The march on Thursday evening (February 5) began at Aldi at the Ashton Gate end of North Street, and went along North Street – which will be designated as a main road to take even more traffic from side roads – before heading into the city centre and the council offices on College Green.<\/p>\n
The marchers grew in number as they headed east in the rain, buoyed by the supporting beeps of passing motorists, and applause from shopkeepers in the stores along North Street.<\/p>\n
At City Hall, they were told a decision on the final plans for the SBLN won\u2019t be made until September, and Bristol City Council<\/a> is pressing ahead with plans to divide Southville up into traffic zones with modal filters, create one-way systems around Pylle Hill in Totterdown and impose residents\u2019 parking schemes across Bedminster.<\/p>\n The aim is to stop drivers cutting through residential roads, although many locals say this isn\u2019t an issue where they live.<\/p>\n The marchers were heading to the council\u2019s transport policy committee, where they saw councillors vote to approve spending an extra \u00a31.32 million on writing up the full business case. Council staff are carrying out more detailed design work, after hearing extensive feedback from local residents about the comprehensive road changes.<\/p>\n Elizabeth Newton, a Southville resident who organised the march, told the councillors: \u201cWe are already a neighbourhood who is active. People who can already walk and cycle, even in this morning\u2019s drizzle. We can\u2019t see that there is a problem that needs solving by blocking off our roads. We don\u2019t want our neighbourhood divided up.\u201d<\/p>\n Residents of Southville march from Aldi at Ashton Gate to City Hall in protest at plans for the ‘South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood’, on Thursday, February 5, 2026(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n Earlier, on North Street, she and her neighbours think the SBLN proposals are the wrong solution. \u201cWe do not want our area cut up,\u201d she said. \u201cWe do not feel there is a need for it, and so we are opposing it.<\/p>\n \u201cFirstly, I don\u2019t think there is a problem here, but secondly, I just don\u2019t think there is a need to divide our area up and to push us out onto what they are calling \u2018connector roads\u2019. We\u2019ve just walked along North Street, prior to that there were loads of secondary school kids walking down there, there are primary schools along there – this is where the traffic is going to be pushed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s already busy – there\u2019s going to be more traffic and more pollution. This is not solving what is wanted. People were asked in 2024 what the problems were, and cycling was an issue that they raised, but this is not going to make it safer for cyclists on North Street or on Coronation Road, which is our other main connector road,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Woman who tried to save cyclist launches petition for better road safety<\/a>READ MORE: Fire crews delayed reaching emergencies within East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood<\/a><\/p>\n The recent fatality on North Street, which saw keen cyclist Alan Hydes tragically killed by an alleged hit-and-run driver in January, looms large over the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood, and at City Hall.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how North Street will feature in the final plans, but this could include new trees, benches and wider pavements.<\/p>\n \u201cThe recent death of an experienced cyclist on North Street has shaken my community,\u201d said Amanda Edmondson, one local resident, at the council meeting. \u201cIt could have been me or anyone who that tragic incident happened to that day. I have an 80-year-old neighbour who walks daily to North Street. She’s now terrified of going there, despite needing to, to do her shopping.<\/p>\n Protestors against the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood scheme arrive at City Hall in Bristol tonight, Thursday 5 February 2026 after a march starting from Southville.(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach Plc)<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea that Bedminster is already a low-traffic neighbourhood is far from the truth. I\u2019ve been previously hit and injured by a car on North Street. North Street has no cycle provision, the pavements are narrow, crossing points far and few between, few dropped kerbs, and the vast majority of space is given over to people driving cars and parking cars.<\/p>\n \u201cAre they more important? I can only hope that the tragic event acts as a wake-up call to decision-makers that North Street and surrounding areas need an ambitious and radical change, to prioritise walking, cycling and public transport, to stop this ever happening again. SBLN is an important lever in starting to make this change,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n The SBLN proposals that were consulted on by the council last year contain no plans for segregated cycle lanes along North Street, and the council chiefs admit themselves that it would mean even more traffic along the route that is the heart of the BS3 community.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Changes ‘will be made’ to major new traffic scheme that will see roads blocked off<\/a>READ MORE: South Bristol neighbourhood wrestles with its parking problem as new traffic scheme looms<\/a><\/p>\n One of the local residents who rushed to the aid of Mr Hydes launched a petition last month pointing out that the SBLN would make North Street worse for cyclists rather than better, and called for a rethink in the SBLN approach.<\/p>\n The council meeting heard that several thousand people responded to the council\u2019s survey about its initial plans. These responses are being analysed, including 16,000 free text responses. \u201cA lot\u201d of council staff are working on the project, with engineers carrying out detailed designs out the individual changes.<\/p>\n Green Councillor Ed Plowden, committee chair, said: \u201cWe\u2019re making sure that we\u2019re making changes on what we initially consulted on. We\u2019re listening, we\u2019re taking all of that engagement and responses, and we\u2019re trying to make the scheme better, by listening and an iterative process \u2014 rather than simply saying \u2018you\u2019ve had your say, now we\u2019re going to do it anyway\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Ed Plowden (Green, Windmill Hill) the chair of the city council’s transport committee, outside the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood consultation event in Totterdown(Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n The transport committee is aiming to decide on the final plans in September, but this could slip.<\/p>\n After the full business case is approved by councillors, this also needs to be approved by the West of England Combined Authority.<\/p>\n Then the changes could be rolled out towards the end of the year and next year. A response to the previous engagement will also be published soon.<\/p>\n Some local residents are concerned that the council is only now carrying out detailed traffic monitoring in affected areas. The reason behind this is because the plans have been narrowed down to three specific neighbourhoods, and the monitoring costs a lot of money to do. So council bosses said this was a \u201cbetter use of public funds\u201d, once the plans were more detailed.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Green-friendly South Bristol suburb turns against Liveable Neighbourhood ‘road blocks’<\/a>READ MORE: Totterdown demands changes to Liveable Neighbourhood plans<\/a><\/p>\n Cllr Plowden added: \u201cThere were 11 different areas identified by the project team initially. One of the learnings we took from the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood was that we weren\u2019t going to roll out a scheme across all of those 11 all in one go. \u201cWe\u2019ve focused on three of those areas where there\u2019s the greatest appetite for change. So rather than doing extensive, expensive monitoring across all 11, we\u2019ve listened to the initial engagement, worked out where there\u2019s the greatest appetite for change, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re focusing it.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Residents](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_TCBR060226SBLNmarchBRI_05jpeg.jpg\")
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