The next meeting of the Somer Housing Bath South Area Panel for residents is to be held on the 24th september 2008 between 3.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. the Bath Community Resource Centre which is at the Carrswood Day Centre on Cleeve Green in Twerton.
If you would like to attend, please call the Residents Involvement Team at Somer Housing on (01225) 366199 or 366147.
Bath Liberal Democrats have given a cautious welcome to the Council’s change of heart on the Lambridge Park and Ride. This follows the announcement that the preferred site for the east of Bath park and ride will be Mill Lane.
However, they have urged the Council to use this proposed change to the Bath Transport Package to also reconsider the route of the Bus Rapid Transit scheme.
Bath MP, Don Foster commented, “I have always opposed the Lambridge Park and Ride scheme. It would have cost a fortune, done nothing to reduce congestion and pollution on the London Road and would, in effect, be a city centre car park. I’m delighted the Council has been prepared to think again.”
Cllr David Dixon (Walcot) added, “After 20 years of discussions and consultation – and after the previous Conservative member in charge of transport wasted 4 of those years trying to force through an ill thought out scheme at Lambridge – I am pleased that the current Cabinet member has seen the light. Mill Lane will provide more spaces and really will have an impact to the traffic which clogs up the London Road.
“This change of heart is a victory for local residents in Lambridge and London Road who have consistently opposed the Lambridge site – were it not for their opposition, the Lambridge park and ride would have already been built.”
Bath and North East Somerset Council is being urged to take a lead on environmentally friendly commuting and set an example to businesses in the local area by cycle-keen Lib Dem Councillors and Don Foster MP.
Historically Bath and North East Somerset Council has been slow to assume a leadership role in promoting green travel choices. Now Councillor Paul Crossley (Southdown) has asked the Council to join the Cycle to Work scheme which offers employees VAT-free bikes, repaid by loans that are exempt from income tax and national insurance, through a salary sacrifice system.
Cllr Crossley commented, “Cycling is not only good for the environment but it also reduces road congestion and improves health. Many other Councils offer such schemes to their employees, as do several firms here in Bath. The Council should be leading on the green travel agenda and cutting the carbon footprint of the area. The cycle scheme is a great way of getting more people onto bikes and properly equipped for safe and comfortable commuting to work.”
To find out more about forthcoming roadworks in the Oldfield Ward please click here.
Around 20 local residents and owners of business from Moorland Road attended the recent Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meeting on the 9th July 2008.
These residents and local business leaders spoke about their concerns and issues in Oldfield Park.
The panel member who attended this meeting included your local councillors, the local Police team, a representative of Somer Community Housing and an officer from the Council who listened to the comments and suggestions for the priorities that should be taken up.
The resulting priorities agreed upon my local residents and business representatives were:
1) Securing a youth shelter for the Sandpits play park;
2) Poor maintenance of gardens by students and / or their landlords in HMOs / privately rented housing; and
3) Refuse and recycling placed out for collection on the pavement all through the week rather than one the specified day especially in HMOs / privately rented housing.
The previous public priorities were:
March 2008
1) Tackling general misuse of the Shaftesbury Road Memorial Gardens;
2) Reviewing parking and driveways on the Moorfields Estate; and
3) Providing facilities, such as youth clubs for children and teenagers in the area.
November 2007
1) Levels of car crime – criminal damage to vehicles in Monksdale Road;
2) Litter – increase road sweeping;
3) Speeding in Third Avenue, Monksdale Road and Hillside Road.
All the partners are now working on how these issues can be tackled and resolved.
Currently no date has been set for the next meeting but it will take place again at 6:30 p.m. at St Alphages Church, Oldfield Lane, Oldfield Park, Bath.
All members of the public are welcome to attend the next meeting.
The Police held a successful Pizza and Cola Evening (aka PACT meeting) at Hillside Hall at the end of June for the younger people from the Oldfield Park area.
The priorities that the young people identified at Oldfields Pizza & Cola evening were as follows:
1. Shelters needed in the park
2. Dog fouling
3. Litter (smashed bottles etc)
4. Poor public toilets
5. Cycle paths all around Bath
6. Another Skate Park
It was agreed that the top three priorities would be forwarded on to the July PACT meeting for residents to vote for one of these priorities.
It was generally agreed that our first Pizza and Cola Evening went well and the Police and local councillors hope to hold another evening in the Autumn.
The Council is proposing deleting approximately 30 mters of unrecorded footpath that runs south-west between No.1 Moorfields Drive, No.5 Moorfields Close and the rear of The Moorlands, off Englishcombe Lane.
