Latest news with #MandaRigby
Telegraph
10-04-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
LTN increases traffic past primary school by ‘frightening' 700pc
A Low Traffic Neighbourhood has led to a 700 per cent jump in traffic past a primary school and nursery, campaigners have claimed. Lib Dem-controlled Bath and North East Somerset council has been condemned as 'irresponsible' for establishing the 'experimental' LTN next to Bath Spa University's campus. The scheme, in which bollards were erected to block off what was previously a key route for people getting across the city, has displaced hundreds of cars on to local side streets since it was introduced in November, residents say. A residents' group paid for a professional traffic monitoring company to count vehicles in roads immediately adjacent to the Lansdown LTN. The Heart of Lansdown Conservation Group (HLCG) said the survey established there had been a720 per cent increase in vehicles passing Kingswood Junior and Nursery School. Nearly 1000 cars a day pass school In the week in March when the figures were collected, there was an average of 951 cars per day passing northbound along Sion Road, the location of the nursery and school. Prior to the LTN, there were just 116 per day, HLCG said, citing data gathered by consultancy Smart Transport Hub. 'It is frightening and highly irresponsible that a council can push up to 1,000 cars on a daily basis past a junior and nursery school,' said a spokesman for the group. 'Local residents – who know their area better than anyone - have been warning the council for months (through safety reports, heavily signed petitions, correspondence and successful High Court action at a cost to the council of over £40,000), and even before the implementation of the [experimental traffic restriction order], of the safety issues. 'It should be noted that Sion Road is not only a narrow residential road but also within the proposed LTN itself – the very area where the council is seeking to reduce traffic.' The Lansdown LTN was installed in November on a trial basis for six months, prompting 3,600 people to sign a petition against it. But residents are worried that the trial – legally known as an 'experimental traffic restriction order' – will become permanent, following the example set by another LTN elsewhere in Bath. The LTN on Bath's New Sydney Place led to accusations that the council's imposition of the anti-car scheme had 'eroded trust in politicians'. Fear of zones being imposed Despite the strength of local feeling, the council made the New Sydney Place LTN permanent in March. And Manda Rigby, the council's cabinet member for highways, suggested last summer that future LTNs could be imposed in Bath without the public being given a say. The council has previously insisted that residents were properly consulted in advance of the schemes being put in place. Council cabinet member Mark Elliott, who took the decision to make the New Sydney Place LTN permanent, was reported by the Local Democracy Service at the tie as saying: 'The accusations of corruption ... I think are frankly offensive and I know them not to be true. 'The insinuation that there is anything other than sound decision making based on reasonable decisions, rather than backhanders or whatever it is you are suggesting, it is just wrong.' Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, formerly the MP for North East Somerset, previously called on the council to scrap its LTNs. 'The car is an essential,' Sir Jacob told The Telegraph in the run-up to the 2024 General Election. 'It's not a luxury of the well-to-do, it is an essential for the least well-off for going to work, for doing their shopping, for leading their ordinary lives.'
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Swapped road signs confiscated and awaiting exchange
Road signs on the edge of Bradford on Avon that were swapped with a town over 60 miles away are being held while an exchange with Dorset local authorities is being organised. On Friday, March 21, the Wiltshire Times reported that the 'Welcome to Bradford on Avon' signs had been replaced with those of Camerton, a village in Somerset. Just two days later, on Sunday, March 23, it emerged that the signs had been swapped again, this time with one from much further afield, the sign reading 'Jurassic coast'. READ MORE: The switch 'baffled' local councils and residents alike and made national titles as news of the pranksters' stunt spread. Now, Wiltshire Council has said the signs have been moved to its Melksham depot, where it is being held while a swap with Dorset's authorities is arranged. Parvis Khansari, corporate director, Place, told the Times: 'The sign is currently being stored at our Melksham depot. 'We are in contact with Dorset Highways Department to arrange to exchange the road signs that were swapped.' At the time the sign swap was first reported, Bradford on Avon Town Council posted a photo on its Facebook page of a sign reading 'Camerton', where the 'Welcome to Bradford on Avon' is ordinarily located. Camerton is a village in the Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council area, approximately 11 miles from Bradford on Avon. A spokesperson for the town council confirmed the sign had been replaced later that day. However, two days later, the sign had been swapped again. Now, the sign appears to have been swapped with one from the Jurassic Coast, with a post on the Spotted in Bradford on Avon Facebook group reading: 'Yesterday Camerton... today Jurassic Coast...' The sign reads, 'Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site', and a blue ammonite is emblazoned above the text. A post from the afternoon of Monday, March 24, appears to reveal the location of the missing sign as Portland, a peninsula to the south of Weymouth. The post reads: 'Just incase anyone wondered where your signpost had gone.' Responding to the initial switch with Camerton, Parvis Khansari, corporate director for Place, said: "We are aware that several road signs around the Bradford on Avon area have been swapped overnight for signs from Camerton near Radstock. "We are in communication with Bath & North East Somerset Council in order to swap the signs back and it has also been reported to the police for further investigation. 'We are in communication with Bath & North East Somerset Council in order to swap the signs back and it has also been reported to the police for further investigation.' SEE ALSO: On Monday, March 24, B&NES Council told the Times they are also looking into the initial swap, and told the Wiltshire Times they had reported it to the police. Cllr Manda Rigby said: 'We know Camerton is not near Bradford on Avon. This was definitely not a sign put up by Bath & North East Somerset Council. 'We are as baffled as the town council. We have removed this sign and several others that appeared in the local area over the weekend and reported the matter to the police. 'If anyone sees incorrect signs like this in our area please report them to us using Fix My Street.'
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
Sign pranksters cause chaos in West Country
Pranksters have caused chaos across the West Country by swapping signs between several villages that are more than 60 miles apart. Several signs have reappeared in different locations across Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset over recent days. One sign from Camerton, in Somerset, appeared in the town of Bradford-on-Avon, in Wiltshire. The sign for Bradford-on-Avon then reappeared 70 miles away on the peninsula of Portland, in Dorset, on March 24. In Somerset, a sign for Waterlip was removed and taken to nearby Midsomer Norton. Bradford-on-Avon town council and Bath and North East Somerset council worked together to recover the sign, but soon afterwards another one from Dorset's Jurassic Coast appeared in Bradford-on-Avon. Bradford-on-Avon town council said it believed the incident was 'a prank'. Manda Rigby, a Bath and North East Somerset councillor, said: 'This was definitely not a sign put up by Bath and North East Somerset council. We are as baffled as the town council.' In a statement, Parvis Khansari, Wiltshire council's corporate director, said correcting the sign swapping was 'an unnecessary use of both time and money that could be better spent on providing a service to the public'. He added: 'There have been several similar recent instances where a sign has been swapped for a sign plate from outside of the county.' A spokesman for Somerset council said the authority believed the incidents, which have been reported to police, constituted 'criminal damage'. In September 2023, road signs in Caithness, Scotland, were removed and replaced by pranksters, with a locl councillor condemning it as 'confusing for tourists' and 'a criminal offence'. In Glasgow last month, a prankster dressed as a race marshal sent 30 trail race runners on a 1.5 mile detour by hiding park signs. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
