On Thursday 25th November the Parish Council held a consultation evening at the Village Hall to which members of the public were invited to receive a presentation on some proposed measures for roads in Bishops Lydeard.
The background to this is our Neighbourhood Plan, which is in force and covers the period from 2015 – 2028. This was put in place following meetings, questionnaires and other consultations.
The plan commits the Parish Council to try to “provide further recreational open space, foot and cycle path provision which will promote health and wellbeing and reduce the need to travel by car”.
It says also that we should “seek to deliver sustainable transport infrastructure to alleviate traffic congestion and road safety issues which have the potential, unless suitably mitigated, to be exacerbated by future residential development in Bishops Lydeard”.
We subsequently consulted again in 2019. The sort of changes which were heavily supported included:
- Improved Cycle Routes
- Improved footpaths
- Cycle path connection to Taunton
- Implementation of 20mph speed limit
- Provision of more parking in the village, where this doesn’t conflict with our wider aims
We are fortunate in that because we have a Neighbourhood Plan in place, we are entitled to receive 25% of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which is in effect the developer contribution paid where housing is sold for profit. If we did not have a Neighbourhood Plan we would only have received 15%. We have received hundreds of thousands of pounds in CIL, mainly as a result of the David Wilson Homes development. Substantial grants have been made, among others, to the Village Hall and to the Cricket Club on Watts Lane. But we are looking to fund a range of improvements from our outstanding CIL monies.
At the event, plans and a questionnaire were provided.
Copies of the plans are available below:
Proposed Traffic Calming Features: 2102-030_SK06
Proposed Traffic Calming Mount Street: Mill Lane to Hither Mead: 2102-030_SK07
Designated Quiet Lanes within 20mph limit and gateway feature locations: 2102-030_SK05
Quantock View: 2102-030_SK04
Proposed Quantock View Build Outs at Crossing and Refuse Vehicle Swept Path: 2102-030_SK03
Some illustrative sketches were also provided, available below:
A video of the presentation provided by the Consultants who developed the plans will be available shortly.
The Parish Council would like to gather the views of local residents on the proposals. To do so, a questionnaire is available here
A copy of the plans and the questionnaire are also available in Bishops Lydeard library for the next couple of weeks. Anyone who attended the consultation evening and has now completed the questionnaire can return it to the Library.
If you have any queries, please contact the Clerk – clerk@bishopslydeard.org