A linear riverside park that will connect Bath’s green spaces with the city via a new walking and cycling route is set to be created by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
The Bath River Line project has been launched to develop a landscape masterplan for the park, which will follow a 10km stretch of the River Avon from Batheaston to Newbridge.
The park aims to reveal lesser-known parts of the river, connect communities and create a high-quality route for walking and cycling, encouraging more people to explore the city in a sustainable way.
Wildlife found along the river will be celebrated and protected by having their habitats improved.
The park will also provide areas where people can stop and enjoy the landscape, play spaces for children and spaces to celebrate the art and heritage of Bath.
The council is asking residents to visit the new Bath River Line website which features an interactive map, where people can share what they like and don’t like about the proposed route and submit their memories and photographs of the river.
Comments are invited before April 16 and will help inform the final design of the scheme.
In early summer, there will be a consultation on the final design and residents will be invited to have their say before a funding bid is made to the West of England Combined Authority in the autumn.
Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “Bath River Line is an exciting project that will revitalise the riverside and help tackle the climate emergency by encouraging more walking and cycling. It will celebrate and protect nature as well as our city’s heritage. We hope residents and visitors to Bath will discover on foot or by bike parts of the landscape they’ve never enjoyed before.
“To help get the final design right before our public consultation later this year, we would like to hear from you about how you use the area now and what you want to see there in the future. Please have a look at the interactive map and share your views.”
The idea for Bath River Line came from the WaterSpace Project, a collaboration between Bath & North East Somerset Council, the Canal and Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency and Wessex Water.
Published in 2017, the WaterSpace Study identified a series of projects to revitalise the River Avon and Kennet & Avon Canal waterways for people and nature. The River of Avon Park eventually became the Bath River Line: a linear riverside park for Bath. For more information on the WaterSpace Project and to read the original study, please click here.
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