The request came from Somer Community Housing Trust. The extinguishement proposal is being made on grounds stated in section 118 of the Highways Act 1980 – i.e. that it is no longer needed for public use. The section of land in question is the verge to a hard surfaced path. Both the hard surfaced path and the verge lead to private property and do not provide a through route to another public highway. The hard surfaced path is not affected by the proposed extinguishment and will remain cul-de-sac if the proposed extinguishment takes place.
Any objections or representations to this Order (Bath and North East Somerset Council (Unrecorded Public Footpath AQ496 (Part), Moorfields Drive, Oldfield Ward, Bath) Public Path Extinguishment Order 2008) must be recieved in writing no later than 14th August 2008 to:
Jenny King,
Bath Definative Map Project Officer, Public Rights of Way,
Floor 2 South, Riverside, Temple Street, Keynsham, Somerset. BS31 1LA
Any statement submitted must be accompanied by a statement of grounds on which it is made and must qute the title of the Order to which the objection is being made.
For more information, please contact Jenny King on (01225) 394940 or jenny_king@bathnes.gov.uk
Unlike our previous blog both of us will be able to write on this website. The site will contain news of what is happening in Oldfield (and the wider city and beyond) and about some of the issues affecting local residents and businesses that we are working on.
We are also building a directory of local services and businesses, so that anyone new to Oldfield Park can at a glance see what is available in our community.There is always something going on in and around Oldfield Park, the Moorfields Estate and Englishcombe Park, and both Will and I want to play our part in building a stronger and more successful local community.
Information on our previous work and activities over the last few years can be on our old blog at: www.oldfieldlibdems.blogspot.com
The Cabinet member for Adult Social Services and Housing for on the Council has announced that he will not alter his original decision to implement new charges for home care services despite the call-in of the decision having been upheld.
It is extremely disappointing that the Cabinet member has decided to ignore the recommendations of the call-in panel to phase in care cost increases and allow people who use this service the time to adapt. The Lib Dems have expressed our opposition to these steep increases time and time again at O&S, Cabinet and Council and the Cabinet member has taken no notice.
The Cabinet member will no doubt face criticism for his unwillingness to listen to the call-in panel and indeed for his announcement to the press before the call-in even took place that he did not plan to change his decision no matter what might be said. We are disgusted by his dismissive attitude to the democratically-expressed concerns raised by not only the Liberal Democrat and Labour Groups but also service users and Action for Pensioners. These charges are fundamentally unfair and will hit vulnerable people hard.
Will Sandry said
I have grave concerns about the consultation process that took place before the original decision was made. At the call-in I was unable to find any evidence that the consultation had influenced the proposals on which the decision was made. I am angry that Cllr Pritchard has implemented these huge increases in home care charges, which I think are cruel.
Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.
The Cabinet member for Adult Social Services and Housing for on the Council has announced that he will not alter his original decision to implement new charges for home care services despite the call-in of the decision having been upheld.
It is extremely disappointing that the Cabinet member has decided to ignore the recommendations of the call-in panel to phase in care cost increases and allow people who use this service the time to adapt. The Lib Dems have expressed our opposition to these steep increases time and time again at O&S, Cabinet and Council and the Cabinet member has taken no notice.
The Cabinet member will no doubt face criticism for his unwillingness to listen to the call-in panel and indeed for his announcement to the press before the call-in even took place that he did not plan to change his decision no matter what might be said. We are disgusted by his dismissive attitude to the democratically-expressed concerns raised by not only the Liberal Democrat and Labour Groups but also service users and Action for Pensioners. These charges are fundamentally unfair and will hit vulnerable people hard.
Will Sandry said:
“I have grave concerns about the consultation process that took place before the original decision was made. At the call-in I was unable to find any evidence that the consultation had influenced the proposals on which the decision was made. I am angry that Cllr Pritchard has implemented these huge increases in home care charges, which I think are cruel.”
It concerns us that the Cabinet member has not taken into account the volume of opposition from residents who use these services in this decision, nor the plea from groups such as Action for Pensioners, who asked that a phased introduction of the proposed increases be considered.
Those whom the Cabinet member has deemed able to pay the biggest increases, are likely to be people who have carefully saved for this stage of their lives, and now they will not have any time to prepare for such a steep increase, and may well decide to cut back on services, in order to make ends meet.
We have not been given the detailed facts to support his argument that the proposal of the panel would be more detrimental than the original decision. Local Lib Dems have asked the Cabinet Member last week to furnish us with the actual situation with vacancies at present, but have not received a reply to date.