National House-building drop shows how unrealistic house target is

In the wake of Government figures that show house-building has dropped by a third in the last quarter and almost a half since this period last year, Bath MP Don Foster has once against called into question the realism of the 21,300 new homes target for Bath and North East Somerset. 

Don said that these figures show that the house building market is slowing massively, and yet the Government is asking us to significantly increase house building locally. 

The average number of homes built in the authority over the last 10 years is 400 per year.  The Government target means we’ll have to build at 1,100 units per year.  It shows that the Government really is barking mad. 

Private finance is drying up, and the affordable housing we need is not going to be built unless the Government loosens the shackles on local authorities and social landlords. 

We need to be able to focus our efforts into building affordable homes for those that need them, not having to reach some pie-in-the-sky Government target.

70% Care Charge Hike: Real Cost Revealed

Massive price hikes have led to a drop-off in demand for Council services according to opposition Councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. 

Liberal Democrats on the Council committee scrutinising Health and Older People’s issues have strongly and consistently opposed the Cabinet member’s decision, made earlier this year, to put up prices of community meals, transport and home care. 

Now a report to the Healthier Communities and Older People Overview and Scrutiny Panel of the Council shows that many people have stopped having home help since Conservative Council chiefs increased the charges and a number of residents have cancelled meals due to the price increases. 

We said that this would be the wrong decision and the Cabinet member ignored us.  When we organised a challenge to these price hikes, back in April, we warned the Cabinet member that our vulnerable residents would probably reduce their care and we tried to persuade him to change his mind. 

We dread to think of the difficult circumstances these people and their relatives have to face as a result of the Cabinet member’s decision. 

We remain opposed to these increases and believe that, given the current economic climate of rising costs and falling interest rates, service users will struggle to secure the care they need.

Government finally makes right decision on Post Office Card Account

Bath MP Don Foster has stressed his relief that the Government has finally reached the right decision on the Post Office Card Account, giving the contract to the Post Office. 

Don said that he had spoken to a lot of sub-postmasters during our campaign to save post offices from closure earlier this year.  The concern about this contract going elsewhere was palpable.  Sub-postmasters were saying that without the Card Account they would lose so much business that they would be forced to close.  This is important news in maintaining the number of post offices we have available in the city. 

Unfortunately Labour MPs voted against a Liberal Democrat motion to have more Government services available through the post office network. 

More than 4 million people in the UK receive pensions and benefit payments through a Post Office Card Account at their local Post Office.  At the end of 2005 there were 5,500 Post Office Card Accounts in Bath. 

The contract had previously been put out to tender, risking the loss of 3,000 Post Offices if a private firm won the contract. 

Local people have shown just how important their local post office is to them by joining our campaign earlier in the year against closures.  Don has  also received thousands of items of correspondence on the Post Office Card Account, so he is pleased that the Government have performed this u-turn. 

However, the Government should have realised the importance of post offices to communities and awarded the new contract to the network without these months of delay. 

Instead, local branches have had to deal with the uncertainty that ministerial dithering and unnecessary contracting processes has caused.

Lib Dem Comment on B&NES’ New Recycling Partnership

Sadly Bath’s recycling contract has now passed from the ‘third sector’ (not for profit) for the first time.  May Gurney has a good reputation, so let’s hope that the need for this PLC to make a profit does not interfere with service to residents.  I am encouraged by Nicola Peake’s comments and wish the Company well. 

The Council is once again silent on the broken promise to collect ‘kitchen’ waste (including cooked food), which would further boost our recycling and composting rate to around 60%, reducing the damage that this organic waste does to the environment and making B&NES the top recycling council in the country.

Fourth Place is Not Good Enough on Recycling

The Conservative-run Cabinet of Bath and North East Somerset Council has become complacent about recycling and waste policies.  As the first Council to adopt a zero waste policy, under Liberal Democrat leadership, B&NES Council was seen as a trailblazer on recycling.  However since the new Administration took over however the Council’s waste record is becoming a damp squib. 

The Cabinet are happy to congratulate themselves about Government statistics, but meanwhile they are once again considering delaying their promised introduction of kitchen waste collections – now saying this could be put off till 2011 – and same day collections of waste and recycling will now not come in till 2009.  These measures would already have been in place under Liberal Democrat plans and local recycling rates would have been nearly 60% by the end of next year. 

This latest boast from the Administration should really be an admission that recycling and global warming are not high on their agenda.  77% of B&NES residents recycle – residents clearly want to do their bit and want to start now.

B&NES Cabinet Determined to Railroad BRT Through

The Conservative-run Cabinet of Bath and North East Somerset Council is determined to railroad the Bus Rapid Transit through against the wishes of residents, according to Lib Dem Councillors who have tabled a last ditch motion to the November Full Council meeting hoping to ensure a proper debate takes place. 

It is understood that many residents who will be affected by the BRT and other aspects of the Bath Transportation Package intend to protest at the Council meeting on 20th November. 

