Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Railway path meeting - change of venue
Bristol Cycling Campaign's public meeting about the Railway Path will now take place in Easton Community Centre, not the Cornubia as previously advertised. Same day, same time: February 5, 7.30pm.
Monday, 28 January 2008
BRT: Bus Rapid Transit? Or Bristol's Rubbish Transport?
My fellow footsoldiers in Bristol East Green Party have been wading through the plans to transform the Bristol-Bath railway path into a bus superhighway and have come up with some searching questions for Mark Bradshaw and his merry band of unelected fools.
It seems extraordinary that in months of under-the-boardroom-table scheming, the question of where and how pedestrians might cross the bus route has not even been considered.
Interestingly enough, it seems Bristol Labour Party may not be lining up behind Mark Bradshaw to support this one. Paul Smith, Labour candidate for Bristol West, has come out against it over at the Bristol Blogger. (I am working on the assumption that no-one is sad enough to go round the Internet impersonating Paul Smith.)
The Mr. Bean lookalike is the only mainstream politician to stick his head about the parapet so far. Local residents won't be expecting a statement any time soon from absentee Labour councillor for Easton, Hotwells resident Faruk Choudhury, who might struggle to find the railway path (or his own ward) on a map. And so far, there's been a resounding silence from the Lib Dem councillors for Easton, Lawrence Hill, and Eastville.
Luckily, thanks to the efforts of the Bristol Cycling Campaign, popular resistance to this idiotic scheme is snowballing. (See the Green Party's statement here.) Over 3200 signatures in less than a week is quite something. At this rate, they won't even need a consultation.
It seems extraordinary that in months of under-the-boardroom-table scheming, the question of where and how pedestrians might cross the bus route has not even been considered.
Interestingly enough, it seems Bristol Labour Party may not be lining up behind Mark Bradshaw to support this one. Paul Smith, Labour candidate for Bristol West, has come out against it over at the Bristol Blogger. (I am working on the assumption that no-one is sad enough to go round the Internet impersonating Paul Smith.)
The Mr. Bean lookalike is the only mainstream politician to stick his head about the parapet so far. Local residents won't be expecting a statement any time soon from absentee Labour councillor for Easton, Hotwells resident Faruk Choudhury, who might struggle to find the railway path (or his own ward) on a map. And so far, there's been a resounding silence from the Lib Dem councillors for Easton, Lawrence Hill, and Eastville.
Luckily, thanks to the efforts of the Bristol Cycling Campaign, popular resistance to this idiotic scheme is snowballing. (See the Green Party's statement here.) Over 3200 signatures in less than a week is quite something. At this rate, they won't even need a consultation.
Friday, 25 January 2008
Latest from the railway path campaign
The campaign to save the Bristol-Bath railway path from the clutches of Worst Bus plc is really gathering momentum. As well as the public meeting on February 5 (see below), there is also a petition, which has already got 1350 signatures in less than 48 hours.
Sustrans have come out strongly against the scheme. Bristol Cycling Campaign have managed to get hold of numerous documents under the Freedom of Information Act, which are available here.
Shockingly, three out of the four planned Bus Rapid Transit routes will use existing cyclepaths, even though other alternatives are available (e.g. the hard shoulder of the M32 rather than the cyclepath).
Please sign the petition, and email your localincompetents councillors to let them know your opposition to this scheme, and why you think the railway path is important. It's particularly important to show how many non-cyclists use the path: to walk to work, get kids to school, take the dog out, and so on.
Sustrans have come out strongly against the scheme. Bristol Cycling Campaign have managed to get hold of numerous documents under the Freedom of Information Act, which are available here.
Shockingly, three out of the four planned Bus Rapid Transit routes will use existing cyclepaths, even though other alternatives are available (e.g. the hard shoulder of the M32 rather than the cyclepath).
Please sign the petition, and email your local
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Hostile Takeovers
Hold on to your hats East Bristol.
As if rising flood waters, looming recession and the norovirus weren't enough, it seems that 2008 will feature yet more attempts to wrest public spaces out of public control.
