By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
An “absolute joke” of a new cycle route for residential streets in Gloucester will be reconsidered after around 130 people turned out to voice their strong opposition to the “unacceptable” plans.
Residents from St Paul’s, Linden and Podsmead attended last night’s (October 22) meeting organised by Labour MP Alex McIntyre at City Church Gloucester in Seymour Road.
The city MP arranged the public event as a result of the huge volume of serious concerns people have over the next stage of Gloucestershire County Council’s 26-mile cycle spine.
The controversial cycle and pedestrian route which aims to link Bishop’s Cleeve with Stroud via Cheltenham and Gloucester has caused uproar in other parts of the city and county such as London Road and Churchdown.
Highways chiefs had planned for the next stretch of the route to go from St Ann Way to Cole Avenue. And their preferred route involves going via Stroud Road which would be made one-way, King Edward’s Avenue, The Oval, through Tuffley Park, Podsmead Place, Laburnum Road, Podsmead Road and alongside Cole Avenue where it would link to Tuffley Lane.
However, local people are extremely concerned the route would lead to a huge loss of parking spaces in an already busy area. Road safety is another worry and the meeting heard how a cyclist was recently knocked off their bike while cycling in the Oval.
A panel of residents presented the main concerns at the start of the meeting and Jan Fortey and Dave Kelly spoke on behalf of people from Stroud Road, Central Road, Bloomfield Road and the surrounding area.
“The planned cycleway will take away a third of the current roadway and residents will lose all on road parking on both sides of the road,” she said.
She said it would have a detrimental impact on most residents and road users while benefiting only a small minority of cyclists.
“The suggested alternative parking by Gloucestershire County Council is for residents to park in the surrounding side roads which are currently heavily congested and parking is already in crisis,” she added.
She said the route would mean Stroud Road residents would have to park two or three roads away from their homes.
“This is unacceptable”, she said and questioned if the parking surveys were carried out at the right time of day.
Mr Kelly said cyclists have told them the route would not be the best and they would not use it.
He said funds would be better put to use for the cycleway to go via Bristol Road and called on the council to “please listen to the voices of the residents”.
Amy Young and Mhairi Ball were there to relay the concerns of residents in the Oval and King Edward’s Avenue.
“A question we hear repeatedly is why this route has been chosen at all,” Ms Young said.
“The roads through the Oval are already narrow and heavily used.
“Unlike many other cycle routes in this city which follow much wider main roads. The proposal places a cycle lane within the residential area where road space is already limited.”
She said residents are concerned about the impact it would have on access for emergency services and they were not given an option to reject all three of the options in the survey.
And Angela Trigg, who has lived in Gloucester all her life, raised serious concerns about the section between Tuffley Avenue and Cole Avenue.
She said the proposed route crossing the avenue to the park would cross a busy road. And she went on to say Tuffley Park is used by local football and cricket teams as well as dog walkers and members of the public of all ages.
“The removal of the secure gates would immediately impact on the security of the park,” she said. “Dog walkers would lose a secure area in which to exercise their dogs.
“Players, coaches and spectators need to be able to move freely around the field and having a cycle path could effectively divide the space meaning users have to constantly watch out for cyclists rather than being able to enjoy the facility.”
Officers spoke of the benefits of the scheme and explained the rationale behind the chosen route.
They also spoke of the constraints and safety concerns affecting the discarded options of the Hempsted bypass, Bristol Road, the canal towpath and Stroud Road and Cole Avenue route.
But residents were having none of it and several of their claims were met with bursts of laughter.
The more the officers defended the scheme and spoke of its benefits the more residents became irritated.
A Podsmead Place resident asked why millions are being spent on the cycle path saying “£50m? And you can’t even mend the potholes in the road”.
“You’re going to turn our community into complete chaos. It’s an absolute joke.”
Several also spoke of the impact lack of parking is already having when trying to sell their property and how the Victorian terraced houses are being converted into houses of multiple occupancy adding even more cars to the congested roads.
