Public engagement outcomes now available
We have considered your feedback on Liveable Neighbourhood proposals for this area. See Public Engagement Outcomes and the final list of proposals for the area outlined below.
The Chelsea Road area is one of several areas in our community-led Liveable Neighbourhood (LN) programme. The area consists of residential housing surrounding shops, businesses, a church and pre-school. The area is located approximately 1.5 miles north-west of Bath Spa train station.
The Liveable Neighbourhood Programme aims to improve residential street environments and create more space for those that want to walk, wheel or cycle their short journeys.
Learn more about the LN programme including our aims and approaches.
Our proposals
During previous consultations, residents in the Chelsea Road area told us that they were concerned about traffic congestion, parking and through-traffic.
To help tackle this issue, we have already introduced a residents parking zone in the area to reduce congestion and improve the flow of traffic.
In January 2025, we engaged the community on the proposals outlined on this web page and these will now be included in the final, detailed designs for the area.
View the proposals on a map
Click on the numbers on the map to read a description of each proposal.
The numbers on the map correspond to the following annotations.
Proposals are to:
- Install a level, continuous crossing over Chelsea Road at the junction with Newbridge Hill.
- Install a level, continuous crossing over Kennington Road at the junction with Chelsea Road.
- Remove a parking space on Kennington Road, west of the junction on the southern side of the street and replace this with double yellow lines to accommodate the new crossing.
- Install a level, continuous crossing over Park Road at the junction with Chelsea Road.
- Install a level continuous crossing over Chelsea Road at the junction with Newbridge Road (see BWWCL project below).
These improvements would mean:
- slower traffic, safer crossing facilities and pedestrian priority
- Improved pedestrian routes between residential homes and the amenities in Chelsea Road, encouraging more active travel and fewer short car journeys
Learn more about continuous crossings
Download a leaflet which outlines the aims of this LN and shows the proposals on a map.
Public engagement outcomes.
We ran a public engagement from 20 January to 28 February 2025. We gathered public feedback on the proposals outlined on this web page.
In January 2025, 52 people shared their views on the proposals with general support for the measures as well as alternative suggestions and some concerns.
The key themes that emerged were:
- suggestions to introduce a one-way restriction along Chelsea Road
- suggestions to increase the number of bollards
- concerns over current poor parking issues
- concerns that continuous crossings could cause pedestrian accidents
- concerns over loss of parking
- requests to provide additional cycle parking
Read the full public engagement outcome report (April 2025) including the designer's responses.
Designers' response
We have summarised the designers' response to the key themes:
- Continuous crossings are designed to give pedestrians priority over vehicles. Extensive work was done to ensure the positions of these crossings are safe and includes tactile paving to increase safety and improve inclusivity.
- The bollards are positioned in the only technically feasible positions to prevent pavement parking and provide protection for pedestrians. Additional bollards would restrict pedestrian and mobility aid access.
- The BWWCL scheme is progressing plans to formalise traffic flow on Chelsea Road.
- Alternatives and additional ideas were mentioned but they are outside the scope of this project.
- Besides losing one parking space on Kennington Road to accommodate the continuous crossing, there is no further anticipated loss of parking under the Chelsea Road Liveable Neighbourhood scheme.
What happens next
We have already obtained funding from the UK Government (secured by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority) to install these improvements.
This follows several years of engagement and consultation with the community and rigorous shortlisting.
You can find more detail on how we developed this design by reading the 'Explore further context’ section on this web page.
From Summer 2025, our intention is to:
- draw up and publish more detailed designs
- make any necessary adjustments
- install the measures under standard Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) where appropriate
- monitor the scheme at regular intervals
We will keep residents in the LN area (and neighbouring streets) informed of our progress either by letter or via the parish council/local news as appropriate.
Please sign up for our e-newsletter on the Chelsea Road LN to keep informed of final design and construction timetables.
