing but no real surprise.
"B&NES Council has, to date, spent at least £3.5 million of local taxpayers’ money on the Bath Transportation Package. In addition, they will need to find in excess of £7 million to implement the compulsory purchase orders. There is no guarantee this money will be recovered as the central funding has not been confirmed. This is a complete waste of money on an unsustainable proposal that will only add to congestion and pollution to our city, for instance, introducing another set of traffic lights to Windsor Bridge.
"We are surprised that the Secretary of State’s office has let this matter slide through without proper consideration of the environmental protections in place, the concerns shown by UNESCO and the detrimental consequences this scheme will inflict if it comes to fruition.
"There are still a number of avenues left available to objectors and Newbridge Matters!, in association with other groups around Bath, are actively pursuing these."
Liberal Democrat Mr Foster said: “I am deeply disappointed with the decision made by the Secretary of State. However, this does not change my view that processes followed by the council throughout have been seriously flawed.
“I, along with Liberal Democrat colleagues on the council, will now talk to residents to see if they wish to make a complaint to the Ombudsman.”
Mr Foster said he was concerned at the way the council had handled consultation exercises over the package - and at procedural issues such as the make-up of the B&NES development control sub-committee that approved the schemes.
“My biggest concern is that they have come to the wrong conclusion because they haven’t gone through a proper and logical process of consulting widely and coming to a decision. They made up their minds before starting the process.”
The Government office had told B&NES it wanted to have a look at the council’s decision to approve the BRT and the expansion of the existing Newbridge Park and Ride site, which formed a single planning application.
And the Bathampton scheme had to be referred to civil servants because it was a departure from the local plan document.
It took three meetings to approve the BRT.
The council now has planning permission for every aspect of the Bath Transportation Package, a Government-funded programme aimed at tackling congestion and pollution which also includes less contentious schemes such as bus improvements and the expansion of park and ride sites at Odd Down and Lansdown.
The best hope for opponents now is that another set of civil servants - working for Lord Adonis’s Department for Transport in the Government Office for the North East - decide to hold a public inquiry into the four compulsory purchase orders being issued by B&NES.
That would mean the Tory-run council cannot tie up its paperwork ahead of next year’s General Election, potentially putting the vital funding into the melting pot.
In a statement, the council said: “Bath and North East Somerset Council recognises that strong views have been expressed about the Bath Transportation Package by local residents, businesses, and community organisations. The council welcomes the Government’s decision which has balanced these views.
“This is a step forwards towards delivering the council’s joined-up plan to improve traffic congestion across the district and create a Bath city centre where pedestrians and cyclists have priority and where public transport is free to move.
“The BTP includes a more than doubling of the number of spaces at the council’s successful park and ride sites, a rapid transit route, and significantly improving the conventional bus network.
“The outstanding applications considered by the Secretary of State were the Newbridge Park and Ride expansion and Bus Rapid Transit, and the creation of a new A4 Eastern Bath Park and Ride site. Permissions will now be issued in line with the council's development control committee decisions.”
Letters to the council from GoSW planning manager Dave Jones said: “The Secretary of State has considered carefully .... relevant planning issues raised by this proposal. He acknowledges that this application has raised issues of controversy both from the representations received by B&NES Council and those persons who have taken the trouble to write directly to him.
“However, he is satisfied that the planning issues raised do not relate to matters of more than local importance or amount to regional or national controversy, which would be more appropriately decided by him rather than the local planning authority.
“He has therefore concluded that the application should be decided by B&NES Council.”
Newbridge councillor Caroline Roberts (Lib Dem, Newbridge) said the decision was the wrong one.:
"This decision will be a massive blow to residents who have fought the BRT proposal every step of the way. The Conservative council wouldn't listen to sense and now the Government is going along with it. This is the wrong decision for Bath and paves the way for an unnecessary and unworkable new road scheme."
One campaigner opposed to the Bathampton scheme said: “This decision comes as no surprise, as this is the way that the whole affair has been handled from day one, when they surveyed 201 people - which you'd probably think is not quite enough.
“It's a great pity as thousands and thousands of Bath residents - east to west have submitted objections.
“Over the last year, a lot of people have been using whatever mechanisms available, to extract information from the council, and some of it would make Chronicle readers' hair curl - it's no surprise that they don't want this out in the open in the form of a public inquiry.”
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