The wider council policy context
Our Corporate Strategy sets out what we as a council plan to do, how we plan to do it, and how we will measure our performance. Our main aim is to improve people's lives, and we are following two core policies to do this: tackling the climate and nature emergency and giving people a bigger say. This consultation, and the policy it concerns, addresses both of these strategies:
- It sets out proposals which will prioritise available on-street parking for local residents
- It gives you an opportunity to comment on our proposals, and take an active part in how this scheme moves forward
Air quality, managing traffic flows and availability of parking are all significant issues in our region, particularly in the city of Bath. We have a number of ongoing projects which are addressing these issues, including the following:
- Promoting a major shift to mass transport, walking and cycling, with incentives to reduce the use of more polluting vehicles, in accordance with the UK government National Air Quality Strategy
- Our policy and work on Liveable Neighbourhoods aims to reduce the dominance of vehicles in residential areas, particularly through-traffic, whilst maintaining vehicle access to homes and businesses. We can do this through a range of measures including vehicle restrictions, traffic calming, one-way streets, and residents’ parking zones.
- Introducing a Clean Air Zone in central Bath, to encourage less polluting ways of travelling around the city
- Improving the safety of cyclists and pedestrians through active travel schemes which rebalance priorities on our roads and build on social distancing needs
- Co-ordinating and consulting on our Transport Delivery Action Plan for Bath
The parking policy context
Our approach to managing parking aligns closely with our wider aims as a council to promote more active ways of travel, encourage take-up of lower emissions vehicles, and to rebalance our roads and neighbourhoods so that motor vehicles become less dominant.
This consultation comes at a time when we are in the process of consulting on wider parking policy which would affect how we run any future Residents Parking Zone (RPZ). View the Related consultation information below for more details.
Local context
We are seeking views on the introduction of an RPZ in the Oldfield Park and Westmoreland area. An RPZ will help to prioritise on-street parking for residents and will reduce the number of non-resident visitors looking for somewhere to park.
We began developing our proposals for the RPZ in Oldfield Park and Westmoreland before we adopted our Liveable Neighbourhoods Strategy, but we will be considering the introduction of similar schemes as part of the Strategy in other parts of Bath.
Related consultation
We are currently consulting separately on district-wide parking policies, including charges for on-street Pay & Display parking, and how we manage and control all of the parking permits we issue. This consultation includes proposals aiming to improve air quality which will base charges for Residential Parking Permits on the emissions your vehicle produces.
If these measures progress to becoming official council policy, through a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO), they will govern how we issue, price and manage any new permits associated with the proposed Oldfield Park and Westmoreland RPZ. It means the cost of a permit in future could be higher or lower than charges shown in this consultation material. If we introduce these new policies, we will include this information in any future consultations on this RPZ.
Read more about the parking charges and permits consultation
View proposed regulations and costs for Residents' Parking Permits