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 in detail the parking policy we are now aiming to implement with a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). This consultation support material summarises some of the ways that the policy aims to improve air quality by addressing the issue of motor vehicle emissions, and reducing the impact of motor vehicles on our roads.
- The measures set out in this policy are designed to meet traffic management needs, and to improve air quality, making our roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists and users of other modes of active travel. We anticipate that the measures will also significantly reduce the level of vehicle emissions, which drive climate change, by encouraging more people to switch to lower emissions vehicles.
- It gives you an opportunity to express support or objection to this Order, and give your reasons.
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's National Air Quality Strategy
- Reducing the effect of motor vehicles on neighbourhoods, particularly residential neighbourhoods, aligning with our policy and work on Liveable Neighbourhoods
- 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
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, and to rebalance our roads and neighbourhoods so that motor vehicles become less dominant.
We have developed, and consulted on, parking policies which aim to do this. View the report on Council Cabinet policy decisions based on feedback from our consultation on these proposals, in April 2021.
We have also consulted on the introduction of Residents Parking Zones, and may introduce more, in areas where there is high pressure on on-street parking.