B&NES Council has opened two consultations about long-term transport strategies. Both consultations include proposals for Saltford, with an end date of 5pm on 23 August.
The consultations are as follows:
- ‘Creating Sustainable Communities in North East Somerset: The Journey to Net Zero’
- Active Travel Masterplan
SPC will look to resolve its response to both consultations, date TBC. Details will be on our ‘Meetings – Agendas and Minutes‘ page.
Residents are encouraged to respond directly to B&NES Council by the end date of both consultations at 5pm on 20 August.
Consultation ‘drop in’ events
B&NES Council is hosting events for both consultations, as follows:
| Date and time | Location |
|---|---|
| Thursday 18 July, 3pm to 7pm | Council Chamber, The Hollies, High Street, Midsomer Norton, BA3 2DP |
| Monday 22 July, 3pm to 7pm | Keynsham Community Space, 5 Temple St, Keynsham, Bristol BS31 1HA |
| Tuesday 23 July, 3pm to 7pm | Brunswick Room, Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW |
| Tuesday 30 July, 3pm to 7pm | Whitchurch United Reform Church, 24 Bristol Rd, Bristol BS14 0PQ |
Staff and Councillors from Saltford Parish Council will look to attend the drop-in event, to help inform SPC when it discusses its responses to both consultations at its 6 August meeting.
Creating Sustainable Communities in North East Somerset: The Journey to Net Zero:
The ‘Creating Sustainable Communities in North East Somerset: The Journey to Net Zero’ consultation outlines proposals focused on four areas: Keynsham & Saltford, the Somer Valley, Hicks Gate and Whitchurch Village. B&NES Council’s consultation page links to the pages for the four areas listed.
Image shows the main page for the ‘Creating sustainable communities: Journey to Net Zero’ consultation on the B&NES Council website.
B&NES Council has stated that its transport strategy looks to provide more travel opportunities to enable people to choose to walk, wheel, cycle and use public transport. It also recognises that occasionally car usage is essential and necessary, when sustainable travel is not an option. B&NES Council recognises that transport plays a crucial role in creating better connected, healthier and more sustainable communities.
B&NES Council is consulting on their plans for creating a sustainable community in Keynsham and Saltford to achieve their policy goal of B&NES being Net Zero by 2030. B&NES Council has a dedicated page for our area titled ‘Creating Sustainable Communities: Keynsham and Saltford‘. This page contains information from B&NES Council about creating sustainable communities plans for Saltford, and links to the ‘Respond to the consultation‘ webform where residents can submit their view.
B&NES Council has identified a number of potential improvements that they would like to receive resident views on. On the page linked above there are expandable sections under a variety of headings. Some of the headings include:
Active mode routes: Included for Saltford, under ‘Active mode routes’ – defined as High quality, attractive, safe, and integrated network of walking and cycling infrastructure – are suggestions for what could be achieved locally. This includes ‘Manor Road to become a “quiet lane”, providing a safe and attractive walking and cycling route between Keynsham and Saltford’ and ‘measures to improve the pedestrian environment in the centre of Saltford, including making it easier to cross the A4’. For the wider area, suggestions that may have an impact on Saltford and its residents include ‘direct and segregated Active Travel Network connection along the A4 between Hicks Gate and Broadmead roundabout, to improve the directness of Bath to Bristol journeys as an alternative to the Bristol Bath Railway Path, or routes through Keynsham’.
Micromobility: Under the heading ‘Micromobility’, defined as the ‘extension of short-term e-scooter and e-bike rental within Keynsham and Saltford’, is the suggestion that this could be achieved by ‘supporting the expansion of e-scooter and e-bike rental schemes into Keynsham and Saltford to improve local travel options’ and ‘improving storage with the appropriate range of services e.g. charging, maintenance, lockers’.
Rail: Under the heading ‘Rail’, B&NES Council states that ‘rail is an attractive option for long distance public transport’ that could be achieved by a ‘feasibility study into a potential rail station at Saltford’.
Bus priority: The ‘Bus priority’ heading, described as ‘interventions to provide bus journey time benefits, by prioritising buses over private vehicles’, states that this could be achieved by ‘targeted bus priority measures’.
Fixed bus route services: Further to ‘Bus priority’ is the heading ‘Fixed bus route services’, defined as ‘the provision of new bus services where there is a demonstrated demand will be supported’. How this could be achieved is stated as ‘supporting the community in encouraging the West of England Mayor to improve the bus network to ensure residents have a reliable bus service to meet their needs, including connections between the High Street, residential areas including Somerdale, a new Transport Interchange at Hicks Gate, Saltford, and industrial areas north of the A4’. It also states it could be achieved by ‘bus priority measures to improve journey times and journey time reliability’.
