New Sydney Place
Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN)
In January 2021, the council invited applications to be made for the Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) scheme, as part of the LTN strategy (PDF) published in 2020. The application made by New Sydney Place Action Group was one of 15 selected to become part of the Liveable Neighbourhoods project (B&NES), with 28 applications having been received in total.
B&NES published the results of the Liveable Neighbourhoods consultation in February 2022, having received an overall positive response with especially strong support from our area.
In July 2022, a co-design workshop provided an opportunity for the community to discuss ideas and develop plans for a more inclusive and accessible neighbourhood.
Due to the strong support for tackling through traffic, the council announced in November 2023 (B&NES) that a through traffic restriction trial would be put in place on Sydney Road (at its junction with New Sydney Place) for a minimum of six months ahead of the wider programme.
Based on consultation feedback and monitoring of traffic and air quality on all impacted roads, it was concluded that the “benefits of this scheme outweigh any disbenefits” and the decision was taken in February 2025 to make the through traffic restriction permanent.
21-days’ notice of the formal traffic regulation to achieve this was given on 3 July 2025, and the associated consultation is currently inviting representations of objection or support.
The detailed measures proposed can now be viewed on the New Sydney Place and Sydney Road LN page (B&NES). These include the trialled through traffic restriction and improvements to the junctions with the A36 on either end of the LN.
Construction of the permanent through traffic restriction and continuous pavement at the junction with Darlington Street is scheduled for Spring 2026. Construction of the new junction design with Warminster Road and North Road is planned for 2027, together with further measures proposed under the Bath Walking Wheeling and Cycling Links scheme.
Last updated in July 2025
In July 2022, a co-design workshop provided an opportunity for the community to discuss ideas and develop plans for a more inclusive and accessible neighbourhood.
Due to the strong support for tackling through traffic, the council announced in November 2023 (B&NES) that a through traffic restriction trial would be put in place on Sydney Road (at its junction with New Sydney Place) for a minimum of six months ahead of the wider programme.
Based on consultation feedback and monitoring of traffic and air quality on all impacted roads, it was concluded that the “benefits of this scheme outweigh any disbenefits” and the decision was taken in February 2025 to make the through traffic restriction permanent.
21-days’ notice of the formal traffic regulation to achieve this was given on 3 July 2025, and the associated consultation is currently inviting representations of objection or support.
The detailed measures proposed can now be viewed on the New Sydney Place and Sydney Road LN page (B&NES). These include the trialled through traffic restriction and improvements to the junctions with the A36 on either end of the LN.
Construction of the permanent through traffic restriction and continuous pavement at the junction with Darlington Street is scheduled for Spring 2026. Construction of the new junction design with Warminster Road and North Road is planned for 2027, together with further measures proposed under the Bath Walking Wheeling and Cycling Links scheme.
Last updated in July 2025
What is an LTN?
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are being successfully introduced both across the UK and abroad as a means of tackling traffic issues in communities.
They are typically considered in predominately residential areas, where several streets are grouped and organised in a way to discourage motorised through-traffic or “rat-running”.
Importantly, residents remain able to drive on their streets, park on their streets and receive deliveries although it is noted that strategies should be in place to help reduce car ownership and usage by residents within any Low Traffic Neighbourhood area.
A Low Traffic Neighbourhood also includes the introduction of a number of measures to encourage non-local traffic to use main roads (those used by LGVs, HGVs, buses and general traffic) by making it more difficult to drive directly between main roads, on what are often deemed unsuitable roads.
Source: LTN strategy, B&NES council
Objectives for an LTN
The vision is to create better places across B&NES that promote active travel and public transport use, improve community health and reduce the need for short car journeys.
- Improve air quality and respond to the climate emergency.
- Improve public realm and quality of life, creating better places for residents, businesses and visitors, as well as sympathetically accommodating emerging EV infrastructure requirements.
- Enable more local trips by active modes of travel and public transport, through providing easy, safe and comfortable routes within neighbourhoods in line with the wider public health outcomes.
