Bath Blitz: Memorial Service – 25th April 2008

There will be a memorial service to remember the 400+ citizens killed in the Bath Blitz.

On 2 nights in April 1942 the Luftwaffe bombed Bath. These “Baedekker raids’, so called because legend has it that Hitler in anger at Allied bombing raids on German cities, grabbed the Baedekker guide book and flicked through the pages picking out Britain’s most beautiful cities for reprisal bombing – Bath was one of those.

2008 will be the 66th anniversary of this event. The service will be conducted at the Memorial Gardens, Shatesbury Road at 7.00 p.m. on Friday 25th april 2008. The gardens, where there was a shelter which suffered a ‘direct hit’ with much loss of life. Our MP, Don Foster will be attedning. We hope many of you will be able to attend.

Proposals for Secondary schools in Bath and North East Somerset

A strategy to transform Secondary education in Bath and North East Somerset is to be considered by the Council.

The Council will meet on 27th March to discuss proposals which aim to further improve standards in Secondary education and to provide the best possible opportunities for children and young people.

The proposals affect the district’s 13 Secondary schools. They are being put forward following extensive work which has seen the Council engage with schools, governors, parents, pupils and the wider community, to investigate the challenges and achievements experienced by the schools and to then plan for the best possible pattern of Secondary schooling for the future.

A key part of this work was undertaken by the Council’s Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel through its Secondary School Review, published last year.

This report to Council is the result of a thorough review led by Councillor Andy Furse (Kingsmead Ward, Lib Dem) the previous Chair of the Children’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel. The recommendations are challenging as no one likes to close schools. However, if we are to give our children the best education that we can we need to persuade the Government to invest in our schools and that means removing excess capacity and focusing on the needs of our own children. The new schools proposed here will enable our children to excel in faciltities fit for the 21st century.

The Strategy sets out options for the future for each of the areas of Bath and North East Somerset.

Proposals for the City of Bath are as follows:

Retain Beechen Cliff School and Hayesfield Technology College as single sex boys and girls 11-18 schools with co-educational post 16 provision.

Retain St. Gregory’s Catholic College as an 11-16 co-educational Catholic school.

Retain Ralph Allen as a co-educational 11-18 school.

Consult on closing Culverhay and re-opening the school as a new 11-18 co-educational Community school or Academy on the current site. This would address the issue of parental demand for a higher number of coeducational places.

Consult on the closure of St Mark’s Church of England and Oldfield schools and opening a new 11-18 co-educational Church of England school in the north of the city. The consultation should determine the site for the school. This would address the issue of parental demand, and also factors including the high number of places at Oldfield School which are currently filled by South Gloucestershire students.

Other proposals have been made for Keynsham and Chew Valley, and Midsomer Norton and Radstock.

Leaflets providing further details about the Strategy and the options have been issued to schools.
The Council will continue to engage with members of the school communities, parents, pupils and the wider community.

Anyone wishing to find out more can also view a copy of the report due to be presented to the Council on March 27 at the Council’s committee papers online.

Lib Dems call-in parking hike decision

Fellow members of the Lib Dem Group on the Council have submitted a call-in on the decision to raise and extend parking charges, including the cost of residents’ permits. The call-in has been verified and the hearing will be held early in April.

Among the changes to be introduced is an increase in the cost of residents’ permit charges in Zones 1-12 of Bath (all except the city centre) from £55 to £88 for a first permit, and from £82 to £130 for a second permit. Councillors in affected wards have been inundated with objections from residents. Apart from the inflation-busting increase of approximately 65%, residents complain that they have seen no justification for this increase and that they have not been consulted about it.

Lib Dem Councillor for Widcombe, Ian Gilchrist, said:

“I have received a huge number of emails complaining about this increase. I am very pleased to be supporting the call-in to try to get the decision reversed. There are parts in these recommendations which are extremely unpopular, but a common complaint is that residents don’t feel anyone has asked them about this. I notice that the council claims it has consulted through the Federation of Bath Residents Associations (FedBRA), but that even Alan Morgan, the chair of FedBRA, thinks the decision needs to be rethought. What does consultation mean if you don’t listen to what you are told?!”

Lib Dem Councillor Andy Furse, whose Kingsmead ward includes the some of the city centre and various churches added:

“One of the recommendations is to extend car park charging times to 8.00 p.m., including on Sundays! This will have a negative impact on people who want to go to the theatre, cinema or a church service; suddenly they will find they have to have pay for parking on top of the other expenses involved and Bath’s night-time economy is likely to suffer. Also residents’ parking areas close to the city centre will come under increased pressure”.