It seems that the Conservative-run Cabinet is determined to railroad through the BRT and not to listen to any opposition.  At the last two meetings of the Council Cabinet the Leader has changed the rules on public speaking each time to prevent Councillors and residents from having their say on an issue that was and is of great importance to many local people across city. 

The way that this Conservative administration is running roughshod over local people is a disgrace.  They feel it is perfectly acceptable to make changes to the proposed Park and Ride site to the East of Bath but refuse to countenance changes to the BRT route – despite the lack of proof of the benefits of the chosen route.  Furthermore, they have changed the area of the Newbridge Park and Ride expansion since the adoption of the Local Plan and the Joint Local Transport Plan. 

The debate we will have at November meeting of Full Council is a vital opportunity for representations to be made direct to the Cabinet members – especially given that they refused a debate at the previous Council meeting and have sought to suppress discussion on this issue. 

However from their attacks on the Liberal Democrat Group at the recent Cabinet meeting it would appear the Conservatives are more interested in talking about who voted for what and when in the past, rather than looking at what is happening now.  Cabinet members should accept that the Local Plan and Local Transport Plan upon which the Council has previously voted do not reflect the current schemes for the Bath Transportation Package.

Don calls for stronger response to fly-tipping

Bath MP Don Foster has joined calls for local authorities to use the powers given to them be the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 to address fly-tipping and punish those responsible for it.  A major campaign has been launched by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and its President Bill Bryson. 

Don said that fly-tipping blights the whole country from towns and cities, to our countryside, and Bath is no exception.  There are practical measures that the Government should be taking, such as encouraging consumers to return and recycle drinks containers, rather than seeing them thrown away as litter. 

Local authorities need to be making better use of the powers that they already have, and begin punishing those responsible for fly-tipping.  This is why Don has signed EDM 1634, backing the CPRE campaign “Stop the Drop” to see these issues dealt with more seriously.

Conservatives show lack of ambition on recycling

Waste issues were high on the agenda at the November 2008 B&NES Cabinet meeting when Liberal Democrat questions revealed that the Conservative Cabinet are once again planning to delay their promised introduction of kitchen waste collections and same day collections for refuse and recycling. 

The admission from the Cabinet member for customer services that he is considering delaying same day and kitchen waste collections till 2011 shows that this Administration is not only failing to take waste seriously, but also means that the Conservative promises to the electorate will be broken.  The authority will now be at risk of increasing land fill charges. 

Liberal Democrat plans, which were in place before the 2007 election, would have seen kitchen waste and same day collections introduced by now and our recycling rates would be heading towards 60% by the end of 2009. 

The Cabinet also approved a West of England Partnership paper on sites for waste facilities under the strategic Waste Partnership.  The proposals – all of which include a waste site to be located in Keynsham – are to be put to consultation early next year.  Councillor Paul Crossley (Lib Dem, Southdown) criticised the paper’s lack of recognition for the Council’s zero waste policy but welcomed the consultation on where facilities are to go in the authority. 

Councillor Crossley said that the failure of the WEP waste strategy is the failure to rise to the waste challenge and for our partners to take the wrong route down the incineration path.  The failure of our Council has been our lack of success in convincing our WEP partners to join us in a Zero Waste strategy.

Whistle-stop tour decided number of new homes

Bath MP Don Foster has learnt that a whistle-stop tour of the city led to the Government’s decision on the number of new homes for Bath.  A Freedom of Information request revealed that Examination in Public (EiP) Panel members drove a route around Bath that could have taken no more than 45 minutes, before coming up with their recommendations. 

Don said this is, quite frankly, crazy.  This short drive around the edge of Bath has led to the Government accepting an increase to the size of the urban extension for the city and altering the ‘area of search’ within which the Council can decide where to build the new homes. 

These decisions are massively important to the future of the area, and yet the EiP has clearly spent less time considering them than the Council would spend on a planning application for 2 or 3 homes! 

This Regional Spatial Strategy has left many people unhappy, and to discover that key decisions have been made based on a short drive around the outskirts of the city is an insult to the people of Bath.

Don urges Council to work with sat nav companies

 

Bath MP Don Foster has written to Bath & North East Somerset Council urging them to actively participate in a scheme that could dramatically reduce the number of HGVs driving through Bath. 

Don said that he had long argued that we should be working with sat nav companies to provide sensible and appropriate routes, not just the theoretical best route that they provide.  I think every resident in Bath would have seen an HGV driving along a street that is clearly too narrow for it, or having to perform an awkward u-turn which holds up traffic.  We could also suggest routes for through traffic which avoid the city centre. 

Somerset County Council has now taken a lead in working with sat nav companies to provide these practical solutions.  They have done this with the involvement of the South West Regional Freight Forum, of which Bath & North East Somerset are a member.  However, it turns out that a Council officer from our Council has not attended this group for some time. 

Don has written to the Council and urged them to work closely with Somerset County Council and catch-up on the information that we have missed out on.  Don has also asked that we take an active involvement in this pilot scheme from now on, as it could be of great benefit to the city.