The Kelston toll road was a private, temporary

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

, built by a private entrepreneur without

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

between

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and

Kelston Kelston is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, north west of Bath, and east of Bristol, on the A431 road. It is situated just north of the River Avon, close to the Kelston and Saltford locks. The parish has a population of 248. ...

, southeast of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Bath and North East Somerset Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a unitary authority district in England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. It is part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. Th ...

, England. It opened on 1 August and closed on 17 November 2014, when the

A431 road The A431 is an A road running from Bristol to Bath in England. It runs parallel to, and about to the north of, the A4, the principal route between Bristol and Bath on the south side of the River Avon. Route The A431 begins at a junction ...

reopened.

Context

The road ran to the north of and parallel to Kelston Road, a part of the A431 road that was closed on 17 February 2014 due to a

landslip Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

. The toll road's west end was located at ; the east end at . As it was anticipated that the A431 would stay closed until the end of 2014, on 1 August 2014 the Kelston toll road opened for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and a toll fee of £2 per car and £1 per motorcycle. The entrepreneur was 62-year-old Mike Watts who followed a suggestion made by his wife. The toll station was without

boom barrier A boom barrier, also known as a boom gate, is a bar, or pole pivoted to allow the boom to block vehicular or pedestrian access through a controlled point. Typically the tip of a boom gate rises in a vertical arc to a near vertical position. Boo ...

s. Without the Kelston toll road some road drivers would have needed to follow a detour of up to , though much less for a journey between Bristol and Bath where the parallel

A4 road This is a list of roads designated A4. A4 is the name of several roads: * A004 road (Argentina), a road connecting Buenos Aires-La Plata highway with the Juan María Gutiérrez circle * A4 motorway (Austria), a road connecting Vienna and Nickelsd ...

could be used. By early October 2014, the road had been used by 100,000 vehicles. The cost of the toll road was £150,000, with a further £150,000 for the toll station, maintenance and other expenses.

Operation

In September 2014, Watts applied to

Bath and North East Somerset Council Bath and North East Somerset Council is the local council for the district of Bath and North East Somerset in Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, with the powers and functions of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined ...

for retroactive planning permission. Although a decision had been expected on 3 October, it was delayed until the end of the month. Permission was eventually withheld, and it was reported that Watts could be facing losses because the A431 was to be reopened earlier than originally expected. The council issued Watts with a demand for £3,000 in business rates. The road closed on 17 November 2014, when the A431 reopened. Watts said: "We have lost out – a rough estimate is probably about £10,000 to £15,000 adrift. But I'm not complaining." He said that the toll road would now be dug up, and that "within six months nobody would know the Kelston toll road had ever existed". As the toll road company had insufficient funds for the reinstatement works, the original builders of the road offered to do this at no charge.

HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...

also agreed to waive the shortfall in

VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

due. It was reported that construction of the toll road was likely to have caused damage to

archaeological remains An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

strip lynchets: as a result archaeological investigations will need to be carried out during the reinstatement of the land in order to understand what was there and the damage caused.

References

External links

* * * * {{Coord, 51.396372, N, 2.418577, W, display=title Toll roads in the United Kingdom Roads in Somerset Bath and North East Somerset