Pic of the day.

Richard Wyatt

I am still angry about this.

Planning permission given to build houses on wooded land on the London Road and near the A46 roundabout.

Taking the slip road from the by-pass into Bath the construction work is all very obvious. It’s going to be an abrupt urban ‘hit’ on this traditionally gentle transfer from country to city entrance to Bath and – l ask only myself – why should anyone want to live so close to such a busy road system?

The ‘hypocrisy’ of protests against Lidl building on a green site, just a few plots down the London Road, when no audible or physical protest was seen or heard when this application came up before councillors.

Published by Richard Wyatt

Freelance Journalist, broadcaster, columnist and local historian. Director of Bath Newseum. Married and lives in Bath. Interested in local history, architecture and visual display in museums and urban spaces.

7 Comments

  1. Richard,
    So am I!! Lots of people write objections, including me. Not only has it harmed the setting of the World Heritage site, but the access is crazy. Housing trumps and we are in for more of the same. Please note – no social housing, which might have ant least helped.

  2. New housing is absolutely not needed in Bath where, in addition to huge developments along the river, there are hundreds of houses and flats lying empty within BANES. It is a popular misconception, doubtless fuelled by the construction industry, that there is a shortage of housing, whereas there is actually a shortage of ‘habitable housing’. Quite a different concept.
    Similarly, whilst we continue to waste energy on an epic scale, there is no excuse to build solar farms on productive greenfield sites – thus, perversely, increasing our carbon foot print on imported food. Once again, the idea that we need more energy has been manufactured by energy companies and scaremongers and has become a conduit for energy companies to build solar farms on the green belt under the aegis of being ‘community projects’.

  3. Richard, I’m 100% with you as regards the ‘hypocrisy’ of protests against the (eco friendly design) Lidl building on a green site, just a few plots down the London Road. These houses do not provide jobs for local people or affordable food to help with the cost of living crisis. So people from the east side of Bath will just continue to drive over to the Lidl on the Lower Bristol Road.

    1. I don’t imagine the charge of hypocrisy indicates support for Lidl which – like all supermarkets – would have destroyed many more jobs than it created. And Morrison’s is just down the road.

  4. This sort of development vandalism needs to be brought to the attention of those who rule on World Heritage status. One sometimes wonders how Bath ever manages to hang on to is place!

  5. Richard,
    Thank you for bringing this to the attention of others who read your site. As I mentioned in an email to you a few weeks ago, there cetainly seem to be double standards regarding the Lidl application and this application, nobody seemed to object to this, least of all the main protagonists of the Lidl objection.
    These new houses are cetainly not being built for the local community to buy, much too expensive, but I guess the application was passed without objection as they are supposedly “green & eco friendly”.
    How many cars will there be at each house, at least two I think! So much for reducing our carbon footprint and reducing the trafic on an already busy London Road.
    Surely, the Lidl application would have brought jobs to local residents, surely this is a good thing for the community?

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