A formal complaint has now been lodged by TTADRA with South Glos Council, on the basis that the Council did not comply with UK Government statutory guidance regarding consultation with the emergency services over its plans for the centre of Thornbury.
That failure by the Council goes back to the Traffic Regulation Orders dated 1 September 2021, enacted on Thornbury High Street, and continues with the amendment to those Orders in terms of the proposed return of the bus service to the High Street, where a bus stop is planned in the middle of the one-way carriageway.
In the first instance, South Glos Council did not confer with the emergency services over the Traffic Regulation Orders, as required by the UK government statutory guidance set out in the Traffic Management Act 2004: network management to support active travel, as updated on 1 April 2022. This was confirmed by the Council in their reply to a Freedom of Information request, by admitting that, at the time the request was made, on 8 August 2022, no specific consultation meetings had taken place with the emergency services. .
In the second instance, SGC failed to consult specifically with any of the emergency services over the amendment to plans, to locate a bus stop in the High Street, in a position where it could delay the passage of an emergency vehicle. This was confirmed in replies to Freedom of Information requests made to the emergency services.
SGC claimed that police were involved in consultation, but that only involved participation in the Town Centre Partnership by the neighbourhood policing team, and not senior officers, as required in the statutory guidance.
The Council has acknowledged the receipt of the complaint, and an answer is awaited.