Liberal Democrat Group leader, Cllr Paul Crossley has condemned the proposed changes:

“This is yet another example of how this Conservative-led administration is trying to make up for its budget deficiencies in some areas by hiking fees and charges in other areas. They try to claim credit for a headline low Council Tax rise, and then pile on the pain to residents and visitors through these exorbitant and unwarranted charges which will unfairly affect Bath residents and visitors compared to other parts of the Council area. We hope that this call-in will persuade the Cabinet member responsible to change his mind on these charges – and it will give residents, who feel they have not been consulted, a chance to make their views felt.”

Proposals for Secondary schools in Bath and North East Somerset

A strategy to transform Secondary education in Bath and North East Somerset is to be considered by the Council.

The Council will meet on 27th March to discuss proposals which aim to further improve standards in Secondary education and to provide the best possible opportunities for children and young people.

The proposals affect the district’s 13 Secondary schools. They are being put forward following extensive work which has seen the Council engage with schools, governors, parents, pupils and the wider community, to investigate the challenges and achievements experienced by the schools and to then plan for the best possible pattern of Secondary schooling for the future.

A key part of this work was undertaken by the Council’s Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel through its Secondary School Review, published last year.

This report to Council is the result of a thorough review led by Councillor Andy Furse (Kingsmead Ward, Lib Dem) the previous Chair of the Children’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel. The recommendations are challenging as no one likes to close schools. However, if we are to give our children the best education that we can we need to persuade the Government to invest in our schools and that means removing excess capacity and focusing on the needs of our own children. The new schools proposed here will enable our children to excel in faciltities fit for the 21st century.

The Strategy sets out options for the future for each of the areas of Bath and North East Somerset.

Proposals for the City of Bath are as follows:

Retain Beechen Cliff School and Hayesfield Technology College as single sex boys and girls 11-18 schools with co-educational post 16 provision.

Retain St. Gregory’s Catholic College as an 11-16 co-educational Catholic school.

Retain Ralph Allen as a co-educational 11-18 school.

Consult on closing Culverhay and re-opening the school as a new 11-18 co-educational Community school or Academy on the current site. This would address the issue of parental demand for a higher number of coeducational places.

Consult on the closure of St Mark’s Church of England and Oldfield schools and opening a new 11-18 co-educational Church of England school in the north of the city. The consultation should determine the site for the school. This would address the issue of parental demand, and also factors including the high number of places at Oldfield School which are currently filled by South Gloucestershire students.

Other proposals have been made for Keynsham and Chew Valley, and Midsomer Norton and Radstock.

Leaflets providing further details about the Strategy and the options have been issued to schools.
The Council will continue to engage with members of the school communities, parents, pupils and the wider community.

Anyone wishing to find out more can also view a copy of the report due to be presented to the Council on March 27 at the Council’s committee papers online.

Bath Blitz: Memorial Service – 25th April 2008

There will be a memorial service to remember the 400+ citizens killed in the Bath Blitz.

On 2 nights in April 1942 the Luftwaffe bombed Bath. These “Baedekker raids’, so called because legend has it that Hitler in anger at Allied bombing raids on German cities, grabbed the Baedekker guide book and flicked through the pages picking out Britain’s most beautiful cities for reprisal bombing – Bath was one of those.

2008 will be the 66th anniversary of this event. The service will be conducted at the Memorial Gardens, Shatesbury Road at 7.00 p.m. on Friday 25th april 2008. The gardens, where there was a shelter which suffered a ‘direct hit’ with much loss of life. Our MP, Don Foster will be attending. We hope many of you will be able to attend.

Clegg: Treatment of Gurkhas a national disgrace

Lib Dem Leader, Nick Clegg today received medals handed to him from Gurkhas who served in the British Army before 1997 and are being denied a full pension and the right to British Citizenship. Speaking at a protest outside Parliament, Nick Clegg said: “When I told people what you get from the Government in return for the years of brave, loyal, uncomplaining success people simply don’t believe it.

It is quite simply a national disgrace. I am simply saying you should be treated with the respect and honour you deserve as brave soldiers.  I will do everything I can to end this unacceptable and immoral discrimination.

Nick Clegg later tackled Gordon Brown over the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions. He said:”Two hours ago a retired Gurkha soldier handed over this medal to me in protest at the Government’s refusal to grant him British citizenship.

“Do you know what it means for a loyal British soldier to give up a medal that he won for his long years of service to this country?  And can you explain to the Gurkhas why on earth you believe that Gurkhas who served in the Army after 1997 are worthy of British citizenship but those who served before that date should be deported?”

