BoA2026
Roadmap for a sustainable future
It’s your town and your future … so here’s a way we could all work together …
BoA2026 is the first step in agreeing a shared plan for the sustainable development of our town. We want people of all ages to help shape how Bradford on Avon works, looks and feels in the years ahead.
First, we need to build a framework and process to ensure that the level of distrust and antagonism that was witnessed over the footbridge is not repeated. Bradford on Avon is at a new stage in its own long history, but, in common with small towns throughout England, it also faces a number of fundamental challenges. Working together to a set of common aims, we should be capable of facing the challenges and setting a strong course to the future.
You can read the complete report in a low-resolution version here (2Mb). A high resolution version (55Mb) can be obtained by request, using the form below.
The consultation that has led to this draft Report proposes how we can give ourselves the tools to do the job. We hope it will provide a platform from which the town’s people will be motivated, mobilised and engaged to create a future that the town wants and deserves. From a planning perspective, we may need to seek specific planning tools for specific aspects of the plan of action, such as Supplementary Planning Documents, Development Plan Documents, Development Briefs and/or a Neighbourhood Plan. Decisions on those will be made in due course.
- The draft Report recommends the creation of two elements:THE 2026 MOMENTUM GROUP will bring together groups, societies, individuals and town institutions through an initiative to harness the creative and passionate thinking that is such a characteristic of the town – and to find consensus over the selection of projects for the future.
- THE BoA2026 WEBSITE will act as host to future workstreams and projects – allowing public and open access to all relevant documents, reports etc. Crucially, this will enable people to engage in ways that suit their own availability and inclination. It should make it easier for people to get involved who, for whatever reason, do not choose to be involved through existing groups. It should allow for a more democratic and inclusive approach.
A first meeting of the Momentum Group will be held on 27 April at 4pm. If you would like to attend, please contact us by using the form below. Further details will be given on this website, www.bradfordonavontowncouncil.gov.uk, www.boadevelopmenttrust.org.uk, and the community website www.bradfordonavon.com.
BoA2026 is a partnership between Bradford on Avon Town Council, Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon and the Bradford on Avon Development Trust, which is responsible for managing the events. The cost of BoA2026 has been met by Wiltshire Council’s Bradford on Avon Community Area Board, the Mid Wiltshire Economic Partnership (through WestWilts Enterprise Ltd), Bradford on Avon Town Council and the Bradford on Avon Development Trust.
10 Responses to “It’s your town and your future … so here’s a way we could all work together …”
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You can download a low resolution copy of the B0A2026 draft from the Home page. Please have a read and then let us have any comments, by clicking on the Home page.
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The Street scene is an on going battle with the Public that drop litter and clutter up parts of the town with waste bins, black bags and cardboard . The Wiltshire Council do collect and clean on a rota basis but surely it is up to us as members of the Public to do our part and not leave everything to the Councils. How about being involved in a TIDY UP BRADFORD ACTIVE CAMPAIGN A DO NOT TALK CAMPAIGN. Encourage all your friends and neighbours to get involved – eg regularly sweep up outside their own house and lend a hand in public places. A lot is down to either general apathy or bystander apathy. The Council cannot do everything without involved public support.
Town Councillors are voluntary and give their time free of charge (many are also regular litter pickers). It is public support that helps Councils to achieve. The Town Council are regularly in contact with Wiltshire Council and British Waterways about grot spots and the enforcement officers with regard to the abundance of shop advertising boards.
Somewhere in all this I saw a comment that Wiltshire Council won’t fund a bypass because they don’t see BOA as a main traffic route (?!). Have they SEEN the amount of traffic that comes through here?!?! If we can’t have a bypass because of the concommitant increase in town size (and I’m not sure that I entirely follow or agree with this argument!) then it’s is time we took measures to actively discourage high traffic volumes through town. Tollgates, chicanes, barriers, a complete ban on through traffic by non-residents, a SENSIBLE one-way system, complete or partial pedestrianisation of the centre. None of these would cost as much as a bypass and the town would remain the size it is now.
I feel as if i have just returned to Earth from a long trip to another planet! I live in BOA on the Winsley Road. I have a life, various interests and a disabled spouse to care for but I am still amazed and somewhat miffed (to put it mildly) that here we are in September and I have only just got wind of this ‘consultation’ by picking up a July edition of ‘The Gudgeon’. Was it publicised at all?! In the 1980s when I first came to live in BOA there was a Draft Local Plan and public consultation and every household received notification – this time, nothing.
Up here on the Bath side of town we never hear what is going on ‘down below’. For a while I had an agreement with the lady who runs the Library that she would ring me when there were public notices of any sort, I would go down and collect it/them and take them to Stone’s shop for display. Alas this no longer happens, since the Co-op took over the shop (?) or has there been a change at the Library?
If you want the inhabitants to talk to you you must talk to the inhabitants!
I would question the use of the word ‘blight’, which is far too dramatic for BoA. The town thrives, and people want to live and shop here. However, it is undoubtedly true that most of our problems are visited upon us from outside; Kingston Mills and traffic are two that spring to mind. The former because the town is not designed to cope with the influx of traffic that will follow upon the estate’s completion; the latter because we are powerless to do anything about it except complain. The Town Council should press for the re-adoption of the A363 as a trunk road, because that is what it is in all but name. The HCZ seems an excuse to defer essential road maintenance and, since the Highways Department insist that it must not impede the flow of traffic, will contribute very little to the quality of life of those who live and work here.
