Upper Camden at the ‘virtual VAG’

This meticulous watercolour by Glyn Davies is from this year’s annual Bath Society of Artists exhibition which is usually held at the Victoria Art Gallery (VAG) for five or six weeks during the spring and summer but due to the Coronavirus this year’s show had to be cancelled. However, they are very pleased to showcase the exhibition online from today, 2nd November and it carries on until 3 January 2021. You can access it here and buy on-line too.

This picture has a twin – featuring Marlborough Buildings.

20 mph for London Road and the Paragon

Well, we’ve got one of those zones, haven’t we, on Camden Road? It’s a pity it is ignored by 68% of drivers. See here for evidence from last year’s two week measurement exercise. This is part of a larger scheme the council is enacting to encourage walking and cycling particularly on the hills up to the two universities. The details of the planning application 20-005 are here. Our ward councillors are supporting the plan.

Here’s the map:

The CRA’s Liveable Neighbourhoods Group have looked at this and are not quite as supportive as the councillors. The short consultation period concludes on 5th November, this week, so not long to register any comments you might have.

Our comments are:

• There should be a green line along Walcot Street which often gets ignored by drivers as well as the council officers, it seems! The Paragon would become consistent with Walcot Street.
• Residents and travellers on the wide and imperious Bathwick Hill are getting 20 mph limit.  How about Lansdown Road – that would be good? It’s narrow on the steepest bits and cycling can get very wobbly going uphill.
• As for Camden, it does make Camden Road more attractive to drivers as the 20:30mph differential with London Road will disappear.
• Beautiful Cleveland Place and Sydney Place also come inside the 20mph zone which is momentarily safer for visitors to ‘the Holburne’ crossing over to and from Great Pulteney Street and to cyclists on their way up to the university. Soon after that on the A36 it’s back up to 30mph.
• We thought the Council’s vision was broader than this – to make all the inner city streets 20mph so that there was a general awareness that getting through Bath has ALL to be done at 20mph? Maybe that is to come?

The campaign to retain the 18 tonne limit on Cleveland Bridge

A battle has been lost, but hopefully not the war. After a long debate (available on-line), the planning committee voted 7-2 in favour of the delayed, listed building planning consent to complete the repairs and adaptations on the bridge which should enable its weight limit to be removed. That’s not the end of the story though…

The 20 mph limit on London Road (see above) might disincentive HGV drivers from using the A36-A46 link as it could be up to 33% slower for a mile or so but it also rather depends if it gets enforced.

Local MP Wera Hobhouse has stepped in with a parliamentary petition called “Redirecting Traffic From Cleveland Bridge”. To do as I have done, to learn more and sign up click here.