A PROJECT to create new bus lanes on the Keynsham bypass is still going ahead despite claims the plans had been scrapped.
One lane in each direction of the A4 near Keynsham would be converted into a bus lane, in plans described last summer as “extremely unpopular” with local people.
The bus lanes form part of a wider project to make travelling by public transport between Bristol and Bath easier, and reduce congestion between the two cities.
The Labour candidate in the upcoming West of England election previously announced the plans had been suspended.
But what has actually happened, according to Dan Norris, the current mayor of the West of England, is that a public consultation on the bus lanes has merely been paused due to the election and a by-election held in January. The next mayor could choose to continue the plans.
In February, Labour candidate Helen Godwin said: “I want residents to know that I will take action. I’ve spoken to the current West of England mayor Dan Norris, and subsequently he has withdrawn the consultation and suspended any further development of the scheme to allow for a new mayor to take a view and determine the way forward.”
The election will be held on Thursday, May 1, when voters will decide who should replace the Labour mayor, who is stepping down after becoming an MP last summer.
Ms Godwin’s announcement sparked fury from leading councillors in Bath and North East Somerset, who criticised the apparent “abrupt withdrawal” of the plans and “chaotic decision” to suspend them.
Mr Norris was pressed on the bus lanes by the West of England’s overview and scrutiny committee on Monday March 10. He denied that the project to create new bus lanes had been cancelled and claimed the suspension was due to the two elections.
The mayor said: “That decision was made because we had a local by-election so it wasn’t appropriate to have that consultation. Now we’ve moved into the period where we’ve got the mayoral election, so it’s quite right that that be suspended. The consultation has stopped and a new mayor will have to consider that.”
Asked if the plans had been cancelled, Mr Norris added: “No, I think it’s for a new mayor to decide. By me, they’ve been cancelled for my term, because that’s appropriate as there are two elections. It makes sense that in that area we don’t have those consultations for now.”
The by-election in January took place in Saltford, when local people voted in a replacement after their former councillor resigned to take on a new job.
Opposition councillors at the committee meeting said the suspension of the bus lanes appeared to not follow due process.
Conservative councillor Mark Weston said: “It seems to me that the decision-making process on that did not follow due process at all. It seemed like the Labour candidate announced something, and then you followed it.
“I would have thought that a decision on this, where we’re talking about a multi-million pound investment in public transport, should have followed due process. Instead the Labour candidate bounced you into making a decision.”
But according to the mayor, the decision to suspend work on the bus lanes was made “well before” it was announced to the public. West of England staff also spoke with staff at Bath and North East Somerset Council before Christmas, over the timing of the public consultation.
Stephen Peacock, chief executive of the West of England Combined Authority, added: “There has been no decision other than to pause a consultation. The project still has teams working on it. Bristol City Council, BANES and combined authority officers are all working together until and unless somebody tells us not to.”
Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Keynsham bypass bus lanes plan ‘not scrapped’