Wiltshire Scullers is a democratised junior rowing and sculling club with the support of the 8 west wilts heads and the county youth service. We are looking for freehold facilities on the avon stretch between bradford and staverton so that the club can develop and believe this should be considered in any open space requirement for major planning applications.
I’m actively involved in two local groups that are focussed on links outside Bradford, the French Twinning and the Fairtrade Town group, and I would like to highlight the contribution of both.
We were one of the first to become a Fairtrade town and this idea, which is basically about using local pride and community involvement to encourage retailers to extend their Fairtrade range, has now spread to over 500 UK towns. Having been a Fairtrade Town for eight years says a lot about the nature of Bradford, which has a strong identity as an ethical shopping centre and a large number of people who care about justice and fairness for people in poorer countries.
Twinning has created friendship and understanding between people of different countries and cultures over many years, and also contributes to tourism and student visits. The recent celebration of the 20th anniversary of the French Twinning was a big civic event in Sully-sur-Loire and well supported by our Town Council, who also initiated naming streets in Kingston Mills after our French and German twin towns.
I think the success of both Fairtrade and Twinning in Bradford show that the town is outward-looking and a vibrant community, but both groups could do a lot more if they had more funding and supporters. My wish for the future is that both groups become more integrated in the town’s development, build on their success and extend their activities
Why do you take so long to carry out “moderation” ?? It’s yet another sign of what an inept organisation you are! You invite comments but seem to have no mechanism for dealing promptly with the comments you receive. As I said in my original comment – let’s save some money by getting rid of ineffective and inefficient outfits like this one!
Thank you for both of your comments, George – the first received just before 8pm yesterday. I apologise for not moderating these until now, Sunday evening. To address your earlier comments, if I may. First of all, you ask what “a shared plan for sustainable development” means. Our town has been blighted for almost 20 years because of the closure of Kingston Mills in 1994. Partly as a result of the delay in getting a resolution of that site, and partly because of a lack of planning guidance over the future of the town centre, a wide range of developments took place that caused further damage to the town, including the almost total loss of non-retail employment. The blight also resulted in no efforts being taken to resolve some of the traffic problems in the town. With the Government’s Localism Bill expected to be enacted by the end of the year, it has become clear to communities across the country that the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan is essential if unwelcome developments are to be avoided in the years ahead. BoA2026 is the first step in this process. Wiltshire Council are currently consulting on a Core Strategy that sets the framework for housing and employment development over the next 15 years. But the Core Strategy does not go into a great deal of detail, precisely because of the expectation that towns and villages will develop their own Neighbourhood Plans. I would also add that, with the Kingston Mills site nearing completion, now is a good time to get some new creative thinking in the town. There are plenty of challenges facing Bradford on Avon: traffic, of course, but also how we can boost employment in the town, provide better leisure facilities, help meet climate change… And we need to involve younger families in the way the town evolves – it’s their future and they have some great ideas. So BoA2026 is the first step in this process.
As far as who is ‘promoting’ this exercise, BoA2026 has been initiated by the Development Trust. Climate Friendly BoA and the Town Council are partners. The fact that this is not on the website was a mistake on my part, which has now been rectified. The details are shown, however, on the cards that are available around town, and is noted in the 4pp insert to this month’s issue of The Gudgeon. So no mystery. Nor is there any mystery over the cost, since half of the cost has been met by Wiltshire Council’s Area Board and was discussed in open meetings earlier this year. More than a third of the cost has been provided by the Mid Wiltshire Economic Partnership, withe the balance provided by the Development Trust, using part of its 2001-12 grant from the Town Council. So nothing has been hidden.
Not surprisingly, I am disappointed by the anger of your comments. I would just ask you, therefore, to reserve your criticism until you have seen what comes out of this exercise. We are having a workshop involving a broad range of stakeholders on Friday, followed by an open day on Saturday in St Margaret’s Hall. There will then be a public meeting with a report on what we have achieved on 28 July, also in St Margaret’s Hall, at 7pm. I hope to see you there. Gerald Milward-Oliver.
This is a meaningless exercise – what a waste of money at a time when we are all under financial pressure! What on earth do phrases like ” a shared plan for sustainable development mean” ? It seems to be yet another pointless exercise dreamed up by our Town Council and their consultants. One really useful change in Bradford on Avon would be to get rid of a Town Counciul that is incompetent and ineffective, that is obsesssed with its “grand plans” like the town bridge but forgets all about everyday problems like dirty scruffy streets and rubbish lying about for days on end.
Whatever does the question about reducing our impact on the environment mean? What impact does Bradford on Avon currently have on “the environment” ? Unless the promoters of this exercise can give some proper data then it’s very difficult to engage in any sort of useful and meaningful debate about how we change our impact!
Interestingly this website gives no information about who “owns” it, who is promoting this useless exercise, how much it is costing or how it’s being paid for! I suspect that the answer to the last question is that we, the town’s people, are paying for it but I don’t remember being asked whether I wanted my money to be spent on silly games like this. One of the ways to contribute to the overall savings that the Government requires Local Authorities to make would be to get rid of the people that promote exercises like this.
George Lunt
15 Woolley Street
Bradford on Avon
Given the transport problems and lack of suitable sites for industry it would appear that the town has reached its maximum viable size and, therefore, no further expansionshould be permitted outside its boundaries.
If people who are not already resident here wish to come to live in the town then market forces should determine whether or not they are successful.
There seems to be a perception that being a domitory town is unacceptable, but this, in effect, is what Bradford has been since Spencer Moulton’s factory closed, and, in my opinion, this is part of its charm and is no bad thing.