Innovative transport designs

Local Lib Dems Gail Coleshill, Cllr Neil Butters and Tim Bray went on a fact finding visit to Stourbridge where there is a very successful light rail link between the station and the town.

The light rail car, or Parry’s People Mover, runs along rails on a 2 litre LPG diesel engine with a flywheel attachment to provide kinetic energy which saves fuel and carbon emissions.

Gail Coleshill was impressed by the possibilities of using such a low energy solution in Bath and North East Somerset.

She said “I can see the possibilities in a number of situations where the track beds of old railways still exist. It could be used in Bath along the old track instead of buses which use the same congested road space as cars. There are also the two tunnels track, the Radstock to Frome track, and maybe a branch line to Swindon.

Parry’s People Mover was first developed for use in the developing world but has been designed in Stourbridge to specifications from Network Rail.

The car which carries 60 people makes journeys every ten minutes along a disused branch line but the design of its body means that it can be extended to travel along tracks in or beside the road.

Gail was particularly impressed by its affordability. She added:

“LPG fuel makes it really cheap to run and the fuel is carried in a large tank within the vehicle. The car is light weight and the flywheel which stores up energy is what makes this such an innovative solution. I believe this could be a useful way to make a link between Bristol and Radstock along the old railway track which still exists most of the way."

Local resident and rail enthusiast Tim Bray thought there were practical applications within the Radstock area.

“I know there are public transport shortages between Farrington and Midsomer Norton and there is a track bed which is going to be an extension to the Greenway. I think this would be an ideal place to try out a pilot scheme for an ultra light railway.”

Time Running Out for Two Tunnels Decision

The B&NES Council’s Cabinet member responsible for transport has been accused of putting the Two Tunnels shared path project at risk by delaying a decision on the Council’s support package, including £396,000 in capital funding.

Councillor Paul Crossley (Southdown), Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, has written to the Cabinet member responsible for this decision to urge him to approve the funding. Councillor Crossley said:

“This is an amazing project and it is right that the Council should support it. The Liberal Democrats want to see the tunnels brought back to life as a new cycle way into and out of the city.

“The delay in approving the Council package of involvement for the project is putting the whole scheme at risk. It’s time for the dithering to stop.”

The Council’s Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel has also urged the Cabinet member to approve the funding. Councillor Roger Symonds (Combe Down) sits on the SSC Panel, commented:

“There have been repeated delays over giving the go ahead to this exciting new project. The blame for this lies firmly with the Council administration which has dithered, delayed and obfuscated and done anything to avoid giving positive support for the scheme.”

Organiser of the King Bladud’s Pigs exhibition (which raised £200,000 towards the Two Tunnels project) and former B&NES Councillor, Gitte Dawson added:

“The Two Tunnels is a wonderful project and I just hope it will finally come off! We've been two years talking to the Council. The Two Tunnels Steering Group, which I chair, has met 16 times since we got our £1m from the Lottery. And still we haven't put one spade in the ground!

“Right now, a £40,000 British Rail Residual Body grant is at risk. The grant will evaporate if we don't manage to at least dig out the buried entrance to the Devonshire Tunnel by 31st March. The lack of approval from the Council is holding everything up!”

True cost of bus lane revealed

In the week that Bath and North East Somerset has started further works on the A367 going into Bath, new figures have been obtained which show that the infamous 700-yard bus lane at Odd Down actually cost £72,600 more than was previously quoted.

Last summer Senior Lib Dem Gail Coleshill and Peasedown Councillor Nathan Hartley hit the national press with the news that Tory-run B&NES Council had spent £916,000 on a bus lane which was only 700yards long.

The news attracted criticism from politicians, residents and national motoring group the RAC.
Now, nine months later it has been revealed that the total cost of the bus lane is in fact £988,600. Prospective Lib Dem MP for North East Somerset Gail Coleshill says this money has been wasted on a bus lane that is rarely used:

“It’s a great shame that £988,600 has been spent on a 700yard stretch of road that has not at all helped ease the congestion going in and out of Bath – which is what those that who proposed it thought it would do.

Right from the beginning I knew this wouldn’t work and have been calling for years for alternative modes of travel to be explored to ease the congestion on the roads.

I would rather this money was spent on reopening some of the Railway Stations in the authority in places like Radstock, Saltford and Bathampton and also providing every single teenager in B&NES with a free bus pass.”

Midsomer Norton resident Mike Jakins wonders if B&NES will ever learn from its mistakes. He said:

“Before this bus lane was built drivers would often get stuck in traffic on the A367 trying to get to the Park and Ride. Now the bus lane has been built, they still get stuck in traffic trying to get to the Park and Ride. Nothing’s changed. What frustrates me most is that central government and the council both say they have limited funds for front line services... but can afford this monstrosity of a bus lane!”

Despite attracting criticism from all over the country last year, B&NES has decided to build another bus lane further into Bath near the Red Lion Inn which is only 177yards long. Peasedown Councillor Nathan Hartley added:

“£115,000 of the total £988,600 was spent on consultants. You’d think that they, for that amount of money, would have given the council the simple advice not to spend anymore on bus lanes. Apparently not, the Conservatives haven’t learnt and want to re-live last summer all over again.
Interestingly, even the Council gritters recognise that no one uses the bus lane because there was a perfect sheet of snow over it in January, with the other two lanes cleared from the grit laid by council workmen.”

