Battling with the Talking Buses

From Newsletter No. 13 Winter 1989

Society member and author Sheila McCullagh began the protest with a letter to the Bath Evening Chronicle. HTV spotlighted residents' anger on its news program. More letters of protest, appeared in the Evening: Chronicle followed by TV, radio and national paper reports.

The latest coverage came in the Bristol Evening Post in November. But the brochures still tempt the tourists; loudspeakers still blare, and the guides shout their way around The Crescent.

And Badgerline's manager told the Chronicle: "We are allowed to operate this service by virtue of our service licence and we shall continue until we are stopped".

The Chief preoccupation in recent months has been the topless talking buses. We have sustained our reaction in every way we could and the press and TV publicity has given us a good platform from which to continue the offensive. We have been in correspondence with the City and County Councils and the Traffic Commission as well as our MP. It is a complex problem stemming from the deregulation of buses under the 1985 Act. Maddening as the commentaries are, the sheer weight and diesel pollution that these vehicles are bringing to bear on the Crescent is an even greater concern. Regrettably, the law is not helpful, but we are continuing to explore the possibilities and our Local Authorities are not unsympathetic. This is not the place for detail and I ask our members to accept that the Committee has been, is, and will continue to be, active and persistent in the matter.

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The Residents Access only Petition

From Newsletter No. 23 Summer 1993

103 residents enthusiastically signed the Petition on Avon County Council to "investigate urgently closure of the Royal Crescent to traffic, except for Residents' parking and access, as part of the phase II traffic calming measures for Bath City Centre". This action was agreed at the AGM as a means of focusing Council attention even more vividly on this Crescent. Council Officials' reaction was, predictably fairly negative. Two months after the Petition was presented to full Council, by our indefatigable Councillor Mrs Maureen Wheadon, a Report was presented to the Public Highways and Transport Committee merely listing all the difficulties which stood in the way of the action and proposing to defer anything until the end of the 6 month trial of the Bus Voluntary Agreement.

Our Councillor shared our view that this was quite unsatisfactory. A clear, dated plan for action was required and the matter needed to be dealt with separately from the Voluntary Agreement; she very successfully represented these views at the Committee meeting and a lengthy debate followed.

The new Liberal Democrat Councillor for another area of Bath lent his strong support and Officials were told to think again and report back at the next (October) meeting.

The Chairman wrote to the Councillor, Mr Tom Ball thanking and encouraging him. Meanwhile the local press seized on a remark made almost jokingly by the Socialist Group Leader, to the effect that since the Crescent was so vulnerable and important then why not ban ALL traffic and pedestrianise it. Once again we were all over the front pages and on the local radio, reacting to a suggestion that was not being investigated. Chairman took the view, already discussed in Committee, that yes, a complete traffic ban would be the right and inevitable solution but not for several generations, when perhaps we are all no longer so dependent on the car; for now, and the foreseeable future, access was essential for Residents, but not for tourist buses. This message got good coverage and the episode helped to maintain the already high profile of this vital issue.

Monitoring exercise

Many thanks are due to the many members who gave up their time to monitor the actual incidents of buses in response to our Treasurer, Simon Crowe's note. The figures are being kept under wraps for the moment because this Newsletter has a wide distribution, but will provide good ammunition for the Council's Review at the end of the 6 month trial of the Voluntary Agreement. It may be necessary to do some more monitoring to be statistically credible and volunteers will again be welcome.

We contribute to National Debate

Alerted by the energetic Chairman of another residents' group (Macaulay Buildings) your Committee learned of a National Study by the Department of Transport into the operation of local bus services outside London and the impact of Deregulation. Chairman sent a longish letter to the Department outlining our position and the action we had been forced to take. he has been informed that although the study was mainly aimed at the bus industry our letter would be considered along with 135 other responses.

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Avon County Council Debate

From Newsletter No 24. Winter 1993

County Council Progress

As we go to press, a crunch debate in the Avon County Council's Public Highways and Transport Committee (PHTC) looms close. Members will recall the six month voluntary agreement (VA) under which the bus company were to operate nine buses per hour, and our monitoring of the traffic.

County officials have produced a 17 page very detailed report for the meeting, analysing all the issues in some depth. It therefore embodies too much point to be covered fully here (if any member wishes to see a copy, please contact Chairman on Bath 315529).

However the report does at last recognise the damage caused by heavy traffic and the need to achieve a reduction in the level of use of the Crescent. It also postulates that to implement our petition in some form could save £160,000 or more on road maintenance. But because of objections by the Chief Constable, and the bus companies, plus an equivocal stance by Bath City Council who have yet to undertake "consultations", the report concludes by recommending an "ad hoc meeting between the two Councils to try and find a way ahead. So all may not yet be lost.