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Traffic Regulation Orders
Find out more about how we decide on changes to road layouts using Traffic Regulation Orders.
Explore further context
Please expand the following headings to learn more about how we developed this design:
- In Autumn 2020, we asked residents across the district how they felt about LNs.
- View the consultation output report from January 2022.
- 48 communities then applied to become a LN, via ward councillors.
- You can request to view the original application for an LN for your area by emailing LNs@bathnes.gov.uk (the format cannot be made accessible for this web page).
- In June 2021, we prioritised areas where development of LNs could start (this included the Chelsea Road area).
In December 2021, we asked for your feedback on what was good about the Chelsea Road area, what transport-related issues you experience, and what improvements would make the most impact.
Out of the 1,625 responses submitted as part of our public engagement on the 15 Liveable Neighbourhood in December 2021, 47 people commented on the Chelsea Road area. Below is a summary of what people said:
Below is a summary of what people said about Chelsea Road:
What is good about the area?
- 41 said 'close to shops and services'
- 28 said 'strong community spirit'
- 13 said ' good public transport links'
What issues are experienced?
- 30 said 'parking'
- 29 said 'through traffic'
- 19 said 'speeding traffic'
- 17 said 'lack of EV charging points'
- 17 said 'not enough space for wheeling, walking or cycling'
- 14 said 'idling vehicles'
What measures could improve the area?
- 22 said 'a restriction on through traffic or HGVs'
- 20 said 'better or more residents parking'
- 16 said 'EV charging facilities'
- 11 said 'trees and planting'
- 9 said 'places to sit'
On 28 June 2022, we held a co-design workshop with 41 residents who had expressed an interest in staying involved in the process during earlier engagement.
Attendees took part in a series of exercises to identify what they liked about the area, what could be improved, and what specific measures could help, plotting these on a map of the area.
To see the maps and the longlist of ideas suggested by the community, please view the report below.
In August 2022, attendees were invited back to review the outcomes of the workshop and prioritise their ideas, focusing on the original application area. These were considered during later shortlisting to reach the final proposals.
Following earlier LN consultation and public engagement with residents who raised inconsiderate parking and congestion as an issue, we introduced a residents parking zone in the Chelsea Road and Foxcombe Road area. It was introduced in December 2022 after significant public consultation on the proposed designs.
During the first half of 2023, we considered the community proposals for the area (in addition to the RPZ) against a range of criteria, working alongside local ward councillors to arrive at initial recommendations.
We scored proposals against set criteria to assess impacts.
View the early draft recommendation report (superseded by the Full Business Case proposal)
To secure the funds to install the LN programme it was necessary to submit a Full Business Case (FBC) to the West of England Combined Authority.
This involved appraising all early recommendations for each of the LN areas against the following criteria, to produce a final shortlist:
- Technical feasibility
- Alignment with the objectives of Liveable Neighbourhoods and community benefits
- Affordability/budget constraints
The shortlist was submitted to the West of England Combined Authority in a Full Business Case to be reviewed by its committee. The funding was secured on 20 September 2024.
View the press release on securing the grant from the FBC.
The Committee's report on the FBC is on page 45 of the Agenda Report Pack which includes a link to the Liveable Neighbourhood Full Business Case.
The shortlisted proposals for the Chelsea Road area are presented under 'Our proposals' on this web page.
Liveable Neighbourhood project timeline
You can view a history of the development of Liveable Neighbourhoods and relevant reports on our project timeline.
The Bath Walking, Wheeling, and Cycling Links (BWWCL) scheme is a complementary active travel scheme in Bath which proposes to connect key areas of Bath with 6km of quiet walking and cycling routes.
Because the route runs along Newbridge Road, the proposal for a continuous crossing here may be affected (No.5 on the map). We will update you as the project.
If you have a query or would like to talk to an advisor, please email us at LNs@bathnes.gov.uk or call 01225 39 40 25 and request a call back from a team member.
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