- Reduce the impact of “rat-running†vehicles along unsuitable residential roads, to support prosperity and improve community connectivity, whilst safeguarding access for residents and the needs of mobility-impaired people.
Source: LTN strategy, B&NES council
Why a New Sydney Place LTN?
The proposed New Sydney Place LTN meets the key principles set out in B&NES LTN Strategy document as follows:
- The proposed New Sydney Place LTN is located in a residential area and is bordered by a main road.
- New Sydney Place is in very close proximity to several tourist attractions and heritage assets, including Sydney Gardens, The Holburne Museum, and the Kennet and Avon Canal.
- The proposed LTN would allow New Sydney Place to become seamlessly integrated with Sydney Gardens, as was the original intention when the terrace was built in 1808.
- Ongoing traffic-related problems in the area include rat-running (increasing numbers of vehicles using Sydney Road and not the main A36) and non-compliance with the 20mph speed limit and the 7.5-tonne weight limit.
- Vehicles operating in excess of the weight limit have been found to directly cause significant damage to infrastructures and heritage assets including Grade I listed residences, partly due to the unusual height of the vaulted Georgian structures beneath the westbound carriageway.
- There is currently a lack of safe crossing points for pedestrians, and the pavements outside Sydney Gardens and near the railway bridge are very narrow. Pedestrians and cyclists are under threat from the proximity and speed of vehicles.
- The argument to be included in Bath’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) was successfully won because the level of risk to health and well-being in the area was considered unacceptable, but these issues will not be addressed solely through the CAZ implementation as it excludes privately-owned diesel cars.
To find the full application document for the New Sydney Place LTN, please click here.
Advice on planning an LTN
B&NES policy recommends that:
- Low Traffic Neighbourhoods should be considered, designed and implemented specifically for the local area and respond to local problems, issues and opportunities.
- Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are not about rewarding one group of people while punishing another, but about making long-term decisions about how people travel by delivering safer environments for people to travel by a range of sustainable modes.
- It is important that during the development of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, cognisance of the location and heritage of the neighbourhood is considered, particularly in the selection of interventions and materials.
Specifically, we are reminded that:
“Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, whilst primarily focused on the reduction of vehicle intrusion within an area, are only effective if they also encourage residents within and between those neighbourhoods to consider active travel opportunities, reduce congestion on roads, improve connectivity and make the local environment safer and more attractive for journeys on foot, bike or public transport.”
Source: LTN strategy, B&NES council
Possible infrastructures
The types of infrastructure and traffic management controls typically used in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods do not stop residents from being able to access their homes, nor delivery and service vehicles accessing dwellings and businesses when required.
It is however likely to mean a slightly more indirect route if travelling by car, as the interventions make it more difficult to drive straight through from one main road to the next (and in so doing, encourage non-essential traffic to use more appropriate routes).
Interventions can be implemented on a trial or permanent basis, with changes including:
- Modal filters partial or full road closures, implementation of bus gates or carriageway width restrictions (i.e. width gates).
- Active mode promotion reallocation of road space or on-street parking (secure with rentable spaces) to improve pedestrian and cycle infrastructure, change in priorities at junctions to provide better crossings.
- Cycle storage it is proposed to roll out the delivery of on-street cycle hangers to enable people living in flats to store cycles conveniently and securely. This will help to promote sustainable travel and aid the delivery of liveable neighbourhoods.
- Public realm improvements reclamation of space following implementation of modal filters and width gates can enable development of options such as parklets, build-outs, tree planting.
- Encouragement towards low emission vehicles through incorporation of EV charging points within Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (making use of reclaimed road space).
Source: LTN strategy, B&NES council
Links
What is a Liveable Neighbourhood? (B&NES)
Waltham Forest LN example (YouTube)
Department for Transport strategy paper, 2020
Low Traffic Neighbourhood Strategy, B&NES council, 2020
B&NES Council Cabinet decision on Liveable Neighbourhoods, June 2021
Liveable Neighbourhoods consultation report, February 2022
New Sydney Place LN page (B&NES)
Project development timeline (B&NES)
Through traffic restriction trial press release, November 2023 (B&NES)
Contact us