Yesterday I “turned activist” and supported a group of “Farrington Link” campaigners delivering a petition to the
Bath & North East Somerset Council offices in Midsomer Norton.
First, a bit of background:
“Farrington Link” is a group of
Farrington Gurney villagers and supporters campaigning to create better transport links between the village and the nearby conurbation of
Midsomer Norton and Radstock, barely 2 miles away.
Currently the only practical way out of Farrington Gurney is by car.
The A362 road between the two places is a busy country road with no continuous footway so walking is not an option.
For experienced cyclists the A362 is manageable but for new cyclists, the nervous and the young it’s not a pleasant place to be. The road is the main link between the A37/A39 Bristol to South Coast route and the Midsomer Norton and Radstock area. Thus there is a fair amount of heavy traffic most times of the day.
Amazingly there is no regular bus route. If you want to go to Bristol, Wells or Yeovil there is a regular service along the A37/A39, but nothing to the shops and other facilities at Midsomer Norton/Radstock. Attempts by local activists to get the local alleged bus company – "WorstBus" (they prefer the title "FirstBus) - to put on a connecting service between the towns have fallen on deaf ears. Which is a shame, because not only would a service provide a useful service for Farrington Gurney residents, but would provide Midsomer Norton-Radstock residents with a fast route to Bristol. Sounds like a no-brainer, but no. The usual suspects – the out of touch car-centric administration – must assume that “everybody drives” so they also assume that there would be no demand for such a service.
So, for all intents and purposes, if you don’t have access to a car and live in Farrington Gurney then you are effectively trapped in the village.
Once upon a time, in a more civilised age before the Great Car Infestation destroyed “society”, trains ran through Farrington Gurney on the
Bristol & North Somerset Railway between Frome and Bristol. Needless to say, the trains and the track are long gone, but the trackbed is reasonably intact.
Cyclepath!
Part of the old Bristol and North Somerset Railway trackbed already carries a substantial length of multi-use path between
Great Elm, near
Frome, through Radstock, to Northmead Road, Midsomer Norton on what is now known as the “Norton-Radstock Greenway” and the “
Colliers Way”. So, converting the old trackbed from Farrington to link with the end of the Greenway at Northmead Road must be another no-brainer. The local Tesco, which lies alongside the trackbed between Farrington and ‘Norton, has already put up £40,000 towards building the path, so there’s already money in the kitty.
But, of course, there are “land ownership issues”. When the railway was closed it was flogged off in various little bits to various people. Forty years on it seems to be a problem finding out who owns what, and of those who are known some don’t want a degrading psycle path on their land. But, I’m told, negotiations are proceeding. As always in these things, visible progress is glacial in pace.
Then there’s the dead hand of Bath & North East Somerset Council (motto: “Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work and visit.”).
When the “Farrington Link” was first mooted, the first thing that the Suits in the Ivory Tower came up with was that if the cycle route was built they would take away the school buses. The school buses only operate because there is no way for kids to get to school in Midsomer Norton under their own steam. Good move, eh. That should split opinions in the village and kill the cyclepath scheme. They thought. (If, indeed, suits in ivory towers actually do think, of course).
Anyway, back to yesterday’s little demo.
The ringleaders of the group had got up a couple of petitions – one supporting the cyclepath project and the other supporting a new bus link.
The plan was to run a little publicity stunt and take the petitions by bicycle from Farrington Gurney to Midsomer Norton along the main road. Appeals were made for folk to turn up on their bikes on Thursday morning to join the short ride Midsomer Norton, and for non-bike riders to drive in and meet up at the Council Offices. The local councillor was asked to be involved, but he declined the invitation declaring that he was already talking to “the people that matter”. Perhaps he will be reassessing just who “matters” come the elections. Too late. Damage done. (Typical head-in-clouds Tory. Much the same as pseudo-tory Nulabour. Who says we don’t live in a one-party state?).
Just four of us assembled at the Memorial Hall at Farrington Gurney on a drizzly Thursday morning for the planned photo-call with the photographer from the
Somerset Guardian. Three villagers, plus myself who had trundled out from Radstock to meet them.
I wish now that I had taken some on bike pictures to show here how our little group fared on the A362. It showed the typical brain-dead Brit motorist at his and her most typical. The road to Midsomer Norton is narrow and winding but has to handle everything up to 44 tonne artics. We had the usual 4x4 Neanderthals and BMW driving death-wish merchants and all the rest of the fossil fuelled lemmings risking all to get past us to get to the back of the next traffic queue as quickly as possible. Quite why they need to do that, I’ll never understand. But thanks to the handful of drivers who were patient and respectful to other road users. You know who you are. We smiled and waved when you went by…
Arriving at Midsomer Norton unscathed we met up with the others and went into the reception area to undertake the PREARRANGED handover of the petitions.
However, nobody wanted to see us. The person whom we were supposed to meet decided to be “too busy” (11.30 – coffee and fag time). The receptionist didn’t want to accept the petition on their behalf and turned quite hostile when pressed. Fish eye stares was the best we got.
Thanks for nothing, B&NES people. Doing your best to make Bath & North East Somerset fit to live, work and visit?
Perhaps, if a B&NES drone happens upon this blog there might be “good reasons” offered as to why a group of people who help to pay their wages were treated so shabbily.
Maybe even apologies made?
Excuses for bad manners, even?
Tough shit.
The damage is done.