Stopgridlock Local Support

Colin Skellett. Chairman, Initiative for Bath and North East Somerset.

I would like to convey strong support from the business community for the proposed measures to improve transport in and around Bath.

We were pleased to hear the latest details about the Bath Package at the Initiative’s recent joint meeting with the Executive of the Chamber of Commerce.

There is real concern that lack of investment in the past has meant that the transport infrastructure has suffered, with the result that the local economy is being adversely affected.

There is widespread support in the business community for the planned improvements and we very much look forward to the new bus services and the doubling in the number of park and ride spaces. In fact the only concerns expressed were about how long it will be before even the extra capacity is sufficient to meet demand.

We also think it would be helpful if the park and ride sites were open for longer – later at night and on Sundays. In addition, we would like to suggest that other imaginative thing could be done, such as offering people an opportunity to buy goods in the city and then collect them at the park and ride.

Welcome though the planned improvements are, the business community is concerned about the future and would suggest that thinking needs to start now on what the next phase of improvements should be, in particular to ensure the A4 corridor can continue to operate freely.

Chamber and Initiative members also have a sense that other parts of the country appear to have been more successful in attracting investment from National Government to improve their transport infrastructure. Therefore, I would like to offer whatever help you would find useful when the time comes to lobby the Department for Transport, possibly in conjunction with activity led by the West of England Partnership.