Nothing to say?

For members of the public present at the B&NES Full Council meeting on 1 October 2009, in The Guildhall, it was surprising that no legal advice or information was passed on to Councillors concerning the context of their debate on the Bath Core Strategy document, which was approved for public consultation.

On 25 September 2009 GoSW wrote to all Chief Executives of Local Authorities in the region. GoSW announced a stalling of the SW Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) in the light of the High Court’s judgement against the East of England RSS, which it found had failed to test reasonable alternatives for two of its proposals.

The Core Strategy is, in effect, Bath’s own development plan, reflecting regional areas of search for strategic housing, business and transportation, all of which are highly controversial; and in the case of the Bath Transportation Package, increasingly under pressure as unsustainable.

Under European law, certain types of public plans and strategies must be accompanied by a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and it has to be demonstrated that all reasonable alternatives to proposals and policies contained in the plan or strategy have been fully tested. This is why GoSW has now decided there is a need for greater clarity on how its Areas of Search perform in sustainability terms, although it expects this re-assessment to be ‘properly tested’ by the start of 2010.

Opponents to proposals for park and ride sites on green fields at Bathampton Meadows and Newbridge, along with the Bus Rapid Transit, will be working in partnership to submit alternative proposals to both GoSW and B&NES, for consideration during the review process for the RSS and the consultation on the Bath Core Strategy document which carries a deadline of 11 December 2009.

Global warming, carbon emissions and heightened environmental awareness mean modes for the mass transit of people, such as heavy rail, must be considered. In the west a new Newton railway station and bus interchange, together with a bus lane for the A4, and enhanced usage of Corsham station for those living east of Bath, have been ignored as viable alternatives by B&NES.

The need for low cost housing and new well paid jobs must lead to a revision of plans for the development of Western Riverside and its part of the BRT, trailing CPOs before destroying vital green corridors and people’s gardens. Plans for a mini town at Newton St Loe before consideration of the infrastructure is not sustainable and gathering opponents will be looking seriously at a legal challenge given the precedent set by the East of England RSS.

To see the local paper's report on the meeting click here.