Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Protesters vow to fight ‘crazy’ seafront changes
I completed the feedback and had to shoehorn my objections into free text with limited characters, so I was unable to give all the feedback I wished to do. I am sure others had the same issue CATHY HAWKINS
PROTESTERS opposed to a controversial scheme to revamp the roads near one of the West’s top attractions said they will continue to fight the proposals.
North Somerset Council (NSC) intends to spend £500,000 making radical changes to Clevedon seafront, near the town’s Victorian pier.
But some residents and businesses remain furious with the proposals, claiming they will damage trade due to the loss of seafront parking spaces when a cycle lane is installed.
Cathy Hawkins, who helped start the Save Our Seafront (SOS) group which staged a large protest on the seafront last week, raised concerns with how the council’s consultation was carried out.
She claims that the questions on its consultation last April were biased and did not actually allow feedback on the actual plans.
She said: “My concern is that the questions in the consultation were loaded and biased and did not actually allow feedback on the actual plans.
“I completed the feedback and had to shoehorn my objections into free text with limited characters, so I was unable to give all the feedback I wished to do. I am sure others had the same issue.”
Other businesses have also spoken out about the changes, with concerns about parking, cycle lanes and bus routes all raised in the past months.
She added: “Others who run businesses on the seafront wrote letters of objection and when questioning NSC if the letters had been received were told that their letters of objection were conveniently lost in the post.
“The businesses on the seafront are 100 per cent against the plans and say they have not been consulted.
“One even employed a barrister to fight the plans which cost over £10,000 but had no response from NSC so had to reluctantly give up.
“Are they going to compensate these businesses for the loss of trade?”
The provision of appropriate levels of car parking (45 per cent) and more plants and trees (40 per cent) and use of high-quality materials (39 per cent) were the most common responses in terms of improvements at The Beach, to which Mrs Hawkins said: “Only 25 per cent wanted cycling prioritised; hardly a majority in favour! More wanted car parking than cycling.”
As it stands, the beach is set to lose parking spaces on its main road, with a cycle lane introduced to help aid the ‘Pier to Pier’ cycleway between Clevedon and Westonsuper-Mare.
Tony Antoni, landlord of the Moon and Sixpence pub, said: “I have now been running the Moon for the last 17 years and, my God, we have had a lot of problems over the years and this is just putting the topping on the cake.”
North Somerset MP Liam Fox has also voiced his concerns with the changes. He branded them the “craziest plans I’ve seen in my 30 years as an MP”.
There have been several protests on the seafront in the past couple of months, with an estimated 200 people gathering last weekend.
North Somerset Council’s executive member with responsibility for sustainable travel, Mike Solomon, previously told the BBC: “We consulted extensively on the draft proposals in April 2021 and the scheme was amended with local input and knowledge from residents and businesses.
“This scheme is backed by local councillors, Clevedon Town Council, Clevedon Business Improvement District and the Pier Trust.”