Chelsea Road: Promoting & Enhancing walking access

There are many parts of Bath with groups of local shops and services. Transition Bath believes that walking access to all local shopping and service areas should be encouraged and improved. Many people both within Bath and visiting Bath regularly need to shop and access services without a car, and we believe many others would choose to do so if it were safe, pleasant and convenient. Everyone needs walking routes, even if only from where they have parked their bicycle or motor vehicle. It is thus important to ensure that walking routes are easy to use, safe, with all pedestrians able to cross roads in a convenient place safely and without feeling hurried or intimidated.

We are therefore undertaking a project to investigate the current access to and use of Chelsea Road and how this can be encouraged. Since everyone should be able to use walking routes, the emphasis of the project is on walking, although cycling and bus travel are included as important alternatives to the car. It  focuses on the area within 800m (½ mile) of Chelsea Road, approximately 10 minutes walk.

The project has already revealed that the number of households in the project area listed in the 2001 census as owning no car is substantially above the average both for Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES) and for the South West region. In fact, in part of the study area over 49% of households owned no car, against an average for the region of 20% and for BaNES of 22%. This proves a definite need for non-car access: it is probable that these households regularly walk, cycle or travel by bus to shops.

We shall be distributing a questionnaire to local residents, as well as discussing the issues with the local traders, B&B owners and Newbridge Primary school, which is inside the project area. In due course we aim to hold public workshops to explore the issues and challenges. We envisage that this process will inform residents and B&B visitors about Chelsea Road and how to get there, improving the local economy. We also expect to identify targets for BaNES council investment.

We are working with local councillors and relevant council staff on this project, and it is kindly funded by Bath Car Share Club. Contact Dick at transport@transitionbath.org for further details. 

Download a map of walking centres here.