|
After a year of hard campaigning, the 'Trams
for Bath movement is at last beginning to see signs of success.
At the February 1 meeting of the Transport Sub-committee of Bath
and North East Somerset Council, Jenny Sutherland presented a
petition with over 350 signatures asking the Council to support
us in principle. This was to allow us to approach potential sponsors
in a bid to finance a professional pre-feasibility study of our
plans. Councillor Gitte Dawson strongly supported us and went
beyond our initial request by suggesting that a financial gesture
of support would reinforce the Council's commitment to investigate
all possible solutions to the traffic problem.
Financial Support
The exact form of the financial support is yet to be formally
agreed, but it seems that a sum of up to £5,000 will be
put towards the cost of the pre-feasibility study in return for
the council and other 'interested parties' being involved in the
project.
The Western Riverside
Clive Thomas, the Strategic Development Officer of B&NES,
identified potential developers of the Western Riverside as the
most obvious group of interested parties. Development of the Western
Riverside is one of the key issues in the city at the moment -
it is being severely hampered by lack of a proper transport infrastructure,
but if good quality
pollution-free transport links could be made to the surrounding
area, the project would be transformed. The
initial cost of a tramway could be
repaid many times over and Bath would have one of the most prestigious
development sites in the country,
possibly in Western Europe.
The Consultants' Brief
Now the pressure was on. To be eligible for further funding, it
was
essential that some mention of trams had to be included in the
Local Transport Plan, the closing date for which appeared uncomfortably
close. A sub-committee of members was formed to get things moving,
with meetings every few days to draw up a timetable and a consultants'
draft brief.
The brief was drawn up and finally approved by the whole committee
at a special meeting. Copies were sent out on March 1 to Clive
Thomas, other council officers, political group leaders on all
the relevant committees and, of course, Gitte Dawson who had given
the whole thing such a flying start.
The middle of January would not seem to be the best time to arrange an exhibition in a venue with an open door facing north-east, but in spite of bitter winds, we can count the day a success. Jeremy Paterson-Fox was the moving force behind the event, he persuaded the authorities at Green Park Station to allow us the use of their foyer without charge, drew up rotas for manning the stall and arranged for all the materials we needed to be there on time - even including a much-appreciated fan heater.
Four large display panels caught the eye of passers-by with a map of the proposed routes. Further information on the types of vehicles and the general advantages of trams gave rise to much discussion. We gave out 450 leaflets during the day, gained three new members on the spot and sold 18 of Peter Davey's nostalgic calendars of pictures of the old Bath trams.
Hundreds of people stopped to
ask questions and by far the majority of them were strongly supportive
of the idea of a tramway in Bath. Most importantly of all, we
collected a total of 359 signatures on a petition which Jenny
Sutherland has since put before the Transport Sub-committee of
Bath and N.E. Somerset Council. This has enabled us to ask for
the support from the Council which we need in order to look for
sponsorship for a
pre-feasibility study.
It is fair to say that this exhibition has been the turning
point we have all been waiting for, many thanks to all concerned
- Now the really hard work begins.
|
CROYDON
The latest news from the 'Unofficial Croydon Website:
http://website.lineone.net/~dodosjp/index.html
is that April 13 looks set to be the opening day of the line from
Croydon to New Addington (Line 3). Lines 1 & 2 should open
shortly after that. Once trams return to London, it will be interesting
to see how soon the word 'tram' trips freely off politicians'
and broadcasters' lips.
MANCHESTER
The extensions to the Manchester tram system are nearly complete
and some of the stops are already open for regular service.
The building of the new extensions has been accomplished with
much less disruption and fuss than the initial city centre construction.
NEWTON STATION
The consultants, Steer Davies Gleave, have recently contacted
Trams for Bath for comments on the latest plans to open a heavy
rail station at Newton. We have asked them for further information
so that we can consider any changes to our plans.
THAT TRIP TO BLACKPOOL
For some time now, we have been hoping to make a trip to Blackpool
to take a ride on the prototype Pullman T.P.L. tram which was
being tested there. Unconfirmed reports suggest that this tram
is temporarily out of service, which would explain why we have
not heard any more from the organisers of the trip.
ALISON McNAIR
We were very sorry to hear from our Treasurer, Alison McNair,
that she was unable to continue on our committee for reasons of
health. She is, nevertheless, maintaining an active interest in
the group's progress during a very difficult period. Our thoughts
are with her.
Derrick Hunt has temporarily filled the post as Acting Treasurer and would be grateful for someone to relieve him of it as soon as possible please.
STOP PRESS
Alison McNair and Jeremy Paterson-Fox have just announced that
they are to be married in the near future. Our congratulations
to them both .
Weds 12 April | Transport Integration | David Regewell. | BRLSI | 19:30 | 01225 335974 |
Weds 19 April* | Where was This in Bristol? | Gerald Nicholls | LRTA Bristol | 19:30 | 0117 951 7785 |
Weds 10 May | TfB committee meeting | 27, Purlewent Drive, Bath | 19:30 | 01225 335974 | |
Weds 17 May* | Trams Under Portsmouth Harbour | Tony Young | LRTA Bristol | 19:30 | 0117 951 7785 |
Weds 14 June | To be arranged | Talk or walk | BRLSI | 19:30 | 01225 335974 |
Weds 21 June* | Weekend in Zürich | Doug Fayers | LRTA Bristol | 19:30 | 0117 951 7785 |
T f B Committee
Secretary: Adrian Tuddenham, 88, Mount Road, Southdown, Bath.
BA2 1LH 01225 335 974 e- atudd@bathtram.demon.co.uk
Acting Treasurer: Derrick Hunt; 43, greenland Mills, Bradford-on-Avon,
Wilts. BA15 1BL
Admin Officer: Jenny Sutherland, 27, Purlewent Drive, Bath BA1
4AZ
Acting chairman: Derrick Hunt,
Helen Cox, Jeff Kenyon, Sue Langdon, Brian Lomas,
Jeremy Paterson-Fox, Peter Provest Richard Scrase.