Lib Dems call-in parking hike decision

Fellow members of the Lib Dem Group on the Council have submitted a call-in on the decision to raise and extend parking charges, including the cost of residents’ permits. The call-in has been verified and the hearing will be held early in April.

Among the changes to be introduced is an increase in the cost of residents’ permit charges in Zones 1-12 of Bath (all except the city centre) from £55 to £88 for a first permit, and from £82 to £130 for a second permit.

Councillors in affected wards have been inundated with objections from residents. Apart from the inflation-busting increase of approximately 65%, residents complain that they have seen no justification for this increase and that they have not been consulted about it.

Lib Dem Councillor for Widcombe, Ian Gilchrist, said:

“I have received a huge number of emails complaining about this increase. I am very pleased to be supporting the call-in to try to get the decision reversed. There are parts in these recommendations which are extremely unpopular, but a common complaint is that residents don’t feel anyone has asked them about this. I notice that the council claims it has consulted through the Federation of Bath Residents Associations (FedBRA), but that even Alan Morgan, the chair of FedBRA, thinks the decision needs to be rethought. What does consultation mean if you don’t listen to what you are told?!”

Read the rest of this entry.

HMOs and Use Class Orders

On 15 January, Iain Wright MP, Minister for Planning, gave a written answer in the House of Commons: “We propose to consult on possible amendments to the Use Classes Order in relation to HMOs later in the year.” Preliminaries to this consultation are now under way. CLG says, “Communities and Local Government have commissioned a short evidence-gathering exercise, being carried out by ECOTEC consultants, which will identify good practice and determine what levers, in addition to planning policy, might be suitable in tackling [HMO] problems.”

The first step is a series of telephone interviews by ECOTEC of officers in local authorities, universities and elsewhere including the National HMO Lobby (to which Downstream South and the Bath Federation of Residents Associations are affilated).

These interviews will feed into a series of focus groups in Leeds, Loughborough and Nottingham (and perhaps elsewhere), bringing together council departments, universities, landlords – and community representatives.

In turn the focus groups will inform a HMO Seminar to be held at the CLG on 9 April. A range of stakeholders have been invited to send representatives – local authorities, universities, residents groups, the National HMO Lobby, landlords, the government itself. I understand representatives from Leeds, Loughborough and Nottingham have been invited, and the Chair of the HMO Lobby.
We’ll keep everyone posted on progress. We do seem to be making headway at last!

Clegg: Treatment of Gurkhas a national disgrace

Lib Dem Leader, Nick Clegg today received medals handed to him from Gurkhas who served in the British Army before 1997 and are being denied a full pension and the right to British Citizenship.

Speaking at a protest outside Parliament, Nick Clegg said:

When I told people what you get from the Government in return for the years of brave, loyal, uncomplaining success people simply don’t believe it.

It is quite simply a national disgrace. I am simply saying you should be treated with the respect and honour you deserve as brave soldiers.

I will do everything I can to end this unacceptable and immoral discrimination.

Nick Clegg later tackled Gordon Brown over the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions. He said:

Two hours ago a retired Gurkha soldier handed over this medal to me in protest at the Government’s refusal to grant him British citizenship.

Do you know what it means for a loyal British soldier to give up a medal that he won for his long years of service to this country?

And can you explain to the Gurkhas why on earth you believe that Gurkhas who served in the Army after 1997 are worthy of British citizenship but those who served before that date should be deported?

Post Offices closure update…

We hope that you saw the front page headline article in the Western Daily Press on Monday of this week. If you didn’t, then see it here. Our MP, Don Foster has called on the Post Office to remove Lower Weston Post Office from the consultation. Up to 4,000 new residents will have Lower Weston as their nearest office; it simply does not make sense to take it away.

Don and the local Lib Dem councillors, Dixon and Darracott went out to collect signatures on our petition to Save Claremont Post Office last Friday, and the local community there is stunned. The nearest office may only be half a mile away, but there is a very steep hill in between. It will be elderly and disabled people who lose out.

You may have seen that today there is a debate on Post Offices in the House of Commons, called for by the Conservatives. The Conservatives’ policy consists of a list of potential additional services that can be offered by or through the Post Office. They have no proposals on the future structure of Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd or where investment funds are going to come from. The Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment to this motion outlining our plans for future investment. Don Foster has agreed to give us an update on the debate after the Easter weekend.

Locally we must continue to campaign hard and show the government and the Post Office Ltd how much our Post Offices mean to the local community.

Remember to get your friends to sign the on-line petition at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/savebathspostoffices