Your Traffic Committee (Dr. Len Fisher and Simon Crowe) have at some speed produce a report of its own for the meeting (copy available from Simon on Bath 483830) which principally summarises the results of our monitoring exercise (see below) but also addresses the principal issues in the County Report. Our County Councillor Maureen Wheadon is continuing to be extremely helpful in processing and presenting our views.

The main recommendations in our report are to return to the original concept of a traffic regulation order with a limit of 5 buses per hour and to test this at public inquiry because we have no faith in a voluntary scheme (see Chairman's notes). Failing this, our report recommends adoption of the request for accesses only with some minor modifications to meet the Chief Constable's concerns which we consider derive from too literal an interpretation of the very brief wording of the petition itself.

Society Monitoring of Bus Traffic

Meanwhile you will wish to know the results of our monitoring of the bus traffic. This has been statistically analysed by you Traffic Committee and shows that for this period as expected the bus companies have been careful to keep fairly close to the VA. On average 9.3 buses per hour passed through the Crescent every day (with some significant peaks above that). That is still one bus every SIX minutes and at least one if not more buses in the Crescent for 60% of the day. Buses also routinely stop anywhere and everywhere, on single and double yellow lines to pick up and drop off passengers. If the VA under monitoring produces these results, then when it operates unmonitored the incidence is almost bound to rise and get worse, as the peaks multiply under the many flexibilities the VA conditions allow.

The National Debate

On another front, the last Newsletter reported our contribution to the National debate on deregulation via a letter to the Department of Transport. This letter has been most ably and strongly backed up by a direct intervention by our Vice President, Lord Stockton writing to the Secretary of State for Transport, John MacGregor. SoS's reply trod a fairly well worn path of saying that this was a local matter capable only of local solution; we can only hope that the wider issue (that deregulation was not intended to unleash damaging heavy traffic on Heritage sites, but to free local and inter-City public transport) has not been completely overlooked.

Our MP's response

Earlier this year we sought the assistance of our new MP, Don Foster in our campaign. At first he acknowledged the problems here and elsewhere and promised to write further. That was in March. We heard nothing further and so wrote again in September and received a reply which added nothing to the debate, offered no support and asked to be "kept informed". He had spoken to Badgerline who again said that they had "been unable to meet with the Society". They presumably omitted to tell him that no such meeting had ever been proposed by Badgerline as the creators of the problem; it is certainly not your Committee's intention to go cap in hand to them.

This response is very disappointing, particularly when compared with the strong support given by our former MP Chris Patten, even when by doing so he was virtually tilting at his own Party's policy.

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Badgerline, Don Foster and RCS exchange letters

From Newsletter No 25, Spring 1994

The ad hoc meeting between Avon and Bath Councils had still not been held at the time of going to press, despite having been agreed on Dec 7th. It is hoped to have more information at the AGM.

is intended to identify the means of reducing the use of this Crescent by heavy tourist bus traffic. The discussions are intended to address our petition for some form of partial closure signed by well over 100 residents, and the original Traffic Regulation Order reducing numbers to 5 per hour.

Meanwhile Badgerline Bus Company, prompted by our MP, Don Foster, has for the first time since the Bus Services began, written to the Society's chairman. The letter's subtlety was recognised in the chairman's reply and both are printed below. Subsequently, Don Foster's staff, half briefed, sought a date for a meeting but could not say who was seeking one. We await clarification. Finally some members will have seen the largely favourable articles in the National press, The Independent of 17th January 1994 and the Daily Mail Magazine Saturday 13th March, bringing our concerns to a wider audience.

20th January 1994 Dear Mr Daw,

I have seen a copy of the correspondence between yourself and Don Foster, MP, concerning the Royal Crescent / Open Top Bus issue.

I have never refused to meet any group of residents over any matter affecting Badgerline but have never had the opportunity to discuss any matter with members of the Royal Crescent Society.

Whilst I suspect it may be difficult to reach agreement, I believe there may be some value in holding exploratory talks, if only to better understand each others position.

Should you therefore wish to hold a meeting I would be more than happy to do so. . Yours sincerely M S Curtis Regional Director

Chairman's Reply

31st January 1994

Dear Mr Curtis,

Tourist buses in the Royal Crescent.

Thank you for your letter of the 20th January 1994

My committee and I support your view that agreement between your commercial and our conservation interests would, as you say, be 'difficult'. We have both made our positions clear to the relevant Traffic Management Authority which will decide the eventual solution to the problems your operation has created.

As the long standing custodians of this centuries old Crescent we also note that in the 8 or 9 years since your relatively recent operation began, your current letter is the first communication you have made to this Society. Therefore), our comment that you have 'never had the opportunity' to discuss matters with its is hard to understand.

Consequently we find difficulty in seeing any particular purpose at this stage in holding a meeting with you, but should you wish to initiate one, perhaps under the Chairmanship of our MP, Don Foster, we would be prepared to consider attending.

This correspondence is copied to Mr Foster.

Yours etc Michael G Daw

Chairman, Royal Crescent Society

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