On 12th November 2013, St Luke's and Cheltenham Residents Forum who are opposed to the Cheltenham Transport Plan, gave an excellent presentation to local Councillors to outline their concerns.
The proposals, which includes plans to close Boots Corner to all vehicles except buses and taxis, have recently been consulted on by Gloucestershire County Council on behalf of Cheltenham Borough Council.
The results of the consultation seem to indicate that those who returned the questionnaire on the plans, broadly gave their support. But only 44% of respondents ticked that yes they support the plan. 28% indicated that whilst they broadly support the plans they have some concerns. 27% ticked the box for No they did not support the plans. Of those who ticked yes or yes but with reservations many expressed concerns about the impact of traffic displaced from Boots Corner.
But there are a number of worries about the consultation itself, the impact on traffic flow around the town was played down whilst the so called improvements to Boots Corner through Public Realm works were also consulted on at the same time.
Conflating the two different issues in one consultation made it difficult to get over clear messages on the impact of traffic throughout the town. It also led to perceptions by many of those opposed to the plans that it was a biased and flawed consultation.
Also at no point was it made clear to the general public that the ONLY feedback during the consultation that would count would be via the paper and online questionnaires. Emails, letters and petitions would not be counted. This is particularly worrying since the area which will most likely be affected, the area designated as 'South' in the report on the consultation had the lowest response rate by a long way.
The south area includes St Luke's area and also Leckhampton which traditionally has a high turnout at local elections. It is baffling and very concerning that those most affected by the proposals chose not to engage in this consultation and yet no explanation or consideration has been given as to why this is the case.
I have been given permission to reproduce the slides in the presentation - most of which you can view below. These have now been emailed to all Councillors because attendance at the event on the 12th was so low. Only myself, and fellow Borough Councillors Garth Barnes, Colin Hay, Rob Garnham and Penny Hall were in attendance for the presentation. Councillor Ian Bickerton came late not long before the meeting finished. Cllr Iain Dobie a County Councillor also came along, (Colin and I are also both County Councillors).
I have been given permission to reproduce the slides in the presentation - most of which you can view below. These have now been emailed to all Councillors because attendance at the event on the 12th was so low. Only myself, and fellow Borough Councillors Garth Barnes, Colin Hay, Rob Garnham and Penny Hall were in attendance for the presentation. Councillor Ian Bickerton came late not long before the meeting finished. Cllr Iain Dobie a County Councillor also came along, (Colin and I are also both County Councillors).
