Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Hundreds tell mayor ring road not wanted
HUNDREDS of people from south Bristol packed into a church hall in Whitchurch to tell the city’s mayor, Marvin Rees, they do not want a proposed ‘orbital road’ right through the heart of their communities.
And the mayor responded with a stark message for the residents of Stockwood, Whitchurch and Hengrove – telling them that houses and the road were coming, and they should present alternative plans and routes if they did not like what was being proposed.
The meeting ended positively with residents agreeing to get involved in a consultation and propose different routes, and Mr Rees promising to work with them to consider any alternatives.
This part of south Bristol has seen a growing number of ‘No Ring Road’ posters ever since it emerged in December that a ‘South Bristol Orbital Road’ was being proposed once again by Bath and North East Somerset Council.
The road is planned to run from the Hicks Gate roundabout on the A4 and A4174 between Keynsham and Brislington, along the southern edge of Stockwood, into Whitchurch village and across the A37, and then across green fields to join up with Whitchurch Lane in Whitchurch and into Hengrove.
Along with the road, 2,500 homes are planned in and around Whitchurch village and the A37.
The mayor agreed to meet residents after he was flooded with questions about the issue. He arrived at a church hall next to Bridge Farm Primary School to find it packed with people.
The meeting had to be delayed by several minutes to allow the queue of residents outside to be able to cram into a hallway. They then had to do their best to hear the conversation.
The meeting began with a video produced by the ‘South Bristol Wrong Road’ campaign group, which had called the meeting, outlining its opposition.
Speaker after speaker voiced their opinion on the idea, and concerns were broadly on three lines.
The first was the building of the road across the green belt, the second was the impact of the thousands of new homes on Whitchurch and Stockwood, and the third – the issue that appeared the most pressing from the steady stream of angry residents – was the impact of ending the new road right past Bridge Farm Primary School and onto Whitchurch Lane. It is a residential road with speed humps and a 20mph limit.
The mayor began by outlining why homes were needed, and why there also needed to be something done about the traffic problems in and around south Bristol – particularly on the A4 between Hicks Gate and Brislington.
He said there was a housing crisis in Bristol, with 500 families in temporary accommodation and more than 11,000 people on the housing waiting list. Bristol is also forecast to see a population growth of 100,000 in the next decade.
Mr Rees told residents that more than 100,000 new homes were being imposed on the West of England by central Government.
“The danger is if we don’t get ahead with our planning of those developments and where they go, you end up with what’s happened in South Gloucester- shire recently, where the developers say ‘well, there’s no plan, we’ll just come and develop speculatively’,” he said.
The mayor explained that in that situation, the developers would have no transport plan.
“So we’re caught here in the crosshairs of a number of challenges,” he said. “If we don’t get ahead with it, it will just overwhelm us.
“Our choice is: do nothing, and try to withhold, but those numbers and those houses are going to come, or do something – and sometimes doing something is the least worst option.”
The mayor challenged the people of Stockwood, Whitchurch and Hengrove to say what the alternative road route they would like to see could be.
After the meeting, Hengrove Lib Dem councillor Tim Kent said he was pleased the meeting had happened, and that the mayor experienced the level of fury at the proposal.
“I’m pleased he came, and I’m pleased he spoke with people about the concerns,” he said.
“I think he hasn’t quite grasped the catastrophe for this area should this new ring road be routed onto Whitchurch Lane, but we now have an opportunity to converse with him and educate him, and hopefully he’ll see.”
“This is B&NES basically shafting Bristol and this is an appalling plan.”