Greens to Force Vote on Threat to Cyclepath

bristol | the environment | press release Thursday February 14, 2008 12:30 by East - Bristol Green Party east at bristolgreenparty dot org dot uk

Councillors to be Made to Declare Where They Stand on the Controversial Plans

The Green Party in Bristol, in the form of their councillor Charlie Bolton, have submitted a motion opposing the controversial proposals from local uber-quango, the West of England Partnership, to run buses down the East Bristol railway path. The motion is currently top of the list for the next full Council meeting on April 1st (the next meeting at which motions can be put). The only way the motion will not be voted on is if the other parties gang up to move it down the agenda so it is not reached in time on the day. If the motion passes, it will almost certainly force the West of England Partnership to choose another route for its Bus Rapid Transit plans.

Walkers and cyclists may get to keep using the path after all

The controversy over rebuilding the Bristol-Bath railway path as a bus rapid transit corridor is to be debated by the city council on April 1st.

Southville's Green Party councillor, Charlie Bolton, has tabled a motion [note 1] that rules out the use of the cycle path for bus rapid transit as an 'inappropriate solution' to Bristol's chronic transport problems.

The secretly prepared proposal [2] by the West of England Partnership has already met with unprecedented anger [3] from thousands of people across the city and beyond.

Unless the other groups on the council combine to change the agenda or lodge "wrecking" amendments [4] , it will be debated by full council on April 1st.

Cllr Bolton said:

'The railway path is very special to many Bristol people, and one of the few truly sustainable ways to get in and out of the city. It's one of the better things by which Bristol is known throughout the rest of the country. To allow it to be hijacked by the roads lobby and commercial interests would be obscene.

'This council's vote will set the standard for further transport route choices way beyond the railway path. As more rapid transport corridors are developed, many other well-used paths are under threat - not least through the south of the city to Ashton Gate and to Hengrove.

'Rapid transit is to be welcomed - but it must be at the expense of road space, not by crowding out cyclists and walkers."

Notes

1. The motion in full reads:

'Council notes the strength of feeling expressed by citizens of Bristol against the proposed bus rapid transit route along the much loved Bristol-Bath cycle path.

'Council further recognises that cycling is a more sustainable transport solution than the use of public transport.

'As such, while recognising the vital importance of improving public transport in Bristol, council regards the use of the cycle path for bus rapid transit as an inappropriate solution.

'Council calls on the Executive Member for Access and Transport to pass these views on to the West of England Partnership.'

[NB: for legal reasons, the motion cannot be any more strongly worded than "a call on the Executive Member for Access and Transport" to pass the view of Bristol City Council onto the West of England Partnership. In practice, however, a rejection of the cycle path option would almost certainly force the Partnership to choose a different route for its BRT scheme instead, and thereby save the railway path.]

2. See our press release of January 28th for background and links (available on the Bristol Green Party Website).

3. For instance, the online petition of 7,400 signatures and rising.

4. The party groups (Labour, Lib Dem, and Tory) have disproportionate powers to set the agenda and present motions, amendments etc., that are not available to lone councillors like Charlie Bolton.

Green councillor Charlie Bolton, who has put in the motion forcing councillors to stand up and be counted