Consultation & Engagement Hub

A six-month statutory consultation was undertaken, from 2 August 2020 to 1 February 2021, to receive objections on the permanent introduction of bus lanes and other supportive measures that would change how general traffic accesses some parts of the city centre.

An Experimental Traffic Order was used to install 24hr bus priority routes over Bristol Bridge and at key points accessing the city centre. Priority was provided to public transport, taxis, cycles and pedestrians travelling through the central area of Bristol.

The six-month consultation period meant the public could experience the advantages and disadvantages of the priority measures, before giving their feedback on whether they should be permanent. 

For further information on the Bristol Bridge Experimental Traffic Order, visit:  www.bristol.gov.uk/transport-plans-and-projects/changes-bristol-bridge

• 865 representations were received in response to the statutory consultation.
• 527 (61%) were objections, of which 40 expressed some support in principle.
• 338 (39%) were comments of full support.

Please read the following document providing summary of the public objections received and our response based on it.  Objection summary and Officer responses.

The consultation feedback was included in an objection report for consideration by the Interim Director Economy of Place, who subsequently reached a decision on 29 June 2021 to make the Experimental Traffic Order measures permanent.

In making the decision, it was considered that the scheme would achieve elements of the council’s wider transport policies and strategies to achieve cleaner air and transform travel in the city.

A copy of the *objection report as signed by Interim Director Economy of Place can be received upon request by emailing transport.engagement@bristol.gov.uk

* NB: The objection report provided upon request will be redacted for data protection and GDPR purposes. Relevant policy and strategy documents are referenced within the report

The engagement on Cotham Hill was open for six weeks from Monday 9 November 2020 to Sunday 17 January 2021. People were asked about their street environment, what they liked about the street, what they would improve and what would they prioritise. The survey captured views from residents, businesses and anyone who uses the street to help build a picture of what people would like to see improved in the street environment and provide feedback on their own experiences.

Individual responses were received via the online survey and, to ensure the survey reached as wide an audience as possible in a multi-cultural ward, paper copies with a language template covering 12 languages were posted along with a free post envelope to 3348 local properties. 25 posters were put up in the local area to raise awareness of the survey. Local stakeholders and community groups were also asked to help raise awareness of the survey and it was promoted via social media platforms. Due to Covid19 restrictions preventing face to face engagement, the team offered virtual chats and phone appointments to anyone who didn’t want to submit a written response but wanted to ask questions and provide feedback.

From this survey we received 2632 responses to the engagement, which were made up of 2075 online and 557 paper copies. Of the responses received 60% are residents who live within one mile and over 80% walk to the road with over 65% visiting the street over 3 to 4 times a week.

Around 90% of respondents like Cotham Hill due to the “local high street economy” and “personality and character of the street”. Over 60% felt it was a “place for meeting friends and family” and over 70% like “supporting local jobs”. Over 85% of respondents think “pavements are too narrow” is a serious and moderate problem. Over 80% of respondents “have wider pavements” as an essential and high priority for the street.

The main themes that came through the free text boxes were support for pedestrianisation, outdoor seating space and wider pavements.

The feedback from this survey along with the engagement with local businesses, community groups and local stakeholders has been used to help produce a road layout design for two temporary road closures on Cotham Hill. This will be implemented on Sunday 11 April 2021 to allow several hospitality businesses to trade outside with COVID-19 restrictions changing to permit outdoor hospitality service the following day. It will also improve journeys for pedestrians and cyclists. Whilst this is an urgent measure to support business we are working on a more permanent scheme which will be subject to further engagement with the community. This will take a look at a more holistic approach at the area and could incorporate changes to the wider area.
More information about what we engaged on and the results are available in either the summary report or the full report.

Throughout 2020 Bristol City Council used temporary barriers to create more space for pedestrians and cyclists across the city, including on Princess Victoria Street, in response to the pandemic and social distancing measures. Building on this work, we launched engagement with the Clifton community in December 2020 to find out how we could further improve walking and cycling journeys in the area.

The engagement was open for six weeks from Monday 7 December 2020 to Sunday 17 January 2021. People were asked about street environment, what they liked about the street, what they would improve and what would they prioritise. In addition to the general questions, some specific suggestions submitted by the community were included in the survey. People were asked to give their views on ideas for widening the pavement, timed closures and a full closure of a short stretch of Princess Victoria Street between the junctions of Clifton Down Road and Waterloo Street. The survey sought to capture views from residents, businesses and anyone who uses the street to help build a picture of what people would like to see improved in the street environment and provide them with the opportunity to give feedback on their own experiences.

Individual responses were received via the online survey and paper copies were posted with a free post envelope to 2400 local properties, with a follow-up postcard sent to the same properties. 40 posters were put up in the local area to raise awareness of the survey. Local stakeholders and community groups were also asked to help raise awareness of the survey and it was promoted via social media platforms.

As COVID-19 restrictions prevented face to face engagement, the team offered virtual chats and phone appointments to anyone who didn’t want to submit a written response but wanted to ask questions and provide verbal feedback.

From the community survey we received 907 responses, made up of 482 online and 425 paper copies. Of the responses, over 85% are residents who live within one mile. The majority (90%) of respondents say they walk to travel to the road and over 80% visit the street over 3 to 4 times a week.

The top 4 priorities for respondents were “more outdoor space for café/restaurants”, “cleaner air”, “more greenery/planters”, & “wider pavements”.  Over 85% of respondents like the street for both “the local high street economy” and “the personality and character of the street”. 62% of respondents felt that “the streets are busy with traffic” is a serious or a moderate problem. 57% of respondents felt that “narrow pavements” is a serious or moderate problem. 35% of respondents felt that “there is not enough car parking” was either a serious or a moderate problem while 54% felt it was a minor problem or not a problem at all.

