Why this transport package is right for Bath

Prolific letter writer Peter Burns recently wrote to theChronicle to recycle the old accusation that the Bath TransportPackage is all about cutting two minutes off the Newbridge Park andRide journey.

As anyone who has actually looked into the whole transportpackage will know, this is complete nonsense. The infamous 'twominutes' is not about cutting a couple of minutes from the currentbus journey time, but is actually the results of research conductedby engineers which shows that the BRT route along the disusedrailway line is faster and more effective than any other possibleroute.

The transport package is about a lot more than just 'twominutes'.

It is about removing thousands of car journeys off the Newbridgeand Upper Bristol Road by expanding the park and ride.

It is about creating a predictable, reliable, clean, and modernpublic transport spine into the city centre which will serveresidents, visitors and the Western Riverside development.

It is about removing thousands of car journeys every day off thehighly congested London Road by building a park and ride on the eastof our city before cars reach the A4/A46 junction, and removingthousands more by expanding our park and rides at Lansdown and OddDown.

It is about improving local buses with new 'showcase bus routes',with new shelters, new bus lanes, raised-pavement access and 'real-time' information displays.

And it is ultimately about preparing for the future and improvingthe quality of life of local residents.

For the benefit of the local economy, the environment and localpeople, we cannot bury our heads in the sand and hope congestiongets better.

We must take this opportunity to improve transport in our areaand tackle Bath's congested roads.

CLLR DR ANTHONY CLARKE Conservative, Lansdown Bath

For a successful multinational, the budget store Lidl surelymissed a trick with their recent failed planning application. Theyought to have evoked the spirit of 'Heath Robinson' and proposedsome weird and wonderful road bridge across the river fromNewbridge, because the B&NES Conservatives would have loved theirendorsement of their madcap Bus Rapid Transit.

Talking of environmental vandalism, the Herman Miller site itselfis the scene of past vandalistic destruction by the council, whenthey shamefully committed the grievous crime against the literaryworld of wantonly allowing the razing to the ground of the house ofTwerton's most famous resident, Henry Fielding. Fielding, of course,was the creator of the forerunner picaresque novels, Joseph Andrewsand Tom Jones, this style having its equivalent in the modern worldwith the Flashman series.

Fielding also has two other claims to fame, as he was the causeof theatre censorship being introduced and was also the unlikelycreator of the Bow Street Runners.

Oh and did anyone notice how particularly jolly the chair of theRegional Assembly was in his recent letter to the Chronicle? Whathas this jolly gentleman got in store for B&NES? One wonders how out-of-town Conservative councillors might react if masses of new housesare to be built in their neck of the woods. Stoically take it on thechin presumably, as they cheerfully condemned thousands to misery inNewbridge.

Anorak's note: The lodge at Twiverton (as it was known then) waswhere the father of the English novel, Fielding wrote much of TomJones. This former hunting lodge was made available to the author byRalph Allen, Bath's first great entrepreneur.

PETER BURNS Lower Weston, Bath