A major conference in Bath next week will bring together experts to inform and inspire local politicians – and the public – to be ambitious in addressing the city’s transport challenges.
The conference will also be a neutral platform to allow Bath’s political groups to present their broad approach to the issue in anticipation of local elections next May.
Called The Future of Transport in Bath: Shaping & Delivering a City Transport Plan, the conference on Friday, November 16, is sponsored by Bath Alliance for Transport and Public Realm.
It is open free to the public but advance registration through eventbrite.com is required. It takes place between 8:30am and 1pm at The Assembly Rooms.
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse will open the event with remarks on the priority of addressing Bath’s transport issues.
The conference will be facilitated by Richard de Cani, director and head of planning at international design, engineering and planning consultancy Arup and a former director of planning and strategy at Transport for London.
He will also deliver the keynote speech on Urban Transport in 2018, a global review of best practice among large and small cities, and how the most successful are resolving their transport challenges.
Other guest urban transport experts will offer perspectives and lessons to learn from transport challenges for local authorities, including Nick Lester-Davis, a consultant and former director of transport for London Councils, James Freeman, managing director of First West of England and Ian Stokes, head of transport strategy at City of York Council. Following their speeches, they will form a discussion panel to consider the question of whether Bath can resolve its transport issues?
The second part of the conference will serve as a neutral platform to allow each of the five Bath political groups to present their 2019 transport previews, an early opportunity to hear how the city’s political groups are developing their transport proposals in preparation for the May 2019 local elections.
Following each conference speaker there will be a Q&A session, allowing members of the public to participate, question and scrutinise.
The sponsors are preparing for up to 200 registered attendees at the conference to include invited guests, Bath politicians, stakeholders of the Alliance members, other members of the public and the media.
Registration is available through eventbrite.com (The Future of Transport in Bath).
The Alliance is an informal joining up of 21 major Bath organisations to create a unified voice for the vast majority of Bath stakeholders with vital interests in excellent transport and public realm.
Its transport Vision for Bath states it can be “a beautiful city in a green setting with vibrant public spaces, a historic centre free of all but essential traffic, clean air, good mobility and excellent transport infrastructure.”
Among the Alliance’s members are Bath Bid, Bath Rugby, Bath Preservation Trust, Wessex Water, Stay in Bath and the University of Bath.
