‘A white line on the road is our council’s version of pavement widening’

The development of ‘Western Harbour’, announced by Marvin Rees in 2017, is still many years off. A dream for some, a nightmare for others.

Whichever it turns out to be, it has created a cloud of uncertainty over the whole area. The paralysing effect of this means the area is neglected and increasingly run down.

Not quite drifting tumbleweed, but walls and buildings covered in graffiti, overgrown buddleia and council storage dumps everywhere.

Legal obligations and public safety have also been put on hold, now hostage to a vision of enormous profits for a select few developers.

The situation with the metrobus/Avon Crescent fiasco is a perfect example.

Costing vast sums, the metrobus project opened up vast swathes of land for development but came at substantial environmental cost, with trees felled and ugly infrastructure blossoming in the Conservation Area around Avon Crescent.

On the plus side, it also created a major walking and cycling route joining motor-free north and south active travel routes with a junction on Avon Crescent.

Consequently a planning condition was placed on the permission granted to metrobus in 2014 requiring that Avon Crescent become a shared space for public safety reasons and replacement trees be planted.

All of which was supposed to happen before the first bus ran and it didn’t and still hasn’t. Which means legal obligations have not been enforced.

However, due to a couple of local disasters, initially the collapse of the Cumberland Road wall and more recently the fire in Underfall Yard, Avon Crescent has been a de facto shared space for the last three and a half years.

Thousands of people now enjoy a safe and peaceful route along this stretch of the harbourside walk and whilst crossing at the north end to access metrobus, Ashton Gate Stadium, Ashton Court and beyond.

Now, Bristol City Council says Avon Crescent must re-open to traffic and all safety concerns will be dealt with by painting a white line on the road, their version of widening the pavement.

Apparently it will have special powers to keep you safe as you walk on what will still legally be the carriageway. If you are crossing to use metrobus you’ll just have to take your chances.

“Apparently, this painted white line will have special powers to keep you safe as you walk on what will still legally be the carriageway,” says Val Steel – photo: Martin Booth

Why has this illegal and unsafe option been plumped for by the council?

Well it’s cheap of course but more importantly it does nothing that could possibly interfere with maximum development value when the time comes for ‘Western Harbour’.

If it’s such a good solution, why didn’t they do it years ago?

The council has brought forward various inadequate schemes over the years to resolve the illegality of metrobus operating in breach of planning conditions.

The latest was in May which requested that the conditions for safety simply be removed. Presumably fearing this sleight of hand had been noticed, the application was pulled the morning it was to be heard.

Rerouting has been explored but vetoed at the last minute by Marvin Rees. The mayor who recently stated publicly that there was no intention to re-open Avon Crescent. But then someone thought of the white line.

So can the powers that be please stop dragging their feet waiting for their expensively commissioned ‘vision’ to turn into the even more expensive ‘masterplan’, which will result in the even more expensive flats.

Stop neglecting an area of enormous heritage value much loved by many citywide, get on with the promised ‘meanwhile’ uses, and start acting lawfully and in the interest of public safety now, not private profit later.

This is an opinion piece by Val Steel, a resident of Avon Crescent

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Road to reopen to cars despite mayor’s promise
• ‘Disappointment’ at plans to reopen road to cars
• ‘The council should not use its privileged position to get around its own obligations’
  

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