NORTH East Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has urged the government to axe the funding for new liveable neighbourhoods in Bath as he clashed with the city’s MP in Parliament.

Liberal Democrat-run Bath and North East Somerset Council is rolling out a programme of liveable neighbourhoods, restricting streets to through traffic to make them safer and more pleasant environments.

Three are permanently in place with a fourth in place on a trial basis and three more roads are set to be closed to through-traffic under the programme in July.

In a debate over LTNs triggered by a petition in Westminster Hall on Monday, May 20, Bath MP Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat) praised the council for being “very brave” in rolling them out.

She said: “In many of our local councils, low-traffic neighbourhoods have become very contentious — with both opposition and support.

“The term LTN is new, the concept is not. The planning principles of LTNs have been used in street design since at least the 1960s. The concept has suddenly become controversial because of the motives of such LTNs, such as reducing traffic and encouraging active travel, and it is at odds with the government’s new-found pro-driver policy.”

Ms Hobhouse said there were “legitimate concerns” about accessibility for disabled people which could be addressed through making sure LTNs are accessible with transport solutions.

But Sir Rees-Mogg (Conservative) warned that the schemes in Bath were having an impact on his constituents.

He said: “The anti-car policies that are being introduced have a big effect on people living in rural areas. Because they affect them as they try to go about their business without the concomitant benefits. It doesn’t help you if you live in a rural area that an LTN comes in in a city that you need to go through, or that you wish to do business in.

“The self-same council that is keen on these low-traffic neighbourhoods has cut the buses in my constituency. They have kept most of them in Bath, but the ones in the rural areas, they have cut like the billy-o.”

In 2023, villages across huge parts of rural North East Somerset were left without any buses after their publicly-supported bus services were cut. Bath and North East Somerset Council and Ms Hobhouse maintain that the West of England Combined Authority is responsible for the cuts, but West of England’s Labour Metro Mayor Dan Norris said it was because the council froze the levy it pays to commission the buses at a time of high inflation in the sector.

Instead of local buses, Mr Rees-Mogg said it was LTNs which should lose their funding. Addressing Guy Opperman, the minister for roads and local transport, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “I would encourage my honourable friend the minister to take away the funding from these schemes.”

The scheme at Sydney Place, which is in place on a trial basis, has seen bollards installed across the end of Sydney Road to prevent motorists heading down Warminster Road from using the road to avoid the traffic on Beckford Road.