The main themes that came through the free text boxes were providing additional support for pedestrians (95 responses), lack of residents parking (25 responses), concerns around displaced traffic resulting from potential changes (23 responses) and the need to reduce traffic (22 responses).

In addition to the general questions, some specific suggestions for the section of Princess Victoria Street between Clifton Down Road and Waterloo road, which were submitted by the community, were included in the survey:

• Most respondents (68%) agree or strongly agree with the suggestion to “widen pavements” on this stretch of the street. 21% Disagree or strongly disagree.
• 56% Agree or strongly agree with the suggestion for “a daily timed closure”. 34% Disagree or strongly disagree.
• 53% Agree or strongly agree with the suggestion for “a full closure”. 40% Disagree or strongly disagree.

The feedback from this survey along with the engagement with local businesses, community groups and local stakeholders will be used to produce some designs for the street. Information on next steps will be shared with the community in the coming weeks. More information about what we engaged on and the results are available in either the summary report or the full report.

The engagement on St Marks Road was open for six weeks from Monday 9 November 2020 to Sunday 17 January 2021. People were asked about their street environment, what they liked about the street, what they would improve and what would they prioritise. The survey captured views from residents, businesses and anyone who uses the street to help build a picture of what people would like to see improved in the street environment and provide feedback on their own experiences.

Individual responses were received via the online survey and, to ensure the survey reached as wide an audience as possible in a multi-cultural ward, paper copies with a language template covering 12 languages were posted along with a free post envelope to 3548 local properties. 50 posters were put up in the local area to raise awareness of the survey. Local stakeholders and community groups were also asked to help raise awareness of the survey and it was promoted via social media platforms.

Due to Covid19 restrictions preventing face to face engagement, the team offered virtual chats and phone appointments to anyone who didn’t want to submit a written response but wanted to ask questions and provide feedback.

Closing the road at one end to make it access-only was an early suggestion, and within the local community there has been many conversations centred around both concerns and support for pedestrianisation of St Marks Road. There was a lot of strength of feeling with different groups having different viewpoints. As a result, online petitions have been drawn up by these different groups asking people to either stop or support pedestrianisation.

From this survey we received 1115 responses to the engagement, which were made up of 474 online and 641 paper copies. Of the responses received 81% are residents who live within one mile and walk to the roadwith 45% riding a bike and 30% driving a car/ van.

Over 80% of respondents like St Marks Road due to the “local high street economy” and “personality and character of the street”. Over 75% like “supporting local jobs” and nearly 65% liked the “customer service and shopping experience”.

The most serious and moderate problem identified was that “the street is busy with traffic” (48%) followed by “there is too much pollution/poor air quality” (47%) and “access for disabled people is poor” (45%).

Over 50% of respondents think “have cleaner air”, “a nicer/safer place to walk and cycle” and “having enough shade and shelter e.g. increased greenery, planters” are essential and high priorities when totalled together.

In total 1623 ‘other’ comments were received for the four main questions asking about what people like, what the problems might be, what are their priorities and any other comments.

511 other comments talked specifically about pedestrianisation and of those 120 supported and 257 objected to the idea of pedestrianising the road. 134 other suggestions were also put forward under this category such as partial closures, limit closures to certain times and resurface the road.

The feedback from this survey along with the engagement with local businesses, community groups and local stakeholders will be used to produce some design options for the street. Pedestrianisation is not being considered. The options will be presented to a local community working group who will help co-design the options. More information about what we engaged on and the results are available in either the summary report or the full report.

The consultation on the council’s 2021/22 budget was open for six weeks from 16 November 2020 until 28 December 2020. Individual responses were received via the survey and additional responses were received from organisations and individuals via email.

More information about what we consulted on is available in the consultation survey.

We received 2,006 responses to the Budget consultation 2021/22, the results of which are available in the Budget 2021/22 consultation report.

1,936 (97%) of the 2,006 people who responded to the budget consultation, stated the level core Council Tax increase they would support in 2021/22, from the three options provided*:

A majority of respondents (66%) favour an increase in core Council Tax to support general services. Of these, 259 (13% of all 1,936 respondents) favour a 3% increase, 688 (36%) favour a 2% increase and 332 (17%) would prefer a 1% increase in core Council Tax.

657 (34%) respondents would prefer ‘no increase to Council Tax’ in 2021/22.

1,957 (98%) of the 2,006 respondents to the consultation, expressed a preference for a particular level of Adult Social Care Precept, from the three options provided**:

A majority of respondents (60%) favour an additional Adult Social Care Precept (on top of core Council Tax) to support the delivery of adult social care.

Of these, 334 (17% of all 1,957 respondents) favour a 3% Adult Social Care Precept, 416 (21%) favour a 2% and 422 (22%) would prefer a 1% Adult Social Care Precept.

785 (40%) respondents would prefer no increase to Adult Social Care Precept in 2021/22.

*2% is the maximum amount the council can raise Council Tax in 2021/22 without holding a local referendum. This limit is set by government. The 2% limit was announced in the Spending Review 2020 on 25 November. - after the consultation go live date of 16 November. Respondents were able to choose a Council Tax increase of up to 3% before the spending review and up to 2% after the spending review.

** The council is allowed to add a Social Care Precept of up to 3% to Council Tax in 2021/22. This is in addition to the permitted increase of up to 2% for core Council Tax.. Respondents were able to choose a Social Care Precept of up to 2% before the spending review and up to 3% after the spending review.

The decision will be taken at Full Council on 23 February 2021.