EXCLUSIVE: Banes Council accused of dishonesty over anti-terror plans for Bath
The accusation was levelled during a public inquiry about plans for York Street
Last updated 27th Apr 2022
The leadership team at Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) Council has been accused of trying to keep things from the public, over anti-terror plans proposed for Bath.
The allegation was made during a public inquiry held at the Guildhall yesterday, (26 April) during which a proposed closure of York Street was discussed.
The council wants the road closed for 12 hours every day, partly to prevent terror attacks where vehicles are used as weapons and partly to protect pedestrians from vehicles merely trying to park or drop off things, because the dead end road is so narrow.
The proposals would form part of Bath's so called "Ring of Steel", which has already seen other roads including Cheap Street, Westgate Street and Upper Borough Walls closed to cars from 10am to 6pm daily.
The inquiry was needed after one objector, local resident and business owner Hannah Downey, upheld a complaint that the impact on businesses and residents would be disproportionate and that the council is attempting to hide its true motive for the plans.
During the inquiry the council's legal team rejected the allegation and we have since received a response from the council.
The inquiry
From 10am until nearly 6pm on Tuesday an independent inspector, appointed by the government, heard the arguments for and against the closure of York Street from 10am to 10pm daily.
The council's argument in favour was based largely on evidence from Avon and Somerset Police, that Bath is at significant risk from terrorism and the measures are necessary to protect the public.
Giving his opening statement, Stephen Whale representing the council said York Street is defined as a "crowded place" by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office.
"It remains the ambition of many terrorist groups and individuals to carry out high profile attacks in crowded and iconic places, to garner as much media attention for their ideological cause as possible," he said.
"York Street is just such a place."
Called as a council witness, counter terrorism police officer Inspector Martin Rowland said that if York Street is not closed to vehicles it could be seen by terrorists as a location open to attack, while Avon and Somerset Police Superintendent Steve Kendall, who is the area commander for Bath and North East Somerset, compared leaving the road out of wider anti terror proposals as like "building a wall and leaving a gaping hole in it".
Opposing the plans however, Hannah Downey, who represented herself during the inquiry, pointed to various letters written between the police and BANES Council which appeared to suggest that the closures of York Street, Cheap Street, Westgate Street and others, were not originally supported by officers.
The letters
Mrs Downey presented 10 letters to the inquiry, written between Avon and Somerset Police and BANES Council between February 2020 and December 2021, which she obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
In the first letter, written by then Chief Constable (CC) Andy Marsh and dated February 21, 2020, CC Marsh recommends an Anti Terror Traffic Regulation Order (ATTRO) that "would be permanent but of a contingency nature," which would cover a vast area of Bath city centre including Bath Rugby's ground at The Rec and Bath Spa train station.
CC Marsh also notes that while there is no legal requirement to publicise the idea, he believes that the council should do so and notes that the council have agreed to that.
"It is agreed by Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Bath and North East Somerset Council that, in the interests of transparency and accountability there will be no intention to waive the requirement to publicise the ATTRO," he writes.
In a reply written five days later on February 26, the chief executive of BANES Council Will Godfrey says the council is also keen on an "inner core" featuring road closures enforced by barriers and asks CC Marsh to recommend such a plan, so that the council could consult on both the inner and outer ATTRO's at the same time.
In another letter dated March 4, 2020, CC Marsh does recommend such an inner core, saying he does so after seeking advice from Counter Terrorism Security Advisors (CTSAs) and the Centre for Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI).
The allegations
The initial idea of a wider secure zone beyond the road closures featured in the "Ring of Steel" only became known when the above letters were made public.
Despite the council's assurances in the letters, to date no public consultation has been held on the idea of a wider secure zone of a "permanent but of a contingency nature".
For that reason, during the inquiry Mrs Downey alleged the council had in fact never planned to reveal that idea and instead merely pursued the inner core because it will allow them, in her view, to largely ban vehicles from the city centre, which fits with their green agenda.
We spoke to Mrs Downey after the inquiry ended.
"It's (her objection) absolutely not about not protecting Bath," she told us.
"It's absolutely about protecting more of Bath and I think actually what it's really about is the fact residents were consulted on something which wasn't actually what the police initially wanted."
She alleged residents have been treated "with contempt", throughout the process.
"We were told we were being consulted on something that wasn't quite as transparent as it should have been," she said.
"my gut instinct is...that the motive for closing these particular roads in the city centre is for getting rid of vehicles in the city centre.
"It wasn't about our security, it was about clean air, because if it was about our security first and foremost, then they would have implemented the wider security ring that the police initially suggested."
During the inquiry it was put to anti terror officer Rowland whether the police asked for the inner city closures, to which Inspector Rowland said they had.
We asked Avon and Somerset Police for a formal statement clarifying their position.
A spokesperson for the force said: "In February 2020 the Chief Constable asked BANES to consider an ATTRO covering the wider Bath area shown in the attached map (above).
"Following consultation with BANES, the authority indicated it also wanted to introduce permanent measures covering a smaller area in the city centre resulting in the current measures being proposed, which we support."
This statement was originally sent to Bath's Local Democracy Reporter in November 2021 and was reported at that time.
The Council's response
During the inquiry, in response to Mrs Downey's allegations Mr Whale, representing the council, pointed to a paragraph in CC Marsh's letter dated March 4, 2020, in which CC Marsh appears to say he is only recommending the central road closures as requested by the council after consulting both the police's CTSAs and the CPNI.
Mr Whale also pointed to content in the council's original letter dated February 26, 2020, in which the council appears to say the central road closures were first recommended by the police's CTSAs.
Responding to a request for comment from us, a BANES Council spokesperson said: "Both the police and the council gave their evidence to the inspector yesterday on the public inquiry into the York Street ATTRO.
"This is completely separate from any other ATTRO which may be progressed at a later date.
"We will await the inspector’s decision before making a further statement.”
The inquiry inspector will now take time to consider all the evidence before making a final decision as to what should happen to York Street.
If you want to read the letters between the council and the police you can do so by clicking here.
All the other evidence presented at the inquiry is available to view online via this link.