Open letter slams 'no positives' for new Bath recycling hub plan

An alliance of 19 local groups and businesses have come together to ask the council not to go ahead with a new recycling hub in Bath. The local alliance against the hub - which includes cafes, local tradesmen, and even Bath Spa University - claim the hub involves the loss of 27 jobs and puts further jobs at risk due to disruption to nearby businesses.

They also expressed concerns for the potential environmental impact, arguing that the hub would increase traffic, air pollution, and noise pollution.

The letter states they cannot see any positives in the plan. Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services at BANES, encouraged people to take a look at the revised plans and let them know what they think.

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The open letter says: ""There are no positives in the Council’s revised plans. BANES has promoted it as an economically sound decision. The true cost, however, is traffic congestion, increased air and noise pollution, congestion through the Clean Air Zone, interference with existing –productive – enterprises, heightened risk of contamination of the adjoining Avon river because of the high flood risk of the site and, just as importantly, devastation to the amenity and quality of life of all the residents living near the site."

Bath and North East Somerset Council have recently revised their plans in response to hundreds of objections to the proposed hub, which would open late next year if the plans go ahead. This includes minimising hard surfaces to protect trees, using a flexible booking system with a maximum of 14 cars on site at a time to minimise congestion, and rerouting the main drainage system through the centre of the site.

The alliance says "the small changes they have made do little to address our concerns".

You can read the full letter below:

"We write as a group of employers and enterprises opposed to Bath and North East Somerset Council’s recently revised plans to move its recycling centre to Locksbrook Road. We include sole operators such as Perk Up Coffee in the park adjoining the site of the

planned tip, large employers such as Horstman Group and Bath Spa University that lie within 100m of the site, and wholesale and retail businesses on neighbouring roads.

"To put it bluntly, we are united in believing that BANES’s revised plan is a bad idea and a failure in responsible planning. The small changes they have made do little to address our concerns, and we expect that if the plan is approved, our businesses will be detrimentally impacted.

Based on estimates provided by BANES, we would see an increase in traffic on Locksbrook Road of around 100%-150% during business hours. And BANES intends to remove existing parking, even though the tip will attract users who will choose to park and skip the booking system.

For those of us with retail businesses on Station Road and Chelsea Road, reduced parking spaces on Locksbrook Rd will cascade out to interfere with our clients’ ability to park. And we expect to see an increase in traffic congestion outside our businesses as tip users avoid the bottleneck of Locksbrook Road and exit via Station Road.

For those of us who wholesale and manufacture in the Locksbrook area, we expect disruption to our operations caused by queues to the tip tailbacking along Locksbrook Road and blocking traffic. Added congestion along Locksbrook and Station Roads will disrupt deliveries to and from our businesses within both the Locksbrook Estate and around Locksbrook Court, close to the Locksbrook Inn.

We signatories are proudly the creators of jobs in Bath. Between us, we employ hundreds of people just in the Locksbrook area. In contrast, the Council’s plan for the recycling centre involves the loss of 27 jobs out of Bath, and threatens the long term viability of existing jobs and future business expansion.

The Locksbrook area, lying in the Newbridge Riverside area, is earmarked under BANES’s own planning as being a place for productive enterprise and creative industry. The proposed recycling centre should be the showcase entrance to this very positive enterprise regeneration, but will instead hinder the Council's own plan, stifling potential synergies between existing businesses, Bath Spa University's campus, and new growth.

There are no positives in the Council’s revised plans. BANES has promoted it as an economically sound decision. The true cost, however, is traffic congestion, increased air and noise pollution, congestion through the Clean Air Zone, interference with existing –productive – enterprises, heightened risk of contamination of the adjoining Avon river because of the high flood risk of the site and, just as importantly, devastation to the amenity and quality of life of all the residents living near the site.

Bath Councillors should do the sensible thing and withdraw this ill-conceived proposal.

Yours faithfully

Horstman Group

Bath Spa Uni

Wolsely Plumbing Supplies

Perk Up Coffee Bath

Kew Electrical

Kris’ Barber Shop

Newman’s Joinery

Ralph Allen Print Solutions

Station Road Vets

Lower Weston Post Office

Millionhairs Dog Grooming

Rooted Cafe

Naughty but Nice Hairdressing

Plumbase

Howdens

BBS Plumbing and Heating Supplies

TBKS Architectural Ironmongery

SIG Roofing

The Locksbrook Inn"

Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services at BANES, said: “The revised planning application and associated documents can be viewed on the council’s planning portal and I would encourage people to take a look and let us know what they think.”

Local people can comment on the revised proposal on the council's planning portal.