Great Western Coffee Shop

Planning ahead - next 8, 30, 60, 100 years? Here (http://atrebatia.info/np_shlaa_20171111.pdf)'s a personal look for Melksham, inspired by a desire to help get it right in the short term with changes than suit now and are headed in the right direction for the medium and long term too.  Melksham chosen because (a) I know it and (b) the piece was a written response to the public consultation the other evening.

Looks interesting. Some councils still appear to be very short term, because of politics? Air quality is probably more of an issue than in your area. The following is a typical comment from an Air Quality Action Plan; This action would be considered politically and economically sensitive, which I take to mean that it won't happen because it will cost us votes. The trouble is this tends to be against the sort of action that would really make a difference.
I have an interest in active and sustainable travel, which has minimal votes in it. Increasing the use of active and sustainable transport is normally seen as being at the cost of private vehicle transport (car), see furor every time a new cycle scheme is suggested in London. When a scheme is proposed all too often one gets the impression it is by somebody who probably hasn't cycled since they left school.
I am never quite sure where the SHLAA and the DCLG housing "requirements" meet. Recent land use mapping suggests that local authorities with 90% built-up area have the same housing "requirement" as those with 75% built-up area.

I made few comments in that very personal piece about cycling (especially), exactly because I do not cycle and can't safely any longer. However, I have seen some of the cycleway and pedestrian aberrations and would hope (if invited further) to make positive inputs.  The whole structure looks to reduce through traffic within the town and give an opportunity to encourage self propelled transport (feet or wheels).  The neighbourhood plan's transport lead does not drive - cycles everywhere so we have a strong protagonist.

Short-termism is alive and kicking in Wiltshire.  However, short and medium term happen to align for the next year or so ;-).

Stupidity and burying head in sand also still exists too - new campus presentation the other week puts a dirty great sort centre right over a key footpath and cycle way, with the response to any awkward questions being "too early in the design to say". Just watch it be "too late" next time we ask

Just a comment on your document; you have bus routes in purple, pink and peach. I had to look very closely to distinguish "pink" from "peach". It might be clearer if you choose some more contrasting colours? Or maybe run it past someone who's colour blind, if you know anyone (I'm not!).

A useful source for "colour-blind" friendly colours is:
http://colorbrewer2.org/#type=sequential&scheme=BuGn&n=3
not just for maps!

That was an intentional decision to say "bus runs here" with just a subtle colour difference - people aren't too bothered if the front of the bus says "14", "15" or "Heather" (see https://www.nctx.co.uk/about-us/busnames/ ).  But my decision may not have been a good one ...


I sometimes use a web site that renders your page as a colour blind person would see it.  Not on may normal computer (and on a train) as I write, so don't have a link to hand.

I am of sufficient seniority to need to plan for my childrens' childrens' childrens' children.

Someone I know who is colour blind (red-green I think, but I can't remember for sure) says "Ideally it should all make sense when printed in grey-scale". Cos sometimes it will be, anyway. But your point that "bus" is more important than which bus, is a good one.

Depends on what constitutes "short term".

In 2006, Atkins began work on a report on the proposed Callington Road Link, formerly part of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway. In July 2009, the report (http://www.westofengland.org/media/190260/callington%20link%20options%20assessment%20v2.pdf) was produced, looking at every use of the route to reduce traffic, except rail. It used a 2006 baseline and traffic forecasts for 2031. The report was quickly shelved, with engineering difficulties being cited as the main reason. This infuriated a local pressure group who wanted it built, and delighted me, who had just bought a house within earshot.

8 years later in 2017, just after I had sold that house, the proposal reappeared in a draft LEP Transport Vision Study for 2036, leaked to the Bristol Post (http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-could-underground-train-system-222172).

The engineering problems - it's in a cutting and has narrow bridges that haven't widened noticeably in recent years - are still there, and in any case it will increase road traffic. It will be unpopular to an almost MetroBust scale, and the money isn't there right now, so it will probably get kicked into the long grass. It will then be only one more "resurrect / postpone" cycle away from 2031.

Now that is long term planning - why make a rushed decision when you can spend 25 years in not coming to a conclusion?

Here are a few suggestions about homes for the future.

A generous electricity supply is important so as to allow for the (fairly) fast charging of an electric vehicle. A minimum of 100 amps, single phase. Three phase to be the norm for larger homes.
For new developments, the presumed average electrical load per dwelling to be at least twice the historical assumed figure.

Secure storage for cycles, including provision for charging electric cycles. Sufficient for one cycle per bedroom, as a minimum.

All new houses, and most flats, to have a flue or chimney suitable for the later addition of a solid fuel stove or cooker.

Suitable outdoor space for both rubbish and for multiple recycling bins or containers.

Good thermal insulation SHOULD be taken for granted and not need mentioning here.