Agenda item

i)Nick Helps from Bath and North East Somerset Council presented the case for the action taken by B&NES Council to impose an experimental 18 tonne weight restriction on HGV’s at A36 Cleveland Bridge in Bath.

 

Why is B&NES Council taking this action?

 

• Protect World Heritage Site.

 

• Improve Air Quality.

 

• Improve the local environment.

 

 

Consultation with:

 

• Highways Agency - Concerned about signage on M4 and difficulty of enforcement.

 

• Wiltshire Council - Concerned about effect on Wiltshire’s roads (A363/A350).

 

• Somerset County Council - Concerned about effect on Somerset’s roads esp: Buckland Dinham & Yeovil.

 

• RHA & FTA - Would prefer that Council plans consider at alternative road improvements.

 

 

Proposed HGV Restriction programme:

 

• Develop signing scheme.

 

• Consult on draft proposals.

 

• Consider comments.

 

• Amend or confirm proposals for experimental scheme.

 

• Implement experimental scheme Feb/March 2012.

 

 

Points made in discussion included:

 

B&NES officer – the 18 tonne weight restriction at Cleveland Bridge is identical to that on the Town Bridge in Bradford on Avon so there should be no displaced effect of traffic on BOA. Residents on London Road and Bathwick Street in Bath want the same protections on amenity and safety that residents in BOA have. The alternative route forHGVs remains through Bath – from Bristol along the A36 Lower Bristol Road and through Widcombe - and so the anticipated impact on Wiltshire is forecast to be minimal. 

 

Iford resident – lack of co-operation between B&NES and Wiltshire Councils to tackle lorries crossing the bridge at Iford where there is no restriction on HGVs and the bridge structure is getting weaker and weaker

 

PC Annetts – prosecution is the LAST resort – need new signage way before lorries arrive at the town

 

Monkton Farleigh PC – time to reconsider the Beckford Spur from the Batheaston Bypass. Congestion in Widcombe will get worse with the proposed alternative route. Need numberplate recognition for HGVs on Town Bridge as at Queen Square in Bath. Consider imposing a toll – but needs the political will.

 

Councillor Carbin – TRO will begin in Spring 2012 and will be reviewed after 6 months. Highways Agency will need to signpost the new HGV route at M32 and M4 motorways. Air quality in Staverton should be measured. Wiltshire should consider a lorry ban on Staverton Bridge.

 

Councillor Conley – deeply dissatisfying, a terrible imposition. Signs are always ignored.

 

Councillor Hewson – 17.5 tonne weight limit on Town Bridge is now ‘out of date’ and should be reconsidered. Concern re. impact on Staverton of HGVs accessing trading estates in Westbury 

 

Holt PC -  signs are ignored, noise and air pollution from HGVs is rising.

 

BOA resident and haulier – the origin/destination of most traffic is between South Wales and the south coast port at Poole. Lorry drivers will not drive an extra 9 miles to M4 Junction 17 as lorry fuel consumption is only 7 miles per gallon and so may continue to leave at M4 Junction 18 and, avoiding Bath, try to get back to the A36 through BOA and surrounding villages. Air pollution is WORSE in BOA than in Bath. The B roads through Woolley Green and Holt are very poor. The preferred option for HGVs through A36 Bath is ‘cloud cuckoo land’. Camera recognition software should be installed as for the London congestion charge.   

  

Bil Bailey of Limpley Stoke – foreign registered HGVs using unofficial satnav software are often travelling THROUGH the area. Better enforcement is needed.      

 

Woolley Green resident – the community of Woolley Green is the ‘sacrificial lamb’ in all of this. The narrow road has a double bend and no speed restrictions possible to allow safe pedestrian crossing. 

 

Cllr Dick Tonge – Wiltshire Council Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transport and Allan Creedy - Head of Service, Sustainable Transport at Wiltshire Council advised that:

 

• Wiltshire Council would be liaising closely with B&NES and would be collecting traffic survey data for ‘before and after’ comparison and will come back to the Area Board after the trial to update.

 

• Wiltshire Council would like HGV operators to use fit-for-purpose satnav systems that only use recommended routes suitable for HGV’s.

 

• Some data is available now through automated traffic counts. A comprehensive set of data will need to be gathered, jointly sponsored by B&NES and Wiltshire.

 

• Wiltshire considers that the forecast impact by B&NES of 6 lorries per day through BOA is unrealistic and that the science is flawed. The Beckford Spur from the Batheaston Bypass is no longer an option; in the current climate there are no resources to make it happen.

 

 

Tom Hutchinson – Senior Trading Standards Officer at Wiltshire Council - to outline the Lorry Watch initiative and to seek support for a ‘Lorry Watch - Bradford on Avon’ campaign.

 

What is Lorry Watch?

 

•         Observers report suspected weight restriction breaches to a local co-ordinator.

 

•         The local co-ordinator checks the reports and the details are passed to Trading Standards.

 

•         Trading Standards investigate the report and take the appropriate action this may be a formal warning or even prosecution.

 

 

Lorry Watch back ground

 

•         Initiated at the request of Lydiard Millicent, Lydiard Tregoz and Purton Parish Councils.

 

•         Based on a scheme that operated in Gloucestershire for over 10 years.

 

•         Numerous schemes operated by Trading Standards Departments across the country.

 

Points made in discussion included:

 

The number of HGV’s has dropped since the scheme was started.

 

Wiltshire Council will prosecute offenders – the maximum fine is £ 1,000

 

No action is possible against foreign drivers not registered with the DVLA

 

The Town Council will co-ordinate the initiative; to be launched next month

 

Training will be needed for volunteers

 

Peter Dunford to establish whether the project will ‘contaminate’ the before-and-after data collection that is required to measure the impact of the Bath lorry ban

 

Volunteers - by show of hands – Janet Repton, Richard Craft, Mrs Nicholls, Jeremy Smith, Lady Maitland, David Gregory, James Davies.    

 

 

The Chairman thanked everybody for their input in this debate.