Plans approved to turn old Bristol railway into cycle path
Planning officers had recommended the idea for Brislington be refused
Campaigners are celebrating after plans for a pedestrian and cycle path on the old railway line in Brislington were approved unanimously by councillors.
Bristol City Council officers had recommended refusal amid fears it would scupper any future wider scheme currently being drawn up to alleviate traffic jams on the “A4 strategic corridor”, which might include public transport, such as metrobus, or a relief road.
But they failed to convince a planning committee on Wednesday (March 16) that granting permission for the temporary three-year active travel route on the “Tramway”, along with 50 shipping containers for local artisans, would “prejudice” alternative transport uses.
Members approved two interlinked proposals for the Callington Road Link – one for the northern half from Sandy Park Road to Tramway Road, including the cargo units, by Meanwhile Creative, and the other for the southern section continuing beyond Talbot Road, by Greenways and Cycleroutes.
The first received 57 letters of support with 27 objections and the second was backed by 287 residents and opposed by 16.
City council transport officers objected mainly because of the implications for bigger “multi-modal” plans but also because the southern route lacked detail, which means conditions over safety, surface material suitability and land contamination will need to be agreed before that section can go ahead.
They also said the 3m-wide route did not meet minimum 5m standards.
Police objected because of insufficient information on cyclists’ and pedestrians’ safety or the containers’ security.
Brislington West Lib Dem Cllr Andrew Varney and Brislington East Labour Cllr Tim Rippington urged the committee to grant consent following a five-year campaign backed by thousands.
Cllr Varney said mayor Marvin Rees and deputy mayor Cllr Craig Cheney had both insisted recently there were no plans for a relief road but that “the mayor forgot to send the memo to the transport team”, the only council department to object.
Cllr Rippington said a cycle path along the old railway was first proposed in 2010 but had been ruled out because of intentions for a link road, and that the same reasons for refusal were being used again 12 years later.
“To say this proposal is premature is therefore faintly ridiculous,” he said.
“Any scheme to build a fully segregated bus route along the A4 is still several years away and may not need to use the railway path at all.”
Development control committee chairman Tory Cllr Richard Eddy said he was “completely doubtful” a road would be started in the next three years, by which point the temporary permission for the greenway would have expired.
The council’s head of city transport Adam Crowther told the meeting £130million had been allocated for the A4 corridor from Bristol to Bath in the Government’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) from 2022-27, so funding was committed for the next five years.
“We’ve been out to initial engagement, we are drawing up proposals and we are looking at the next stages of consultation shortly,” Mr Crowther said.
“We are discussing with the administration what the next steps are in terms of the outline business case which is the next stage of the process.
“We would be more than happy to work on a temporary cycle route but as part of a wider plan for whatever scheme goes forward.
“If we put something in place that gives the land a certain degree of permission, it may restrict the options for delivering a more comprehensive transport solution for the area.
“We felt we had to put in an objection because it ties our hands a bit.”
He said the business case would take two to three years and would involve ground investigations and access on site and that he expected the final scheme to be delivered within the five-year CRSTS period.
Cllr Eddy said: “This is just the sort of scheme the council has been trialling and encouraging for years so it does rather depress me that we as a council seem to be obstructing progress here.
“I don’t believe we’re going to get any road in three, four, perhaps five years, so I would be minded to approve this.”
Labour Cllr Paul Goggin said: “I have to agree. With the vast number of letters in support and the small number against, it does seem a no-brainer.”
Green Cllr Fi Hance said: “Most of us are not persuaded that this temporary application will pose an obstruction to longer-term plans, so it’s going to be ‘Green Party Councillor Votes for Cycle Path shocker’.”
Labour Cllr Philippa Hulme said: “If you have 50 containers, you’ve potentially got 100 people in work and each of those could be supporting a family.”
Green Cllr Ed Plowden said the rules about 5m-wide shared-use paths were only guidelines.
He said: “This thing about ‘There are no plans to build a road there’ is being economical with the truth.
“There are no plans because they haven’t been put in place yet. It doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be plans. That is rather worrying.”