Bath campaign group says liveable neighbourhood has increased nearby traffic
The group claim traffic surrounding a nearby school has increased by 720%
Last updated 21st Apr 2025
Campaigners have warned there is an accident waiting to happen in Bath as data shows a council liveable neighbourhood increased traffic past a primary school by 720%.
Winifred’s Lane at the top of Cavendish Road was closed to through traffic on a trial basis in November 2024 as part of Bath and North East Somerset Council’s liveable neighbourhood programme. Liveable neighbourhoods — also called low traffic neighbourhoods, or LTNs — are intended to stop speeding on residential roads and make them safer and more pleasant for walking and cycling.
But even some of the few people who live on Winifred’s Lane — a narrow one way lane connecting Cavendish Road to halfway up Sion Road — were opposed to closing it to through traffic. Now locals have warned that closing that route has pushed the traffic onto roads with schools and more houses.
Traffic going north up the lower part of Sion Road past the exit of Kingswood Junior and Nursery School has increased from 116 vehicles per day before the trial to an average of 951 now — an increase of 720%. Campaigners, the Heart of Lansdown Conservation Group, commissioned independent assessor Smart Transport Hub to gather the data across a week and weekend in March.
On some days the number of cars heading northbound exceeded 1,100. The figures also showed that on residential Morford Street, northbound traffic had increased from 1,473 cars per day to 1,833, suggesting more cars were also heading along Julian Road and past St Andrews Junior School, to take that route.
A spokesperson for the Heart of Lansdown Conservation Group said: “These figures are significant and extremely concerning, not least in terms of safety for school children, pedestrians and cyclists. The facts show unequivocally that more traffic now goes past junior schools and nurseries and onto heavily residential streets, which are unclassified and include roads within the proposed LTN itself.”
Before the trial, Winifred’s Lane saw an average of 1,219 vehicles heading along it per day. Meanwhile videos taken by the group shows cars mounting the pavement on Sion Road outside the school gates as cars head northbound up the winding road. The group warned: “This is a school child accident waiting to happen.”
As with the council’s other liveable neighbourhoods, the scheme has been brought in on a trial basis through an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO), while a consultation is run. A decision will then be made by a single council cabinet member based on the consultation and the council’s traffic data.
The Heart of Lansdown Conservation Group said: “This ETRO trial is unsafe and any further implementation of it flies in the face of the facts. It is frightening and highly irresponsible that a council can push up to circa 1000 more cars on a daily basis past a junior and nursery school and, where in order to pass each other, cars now climb the pavements where children and parents walk. This must be one of the worst ETRO/LTNs in the country.”
But Manda Rigby, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s cabinet member for highways, insisted: “Safety is always our first priority in any proposed new road scheme.”
She said: “This is an experimental traffic restriction trial in Winifred’s Lane and it is the result of previous community engagement. Other trials have shown that the best method of introducing complex liveable neighbourhood schemes is through an ETRO because it gives us time to monitor the impacts of the scheme and for people to respond to the changes before any decision is taken.
“The council is gathering data at a variety of places and both in school time and in school holidays to get the widest possible evidence base. Council decision-making can only consider data gathered by approved providers to ensure it is compliant with guidance and is impartial.
“We continue to listen to all residents but we are not able to include data put forward from private studies such as the Heart of Lansdown Conservation Group. No decision will be made on whether to make the trials permanent until we have considered all the outcomes following this consultation which runs until April 30, including gathering monitoring data.”