Almost 150 people have joined a Facebook group set up by Gail Coleshill condemning the bus lane.

The figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that the £988,600 was spent on:

Construction (New bus lane, drainage & ancillary works) = £720,100

Internal costs (Project management, legal, property, planning requirements) = £111,400

External costs (Preliminary, feasibility & detailed design consultants) = £115,418

Land (Land purchase, agents & licensingfees) = £37,477

Environmental (Archaeological surveys, site investigation, safety audits, misc) = £14,225

Core Strategy - What does Neil think?

Open Letter to Newspapers:

Dear Sir

I am the councillor for Bathavon South ward, covering South Stoke - where I happen to live, and five other parishes to the south of Bath. I am writing to comment on the Core Strategy document and the proposal to build an urban extension, whether at South Stoke or Newton St Loe.

Exactly 40 years ago, I joined the then Institute of Personnel Management - now the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. I remember well attending an IPM event held at Bristol University a year later where we were told of the remarkable surge in membership that was then taking place. I further recall calculating that if the surge continued at its present rate, almost the entire country would be employed in personnel management by the year 2010! This was of course absurd, and after a while the rate of increase duly tailed off.

I mention this because it seems to me that we are in danger of getting caught up with similar false arguments, involving extrapolation of trends, where housing numbers are concerned.

Yes, it is clear that we do need some new housing. No-one would deny that. But of course the key questions are - how much, and where should it go?

There are currently some 8,000 on the housing waiting list in Bath & North East Somerset, well short of the 15,500 being planned for - never mind the 21,300 the Government is trying to impose upon us.

Let us say we made provision for the entire housing waiting list. We have the three MoD sites to work with; there is Bath Western Riverside; there are the almost 700 empty properties; and there are a number of areas around B&NES where more housing would be warmly welcomed. Further to that, the two universities could be asked to accommodate all first and final year students on campus, releasing large numbers of homes in the Oldfield Park area for normal family use. Ie: it should not be difficult to make up the total required.

Incidentally, I asked recently whether B&NES still had the power to initiate housebuilding itself, if private developers wouldn't get on with it in brownfield areas. The answer was 'yes, indeed they could!'. Food for thought there...

I believe that either proposed extension would cause immense traffic and other problems, and ruin the setting of Bath in terms of its status as a World Heritage Site. Moreover, I strongly disapprove of coalescence between either Bath and South Stoke or Bath and Newton St Loe - which would ruin the character of either village.

As you may recall, I and Gail Coleshill (Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for North East Somerset) presented our own petition from South Stoke to the Government of the South West in October 2008 (pictured above).

Also, I was happy to make the point by voting against the whole Core Strategy document at the special full council meeting on 1st October, and intend to continue in the same vein. Independent campaigners such as Jenny John (South Stoke) and the Newton St Loe Conservation Group therefore have my full support. All power to their elbows.

Yours sincerely

Neil Butters
(Lib Dem, Bathavon South)

Another developer-driven option? - 8th Dec '09

Liberal Democrats, worried about B&NES proposals to build in the AONB in South Stoke, invited MEP Graham Watson to visit Bath and North East Somerset constituencies.

While he was in South Stoke he was keen to sign the petition alongside Cllr Butters, Gail Coleshill and Louise Bray.

Gail Coleshill, who will be standing against Labour and Conservative at the next Election, say this is another example of a developer driven housing option:

“I recently learnt that the landowner has invited Councillors to view the land he is offering in the AONB for house building in an attempt to persuade them to include it in the Core Strategy.

We believe as do the residents that housing development in Bath should be restricted to the known brown-field sites within the city and that the special landscape setting outside the city should be left alone.

And there are better alternatives to the south of the District.”

Printed (hosted) by Google UK Ltd, 76 Buckingham Palace RoadLondon SW1W 9TQ. Published and promoted by Louise Bray on behalf of Gail Coleshill (Liberal Democrats) at 17 Waldegrave Terrace, Radstock, Bath, BA3 3EY, 01225 834673

Local Pressure leads to extension of Core Strategy Consultation - 3rd Dec '09

Local Lib Dem Gail Coleshill is pleased by the Council’s decision to extend the deadline for submissions to the Core Strategy Consultation to the 15th of January.

“I have been supporting residents in Newton St Loe, South Stoke, and Whitchurch who are fighting Developer led plans to build massive new housing estates on Green belt land.”

“Conversely local business leaders in the Norton Radstock area would like to see more land allocated for businesses and housing with the appropriate infrastructure. Their ideas are backed by officers to some extent but always qualified by lack of Government money for infrastructure and transport routes."

Local campaigners in Newton St Loe say that a massive housing estate between them and Twerton would lead to massive increases in traffic on the A4, massive infrastructure problems, and a massive intrusion into the setting of the Newton Park and World Heritage city, Bath. They say:

“NO TO NEW TOWN ST LOE”

Photo showing Newton St Loe campaigners with local Lib Dem supporters.
Front left to right Cllr Neil Butters, Louise Bray, Cllr Sarah Bevan, Gail Coleshill, Cllr Nathan Hartley and local campaigner Jo Tinworth
Keynsham Town Cllrs Roger Clark, far left, and Tony Crouch right of Jo Tinworth, also joined the protest.

Neil at Conference!

Cllr Neil Butters at Lib Dem Conference in Bournemouth, September 2009, with Parliamentary Spokesperson Gail Coleshill and campaigner Louise Bray.