Six candidates for the mayoral elections, including all those with the highest odds of winning, have endorsed the Living Heart declaration of principles, which aims to improve the environment of central Bristol by removing through traffic, whilst retaining access for all:
- Tom Baldwin, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
- Kay Barnard, Liberal Democrat
- Tony Dyer, Green Party
- George Ferguson, Independent
- Charles Lucas, Conservative
- Marvin Rees, Labour
These principles also form part of Bristol’s Good Transport Plan (Objective 5). The Living Heart has worked with the current Mayor, councillors and council officers to forward these principles in recent years. There have been moves to implement them (e.g. in Corn Street) but progress has been slowed by a range of problems unrelated to the proposals themselves (see example). The current Mayor, George Ferguson, said:
“My objective is to make the centre and old part of Bristol car free and some of the surrounding areas low emission zones. Low emission zones will help but if we are serious about reducing traffic flows we need a city centre that only allows 0 emission vehicles to access.”
The Labour candidate, Marvin Rees, said:
“I am very happy to sign up to this declaration. I look forward to putting in place a plan to deliver this.”
Spokesman for the Living Heart, Steve Melia, said:
“We are delighted that the Living Heart principles have been supported by such a wide range of candidates. These issues are not party political; they are about improving central Bristol for everyone who lives, works, shops or spends leisure time in the city centre. Remember the removal of the dual carriageway from Queen Square and College Green? That’s the sort of thing we want to see more of. Removing through traffic is always controversial; as we have found in recent years, the devil is often in the detail. But there are many ways it can be done, as shown by our neighbours in Bath and many other cities around Britain and Europe#. We don’t underestimate the challenges but with this support from all the main candidates, we are confident that it can and will be made to happen.”
Ciaran Mundy of Transition Bristol (a member organisation of the Living Heart) said:
“the Living Heart principles are based on a simple idea that people’s physical health and happiness should be paramount. Removing the high volumes of through traffic emitting dangerous fumes and ruining enjoyment of public space in central Bristol is essential. I’m relieved to hear all main candidates for Mayor agree with that. It has been on the agenda for many years, many people have suffered and some have died through the lack of action. We want the next mayor to stick to these principles so people in Bristol have a fabulous city centre everyone can enjoy.”
