News / Politics
‘We must tackle north Bristol transport issues now’
Metro mayor Tim Bowles has hit back at claims he is failing Bristol constituents on transport, saying it is his top priority.
This comes after two Labour MPs accused the Conservative politician of showing a lack of leadership over delivering essential links and tackling the increasing problems of congestion and gridlock across the city.
Bristol North West MP Darren Jones is calling for a £50m transport fund for his constituency and has organised a gridlock conference with the aim of taking a collaborative approach to addressing existing issues – but he said he is disappointed by Bowles’ “refusal to take part”.
is needed now More than ever
This comes a week after Karin Smyth, Bristol South MP, accused the West of England mayor of showing a “lack of leadership” by his inaction over delivering a vital MetroBus link between Ashton Vale and Hengrove.
Tim Bowles says transport is his top priority
Responding to criticism, a spokeswoman for Tim Bowles said: “Getting the region moving is a top priority for the West of England Authority (WECA) and the mayor – we’ve already invested millions into feasibility studies into new schemes to tackle congestion.”
She said that Bowles is working with all relevant councils, Government departments and transport networks to develop a plan for the future, but stated that the mayor is unavailable to attend the conference due to a long-standing commitment, adding that a number of alternative dates have been suggested.
Speaking ahead of July’s cross-party gridlock conference, Jones said: “North Bristol is undergoing intensive development, alongside a transport system and road network that is struggling to cope with current, let alone future, demands.
“Congestion is rife and it affects my constituents and local businesses every single day, not just in respect of travel time and parking, but also our continued failure to meet air pollution targets.
“Transport is the number one local concern in North Bristol and anyone who uses our roads, buses and limited local rail network knows our infrastructure can’t cope with proposed development of thousands of new homes and new businesses. Walking is often not safe and cycle routes are inadequate.
“With tens of thousands of new homes, plans to expand The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, the lifting of the tolls on the Severn Bridge (with no assessment of how many extra cars this will bring) and the potential for the Bristol Arena to move to North Bristol, we must get our transport solutions sorted now.”
The Brabazon Hangar at the former Filton airfield has been earmarked as a positive alternative location for the Bristol Arena
The MP says that if the long-awaited Bristol Arena is to be located in north Bristol, where private investment is available, it could unlock a spare £50m of Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) money currently earmarked for the project if it goes ahead at Temple Meads.
“For my North Bristol Transport Plan to work, we need a North Bristol Transport Fund. The LEP and the metro mayor have the ability to fund this, which is why I’m calling on them to get involved and to deliver for my constituents and for north Bristol,” continues Jones, adding: “In refusing to take part, Bowles is failing his constituents as well as mine.”
He claims that he has extended invites to a number of people in the WECA office, all of which have been declined.
The metro mayor’s office confirmed that if there is a request to change the funding allocation, it would need to go through the appropriate decision-making processes.
Read more: ‘We need to get our region moving’
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