![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_BRI_PG_020625barton_hill-27.jpg\")
Two enforcement East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood bus gate cameras vandalised with spray paint over the lenses in Barton Hill(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\nThe start of the trial has been repeatedly delayedTwo enforcement East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood bus gate cameras vandalised with spray paint over the lenses in Barton Hill(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n
The controversial bus gates that form the last part of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood went \u2018live\u2019 yesterday – but one enforcement camera had already been vandalised before it even went operational.<\/p>\n
The camera lens screen on at least two of the bus gate cameras installed by Bristol City Council<\/a> were sprayed over with black spray paint over the weekend, ahead of the switch-on on Monday morning, which formally started the Liveable Neighbourhood pilot scheme.<\/p>\n The bus gates have been installed on Marsh Lane and Avonvale Road in Barton Hill. The gates allow bus drivers running a new bus service, motorbike riders, taxi drivers, cyclists and local drivers who have been given exemptions to pass through, but other drivers of motor vehicles could face being fined for breaching the gates.<\/p>\n The gates are the final part of the Liveable Neighbourhood measures to be installed. Across Barton Hill, Redfield and into parts of St George, different zones have been created with \u2018modal filters\u2019 – at the moment temporary planters that allow cyclists, bike riders and pedestrians through but prevent motor vehicle drivers – to redirect traffic onto main roads.<\/p>\n On Monday morning, a group of residents in Barton Hill who have been opposing the implementation of the Liveable Neighbourhood measures – particularly the bus gates on Avonvale Road – gathered on the junction to protest again.<\/p>\n Last week, new signs marking the presence of a bus gate were also vandalised with ‘No poor people allowed’ <\/a>sprayed across them on Avonvale Road, but by the weekend these had been cleaned up and replaced by Bristol City Council.<\/p>\n Bristol City Council declined to comment on the vandalism, and instead directed Bristol Live to comments from Cllr Heather Mack, the deputy leader of Bristol City Council, who said she understood that the changes might be a challenge for some.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no doubt that for many people it will be a big change,\u201d she said. \u201cWe hope that, in combination with the other trial measures, the bus gates will help to make the streets safer and less polluted. By stopping drivers from cutting through residential roads, and by encouraging more people to walk, wheel and cycle for shorter journeys or to use public transport, including the new number 16 bus that goes right through the trial area, local residential streets should be safer and quieter,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cOn top of authorised vehicles, there are a number of other vehicles that can apply for a trial area bus gate exemption, including blue badge holders and people on a low income who need to travel for work who live within the Liveable Neighbourhood boundary.<\/p>\n READ MORE: New bus gate signs in Barton Hill already vandalised ahead of Liveable Neighbourhood launch<\/a>READ MORE: Anger over new bus gates as residents in Bristol suburb say council has ‘failed in duty of care’<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI live in the area myself, and I came and listened to people across the trial area and recognised there was a risk we hadn\u2019t responded to concerns some community members had, especially those on low incomes and disabled people.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, we have put together a boosted range of travel offers and bus gate exemptions, and I really urge everyone who thinks they could be eligible to check the criteria and apply as soon as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cThe travel offers, which include a choice of \u00a3250 of First Bus tickets or \u00a3150 to spend on a reconditioned bike, are available for households in the trial area who receive certain benefits. This is on top of \u00a3100 of First Bus tickets that every household across the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood will receive through the post soon.<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t want anyone to miss out, so please do check if you could apply for one of these boosted offers or a bus gate exemption,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The start of the trial has been repeatedly delayedTwo enforcement East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood bus gate cameras vandalised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[10295,381,3893,748,10296,393,728,4884,16726,10297,10298,9731,1263,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-155131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-barton-hill","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-bristol-city-council","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-east-bristol","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-environment","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-lawrence-hill","17":"tag-redfield","18":"tag-st-george","19":"tag-traffic-travel","20":"tag-transport","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114620179724170881","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_BRI_PG_020625barton_hill-22.jpg\")
East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_BRI_PG_020625barton_hill-57.jpg\")
A group of residents in Barton Hill who are opposing the pilot East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood project (Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n