Row over lift plan for Bath Spa station
Protest group More Train Less Strain (MTLS) is claiming passengers could be put at risk of a serious accident if plans to remove a ramp at the station go ahead.
The group has launched an official campaign to save the ramp access to the station which developers are intending to replace with an internal lift.
The work at the station is part of Multi's £360 million SouthGate retail and residential scheme which will open in three phases between autumn this year and autumn next year.
Multi's plans for the station involve scrapping the ramp, creating a wider pedestrian area at the front of the station and turning ancient vaults in the bowels of the building into a series of food and drink outlets and public amenities.
Planning permission and listed building consent for the entire scheme was granted between 2002 and 2003 but vital changes have had to be made to plans for a passenger lift to replace the ramp at the railway station.
Plans were submitted and permission granted for a new lift but regulations on disabled access have changed over the past five years and the initial proposed lift is also smaller than Network Rail's new standard size.
Multi has had to resubmit an application for listed building consent after increasing the size and changing the location of the lift in its original proposal.
The firm will not need to re-apply for full planning permission for the new 16-person lift because it is an internal structure.
But MTLS says it is concerned for passenger safety if the work goes ahead as planned.
Spokesman for the group Tony Ambrose said: "We are concerned for passenger safety.
"We are concerned that the majority of people that use the station are ordinary people on foot and by removing the ramp you are talking about squeezing a quart into a pint pot.
"You only need one person to fall on the stairs and with 100 people trying to get down the stairs behind them and you have the makings of a very serious accident.
"We will start a city-wide lobby campaign to get travellers to email, phone and write to the people concerned.
"Someone must take responsibility and review what is a poor decision to remove the ramp."
Frank Tompson, chairman of the Two Tunnels group which is developing a cycle route to the south of Bath, is also calling on developers to urgently reconsider the reinstatement of the ramp on health and safety grounds.
Mr Tompson said removing the ramp and replacing it with a single lift would have a negative impact on access for cyclists, disabled access, people pulling luggage and motorists dropping off disabled passengers.
He said: "Only one small lift is planned to handle the requirements.
"It will cope at slow times but never at peak times, and no back-up will be in place."
Multi has decided to increase the capacity of the lift in line with an updated code of practice on accessible train and station design for disabled people from the Department for Transport.
It will be large enough to transport one wheelchair user and allow a wheelchair to be rotated inside the lift car.
The revised proposals would also see the removal of a modern door and the restoration of a historic window which can be seen from the main approach to the station's southern entrance.
But pressure group Campaign for Better Transport spokesman David Redgewell said: "We support the transport interchange and we always have done.
"The interchange needs to go ahead for the benefit of the regeneration of Bath."
Multi's development manager Jon Munce confirmed the location of the new lift was to fit in with updated guidelines and practical construction issues.
He said: "As the station is Grade II listed even these very minor changes must be covered in a revised listed building application.
"We are satisfied that the capacity of the lifts will be sufficient to cope with demand."
B&NES Council is due to determine the application for listed building consent at a meeting on Tuesday February 17.
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