This week alone:
1. Let's hand the Bristol-Bath cyclepath over to First Bus!
So that they can transport people to the airport!
Pushing cyclists and pedestrians out of the way!
Removing one of the only green spaces accessible to people in Easton!
But let's not put any plans in the public domain, because then people might be able to make up their own minds!
(There is more sense in the readers' comments on this story than there is in the last 10 years of transport planning in Bristol. There is also a public meeting in the Cornubia at 7.30 on February 5. More details below.)
2. Let's hand two local schools over to Ray Priest and his pals at the City Academy!
To play at "all through schools"! Even though they are totally unproven, have been rejected twice in Bristol, and nobody in the leafy suburbs of West Bristol would dream of sending their child to one!
Even though the City Academy is only able to get 22% of its own pupils to the required standards of English and Maths at GCSE!
But let's not put any plans in the public domain, because then people might be able to make up their own minds!
3. Let's sell off large swathes of the city's green space!
Oops, we already consulted on this one, so let's change the plans at the last minute! So that nobody really has a clue what and when their local park might disappear!
Happy New Year!
As if rising flood waters, looming recession and the norovirus weren't enough, it seems that 2008 will feature yet more attempts to wrest public spaces out of public control.
This week alone:
1. Let's hand the Bristol-Bath cyclepath over to First Bus!
So that they can transport people to the airport!
Pushing cyclists and pedestrians out of the way!
Removing one of the only green spaces accessible to people in Easton!
But let's not put any plans in the public domain, because then people might be able to make up their own minds!
(There is more sense in the readers' comments on this story than there is in the last 10 years of transport planning in Bristol. There is also a public meeting in the Cornubia at 7.30 on February 5. More details below.)
2. Let's hand two local schools over to Ray Priest and his pals at the City Academy!
To play at "all through schools"! Even though they are totally unproven, have been rejected twice in Bristol, and nobody in the leafy suburbs of West Bristol would dream of sending their child to one!
Even though the City Academy is only able to get 22% of its own pupils to the required standards of English and Maths at GCSE!
But let's not put any plans in the public domain, because then people might be able to make up their own minds!
3. Let's sell off large swathes of the city's green space!
Oops, we already consulted on this one, so let's change the plans at the last minute! So that nobody really has a clue what and when their local park might disappear!
Happy New Year!
**************************************************
Save the cyclepath!
The Bristol to Bath cyclepath is under threat. The West of England Partnership, composed of local councillors, are submitting plans to Whitehall for funding to use it for a rapid transit bus route from Emersons Green to Ashton Vale, one of three in the scheme. The Bath end of the path is under similar threat.
This is the most popular cycleroute in the UK with 2.4 million journeys per year. The timing of the bus route plan is particularly ironic at a time when Sustrans have just won £50 million for cycling improvements nationwide!
It is a busy commuter route for cyclists and at weekends is popular with families and less confident cyclists.
Although a narrow corridor for cyclists is planned, installation of the bus route will require using most of the path width for an ugly concrete track and consequent removal of all vegetation, destroying the path as a pleasant, green, quiet and ‘fume free’ multiuse facility….diesel buses will destroy that.
The path, sometimes called a ‘linear park’ is also used extensively by local people for journeys on foot to school, to walk the dog, to allotments and other local amenities. People with disability vehicles use it. It will not be possible to maintain this diversity of use on a narrow, fenced in path beside a bus track.
We believe that this plan would significantly reduce the quality of life for many residents of East Bristol, in addition to those from further afield who enjoy this path. We don’t oppose bus rapid transit schemes in principle but it should use roadspace, not space allocated to the most vulnerable and least powerful groups - pedestrians, cyclists and children.
We need to stop this proposal now. To wait until West of England Partnership declare that public consultation may begin, would leave little time to mount a campaign.
Come to the meeting at the Cornubia Pub, Temple St BS1
Tuesday 5th February 2008 at 7.30 – upstairs meeting room.
Directions: http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubmap/308/
In the meantime, to register your interest, contact savethecyclepath@bristolcyclingcampaign.org.uk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