Public transport decarbonisation: Under a subsequent heading, ‘public transport decarbonisation’, is the suggestion that ‘Zero emission buses will help local authorities achieve their net zero targets, ensuring cleaner air, encouraging green growth, and improving health and wellbeing’. The information states that this could be achieved for buses by ‘working with bus operators and other key stakeholders to decarbonise the bus fleet’ and ‘potentially installing charging infrastructure in Keynsham’.
The above summary of some of the headings is not intended to be a comprehensive list of suggestions for (or potentially impacting) Saltford, nor the only areas that SPC may look to respond on. Instead it aims to highlight some key, rather than list all of, suggestions for Saltford. Residents are encouraged to read all the information available on the B&NES Council website prior to responding to the online consultation form.
Active Travel Masterplan Consultation
B&NES Council’s ‘Active Travel Masterplan’ is a comprehensive plan that sets out the existing and future network of active travel infrastructure. B&NES Council has stated that it will enable walking, cycling, and other forms of active travel, ensuring safer, healthier, and more accessible transportation options for everyone. Further, B&NES Council say it will support all types of journey including commuting, education, leisure and tourism.
Please view the Active Travel Masterplan page on the B&NES Council website for information about the consultation. The Active Travel Masterplan page includes an interactive map showing ‘active travel route’ suggestions for Saltford, as shown in the map below, which suggests ‘quiet routes’ and ‘quick routes’ within Saltford’s parish boundaries and many other suggestions beyond.
B&NES Council states that its Active Travel Masterplan identifies where the improvements and measures are needed ‘to enable those people who can to make the change in their travel habits, keeping the roads clearer and improving journeys for people who have no other option than to drive’. B&NES Council also states ‘that it will establish how B&NES Council can ensure that more of our roads and public spaces are able to be used by those using active travel modes’.
A copy of the Active Travel Masterplan document can be found on the B&NES Council website. Page 57 provides detail on what ‘Quiet routes’ and ‘Quick routes’ are, as shown as suggestions on the interactive map for the Saltford area. Residents are encouraged to read all the information available prior to responding to the consultation.
Image taken from the interactive map on the B&NES Council Active Travel Masterplan page, showing proposed quick routes (red) and quiet routes (purple) in Saltford.
When do both transport consultations end and how can residents respond?
Both consultations opened on Wednesday 10 July and close at 5pm on 23 August 2024.
Residents can respond to both consultations using B&NES Council’s online forms:
- B&NES Council’s Creating Sustainable Communities in North East Somerset: The Journey to Net Zero’ consultation – online form
- B&NES Council’s Active Travel Masterplan consultation – online form
Printed copies of the report are also available to view at B&NES Council libraries, along with questionnaires for you to complete. These can be handed in to B&NES Council library staff. Saltford Community Library and Post Office may also have hard copies of the consultation.
If you need the consultation material in an alternative format such as large print, easy read, audio recording, or braille please email B&NES Council at strategic_transport@bathnes.gov.uk
When will Saltford Parish Council respond and what will be its view?
Saltford Parish Council will look to resolve its responses to both consultations at its Tuesday 3 September meeting (Parish Councils in B&NES have been granted a time extension to respond to both consultations, as many Parish Councils do not meet in August).
SPC will resolve its view on both consultations following discussion at the meeting. It is not possible to state a view in advance of this discussion. Any view will be voted on by full council prior to being submitted to B&NES Council.
Residents are welcome to attend the Parish Council meeting in September when the consultations will be discussed. Residents are also welcome to speak during ‘Public Time’ (near the start of the meeting), to share their views prior to members of the Council having their own discussion and the Parish Council resolving its view.
More information about SPC’s meeting is available on SPC’s ‘Meetings – Agendas and Minutes‘ page, including a copy of SPC’s Public Engagement Guidelines. The September agenda will be published c. Thursday prior to the meeting taking place on Tuesday 3 September.
(For resident information, SPC will resolve at its August meeting its response to the B&NES Council ‘Parking charges review 2024/25’ (including emissions based charging). Please view SPC’s news article ‘Consultation on parking charges in B&NES: Includes car park in Saltford‘).
What happens next following the B&NES Council consultations?
B&NES Council has stated that it will consider all of the responses received and publish a consultation feedback report on both consultation webpages in the future.
B&NES Council state that they will adopt the ‘Creating Sustainable Communities in North East Somerset: The Journey to Net Zero’ plan in winter 2024.
B&NES Council say that they will adopt the Active Travel Masterplan in winter 2024 and use it to guide how it makes decisions around Active Travel.