The general feeling in the room was that the route was being imposed on a community that did not ask for it. Not a single person spoke in favour of the proposed route during the meeting and many suggested a better route would be via the Bristol Road.
Transport and highways director Jason Humm said the Labour Government’s policy at the moment is to support cycling and walking and they celebrate the unprecedented level of investment in active travel.
He said the Government directly links active travel to tackle obesity and mental health. “They are committed to deliver those improvements and continue to deliver the decarbonisation of the transport network,” he said.
“And they are signed up to the UK’s global climate emergency as well. They are all central government policies.”
He asked Mr McIntyre if he wanted to comment on the Government supporting those elements. The Labour MP explained he has always said infrastructure should not be done to communities but done with them. This was met with a huge round of applause.
“Yes, we want to get people exercising. I want to get people in Gloucester moving more,” he said.
But he said what residents don’t want to see is an ideological commitment to a route which may not work for local communities.
“You all said when we started this evening you are coming to this with an open mind and no final decisions have been made which is different to what lots of people heard at the consultation where people ere told there would not be any changes at all.
“Are you willing to go away, having heard what you’ve heard tonight and relook again at the decision for this route. And if so, when can we expect to hear the proposals from the county council?”
One resident shouted “put it through the Bristol Road!”
Liberal Democrat Roger Whyborn (Benhall and Up Hatherley), who is the cabinet member for sustainable transport, confirmed they would reconsider the plans.
“Yes, is the short answer to that,” he said. “Yes, we will certainly have to relook at routes you’ve made that point very clear.
He said he also wants the team to look at the parking situation holistically and the number of places lost and how it varies.
“I know it’s an issue because I had quite a lot of difficulty parking myself tonight,” he said and the crowd reacted with cheer and applause.
Cllr Whyborn went on to say “we don’t get to continue to be democratically elected representatives if we ignore what people are saying”.
“We are listening and this is a genuine consultation,” he said.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr McIntyre told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they arranged the meeting because people were frustrated at the lack of proper consultation that had taken place.
“We heard tonight there is support for investment in cycling but you can’t bulldoze a scheme that local residents don’t want,” he said.
“There was not a single hand in the room tonight who supported the scheme. Everybody was opposed to it.
“We’ve secured a very important first step from the county council. They have said they are going to look at this again.
“I would really encourage them to look at other routes. There are other options.
“I stand ready to work with them with the national government so we can make this work.
“There is no point putting through a scheme that nobody wants and isn’t going to work for the sake of completing a line from Bishop’s Cleeve to Stroud.”
Reform UK county councillors Vernon Gray (Tuffley and Moreland) and Jason Preece (Grange and Kingsway) said pushing ahead with the scheme despite overwhelming opposition shows a total disregard for everyday realities.
“Driving remains the safest and most practical way to get around Tuffley, regardless of the weather, rather than forcing an unworkable, ideological agenda onto a community that relies heavily on cars.”
Labour city councillor Terry Pullen, who represents Moreland, said he was impressed by the excellent turnout from residents.
“It is clear that local people have some very strong views about the cycle route scheme,” he said.
“Whichever way you look at it, the proposed cycle route is flawed with many problems and if it goes ahead will cause major inconvenience to local people.
“I really do not understand why the county council is planning to put the route right through the middle of residential streets when in other areas they have stuck to main roads.
“If the county council are serious about consultation and have genuinely listened to people’s concerns, I hope they will go away and come up with an alternative route”
Also speaking after the meeting, Cllr Whyborn said the council has a lot of constraints on what the other options are but they will look at the alternatives.
“I am really concerned about the parking because the lack of it already and the points residents have made,” he said.
“The cyclists seem to favour the Bristol Road. We know that’s very difficult. That’s why it wasn’t put forward.
“We will certainly look at it and any options that work. We want to see what we can do.”