Cost of counter-terror measures in Bath double to over £7 million
The council’s cabinet member for transport Manda Rigby insisted the high price tag of the scheme was partly the cost of keeping the city centre accessible
The cost of Bath’s counter-terrorism measures has more than doubled to over £7m.
Plans in Bath and North East Somerset Council’s budget to funnel an additional £4.4 into the city centre security zone — also known as “the ring of steel” — will more than double the total cost of the security measures.
In November, the council drew down more funding to install bollards on York Street, which took the total cost past £3m. The rising cost was slammed at the time as “completely unnecessary and deeply flawed” by the leader of the council’s Conservative opposition Vic Pritchard.
The scheme now has a total price tag of over £7.4m.
The security zone is intended to prevent vehicle-based terror attacks in the centre of Bath after a National Counter Terrorism Security Office recommended improving security around crowded areas in the city.
Bollards able to stop a 7.5 tonne lorry travelling at 50mph are being installed on York Street, Cheap Street, Upper Borough Walls, Lower Borough Walls, and Hot Bath Street.
But the council ran into trouble installing these with pipes and cables “in the ‘wrong’ place” and issues with the ownership of the vaults under the roads.
The council’s cabinet member for transport Manda Rigby insisted the high price tag of the scheme was partly the cost of keeping the city centre accessible.
She said: “When the estimates were done in 2019, it was on the basis there would be a blanket ban on vehicles during hours of operation. I changed that in order to allow vehicular access for deliveries and blue badge holders at all times at considerable expense.
“The costs of doing any major works has exploded in the interim, both from goods inflation and labour shortages, and – in Bath – until you start digging, you never know that services aren’t where expected and need moving.”
People can get a free permit from the council if they need to take a vehicle into the zone for certain reasons.
The council’s budget for 2023/24 was agreed at a meeting of the council’s cabinet on February 9 and it will go to full council for approval on February 21.