£24m for transport
A transport scheme aimed at cutting congestion and pollution across the west has netted £24 million in government cash.
The Whitehall funding makes up more than half the cost of the £41 million West of England Sustainable Transport (WEST) project, with the rest coming from councils and businesses.
Among the areas targeted for improvements in Bath include The Circus and the two university campuses.
There will also be continuing promotion and expansion of a freight scheme which aims to cut the number of large delivery vehicles entering the city centre.
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Students at the universities will benefit from additional cycle parking and bike loan schemes, while the project will work with the developers of the 2,100-home Bath Riverside scheme, Crest Nicholson, to provide new and improved pedestrian facilities, bus services and travel planning advice to residents.
The plan was drawn up in response to future housing and jobs growth putting increased pressure on a transport system which the WEST bid document said "…already suffers from chronic congestion because the development of transport infrastructure and services has not kept pace with economic development and expansion".
The Universal Yoga organisation, which is based in Camerton, hosted a flash mob yoga session in the SouthGate centre on Saturday morning.
Several of the teachers got down on their mats and practised their yoga while shoppers passed by.
Spokeswoman Charlotta Martinus said: "I wanted to raise awareness of what yoga is all about and give people a flavour of what they can expect in any class they might go to. It is becoming such a popular pastime, with a 25 per cent year-on-year rise and nearly half a million people practising in the UK alone."
Universal Yoga has also been chosen to represent yoga as a sport at the Olympic-themed Sulis Sound Track festival on July 21 at Bath Racecourse, and will be giving away prizes there.
The Bath Decorative Antiques Fair is under new management.
The annual three-day event has been organised by Bath dealer Robin Coleman for 23 years and was originally launched to promote the Bath and Bradford on Avon Antiques Dealers' Association.
It has now been acquired by Sue Ede, of Cooper Events, who runs fairs throughout the country.
The next fair will be at the Pavilion on March 7 to 9.
Mr Coleman said: "After 23 years of running the fair I have decided to hand the baton to Sue."
His business, Robin Coleman Antiques, will continue to exhibit at the event.
Comments
by OldFascist
Saturday, July 07 2012, 9:30PM
“Greasyron is probably right. First will get their paws on the bulk of it, and all we will see is a few more 15 year old clapped out buses transferred to Bath. The rest will probably be spent on uphill bicycle lanes!
God knows what they will do with the Circus! probably pave over the centre or something similar, they call it improving the public realm i believe! Others call it wasting money on vanity projects.”
by Dave_Weston
Thursday, July 05 2012, 3:31PM
“Had a brief glance through the bid document (trying to find what the reference to the Circus meant!). Interesting part of it which refers to the obstacles to using public transport, and its pretty comprehensive about them all and how this will be solved (e.g. free trial passes for those who've never used it to get over that) but the one thing it is utterly silent on, is the cost that puts people off!
I'm inclined to agree with Timmy - buses are a busted flush unless they can be regulated, we'd be better off stripping out the bus lanes and using the space to make barrier protected cycle lanes.”
by GREASYRON
Thursday, July 05 2012, 3:07PM
“Most of it will be sucked up by Firstbus.”
by t1mmyb
Thursday, July 05 2012, 2:52PM
“Seeing as your space hoppers and pogo sticks have similar kinetic energy as pedestrians, you can use the existing, extensive pedestrian infrastructure.
The thing with cycling is that it fits in mid way between the kinetic energy levels of driving and walking, yet UK cycle lanes & paths usually force bikes into conflict with either motor vehicles or pedestrians.”
by mcupis
Thursday, July 05 2012, 2:47PM
“It would pay for a lot of pogo stick and space hopper infrastructure too t1mmyb.
https://http://tinyurl.com/6wbh5cb”
by t1mmyb
Thursday, July 05 2012, 1:24PM
“£24m would pay for a lot of bicycle infrastructure, on the other hand, allowing lots of normal people (who wouldn't consider themselves "cyclists") to use bikes for transport without feeling like they're putting their life in motorists' hands every time they ride a bike.”
by drawde29
Thursday, July 05 2012, 11:59AM
“£24m? Should pay for about 500 yards of bus lane in B&NES then.”
by lamail
Thursday, July 05 2012, 11:41AM
“Bicycles/pedestrians/yoga devotees/antiques fairs - obviously not much to say about transport then.”