A CONSULTATION over proposals to reopen a Railway Village bus gate has been marred in confusion.

Swindon Borough Councils has mooted the change in a bid to ease traffic woes around Rodbourne and the Designer Outlet. They say opening the bus gate will allow drivers to more easily access the Bristol Street car park.

A consultation over the proposals was launched on Monday and is due to close on October 1. The council says no decision over the bus gate’s future will be made until all the comments submitted during the consultation period have been considered.

So the borough was confused to hear angry comments from South Swindon parish councillors this week, who claimed there had been no consultation over the axing of the bus gate.

Parish blasts consultation plans

Perhaps bamboozled by the wording of a public notice issued by the borough that they intended to make an 18-month experimental traffic order to suspend the Church Place bus gate, parish councillors were adamant there was no consultation.

Parish councillors backed a proposal from Coun Patrick Herring that the parish write to the borough to express their anger at what they said was a lack of consultation.

Coun Herring said council officers suggested in a report prepared for the cabinet meeting on September 5 that residents and businesses were consulted before the bus gate was reopened.

“They’ve implemented a major new traffic scheme for a fairly significant amount of time without asking the residents,” Coun Herring said.

Coun Chris Watts, chairman of the parish council, said: “It creates a dangerous precedent for any other consultation where they might decide to steam ahead and run a consultation alongside.”

Coun John Firmin said: “I think it’s a matter of principle. You’ve got to hold your ground on these things. We should have been consulted and we may well have supported it. There’s a pattern of behaviour and it doesn’t help the council.”

Coun Neil Hopkins added: “It’s par for the course with Swindon Borough Council. They pretend to consult and they do the reverse.”

'It's unfair - the parish has been informed'

A perplexed Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “Proposals to remove the Church Place bus gate to help alleviate congestion in the Rodbourne area have been in the public domain for the past five months, so it is unfair for certain members of South Swindon Parish Council to claim they haven’t been informed.

“The proposals were brought before cabinet on September 5 and the parish council was informed by email a week later, after the item had been discussed by the Scrutiny Committee, as procedure dictates.

“The removal of the bus gate is currently being consulted on and no decision will be made to remove it until after this period, which ends on Monday, October 1. It is also important to stress that this proposal was brought to us by the ward councillors for Mannington and Western.

"The parish council are themselves consultees and are welcome to comment on the proposals by logging on to our website.”

Q&A

Why is there a proposal to remove the bus gate?

It's part of proposals to ease traffic congestion around Rodbourne and the Designer Outlet. The council wants to make it easier for drivers to get into the Bristol Street car park.

The bus gate plans are just one small part of bigger plans, including making Rodbourne Road only accessible to residents and for shoppers when major events are held at the Steam Museum and outlet. Earlier this month, when the borough launched a consultation on the proposals, highways chief Maureen Penny said: “The congestion in Rodbourne is a concern for local residents and people who live in the town, which is why we are looking at things that we can do as a Council to try and improve things.

“The issue is that we have an incredibly successful shopping centre in the shape of the Designer Outlet which brings people from all over the region to our town. We need to work with the Outlet to address the car parking issues but, until a permanent solution can be found, we want to try out some changes to the road network which may bring some relief to those residents who are affected by congestion in the local area."

Why does the parish council think the bus gate has already been opened?

In fairness, a public notice uploaded to the Swindon Borough Council's website doesn't help things. It reads: "Notice is hereby given under the relevant sections of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 that the council proposes to make an experimental order for the duration of 18 months from September 24, 2018, to suspend the bus gate in Church Place, Swindon."

But the bus gate is still operational, right?

Yes, that's what the borough council says. So, if you try and drive through it today you'll be stung for a £60 fine (reduced to £30 if you pay up within 14 days).

How can I comment on the plans?

Visit: www.swindon.gov.uk/outletcentretrafficproposal.