Incinerator U-turn Welcomed

Local Liberal Democrats are welcoming a change of heart by the Conservative-run Cabinet on the Council regarding the proposal to build an incinerator for non-recyclable waste in the West.

Liberal Democrats from across the former Avon area have been campaigning against the incinerator plans, being considered by the West of England Waste Partnership following a public consultation which has been described as ‘flawed’.

Liberal Democrats called on the Cabinet member responsible for waste to oppose the incinerator, in line with the Council’s policy on zero waste, but the Cabinet member refused to make his position known. In a statement today the Cabinet member confirmed that the Council opposes mass-burn incineration and that the other members of the Waste Partnership had been informed that this Council could not participate in such a scheme.

This statement from the Cabinet member signals a victory for the Liberal Democrat and Friends of the Earth campaign against the proposal for mass burn incineration. We very much welcome this u-turn by the Tories and we are pleased that Cllr Charles Gerrish has acknowledged our part in the effective campaign against this expensive, unsustainable proposal. Mass burn incineration is now ‘dead in the water’.

The recent Zero Waste Week showed what achievements are possible for waste reduction. We must now start working with the commercial sector to ensure that these waste streams are minimised as well. It would be fantastic if all our pubs, restaurants and shops could sign up to Zero Waste. The less total waste heading for landfill from all sources the less chance we have of anyone considering incineration in the West.

Use-class Orders – Controlling the spread of HMOs

As you will know Cllr Shaun McGall and fellow Liberal Democrat Councillors in Bath and across the country have been campigning for years to get central Government to give local Councils the powers to make landlords apply for planning permission to convert a ‘family’ home into a privately rented property, where that is for students, nurses, or young professional.

The National HMO Lobby (which includes the Bath Fed. of Residents Associations), the Councillors’ Campaign for Balanced Communities (includes Cllr Shaun McGall) and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Balanced and Sustainable Communities (includes Don Foster, MP for Bath) have been lobbying for this and to bring English law into line with that of Northern Ireland.

The Secretary for State for Communities and Local Government, Iain Wright MP, replied to a parliamentary written question on the 15th January 2008, stating:

Under existing planning regulations, the conversion of a dwelling house into bed sits may require planning permission, depending on the characteristics of the proposed domestic arrangements and whether these are deemed to result in a material change of use. The Government recognise that there may be instances where the use of dwelling houses in group occupation may have adverse impacts upon the character and amenity of existing neighbourhoods. We intend to conduct further research into the extent of this problem and possible ways of addressing it. There may be a case for amending the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 to strengthen the ability of local planning authorities to control the proliferation of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). We propose to consult on possible amendments to the Use Classes Order in relation to HMOs later in the year.

This is a great step forward and local Liberal Democrats will be encouraging as many local residents and interested parties to respond to this consultation when it occurs later in the year.

Save Moorland Road Post Office

Sign up to support our campaign against any further Post Office closures in Bath which could affect our Post Office here on Moorland Road. The government consultation for our area begins in February 2008, and our Post Office could be under threat.

The state of the post office network

The Post Office network is crumbling. Over the last two decades, post offices have been closing at a rate of over 300 a year. Under the last Conservative Government, 3,500 local post offices closed, and under Labour another 4,000 have closed, hitting communities across the country. And, with the news of another 2,500 closures, things are set to get even worse.
The Government’s policy to avoid “unnecessary” rural Post Office branch closures came to an end in March 2006. This policy has previously slowed down the rate of closure in rural areas.

And the Government has announced that it will not extend its contract beyond 2010 for pension and benefit payments using the Post Office Card Account, worth £1 billion of income for post offices between 2003 and 2010. A replacement will be put in place but the competitive tender process means that the Post Office could lose this work altogether. The likelihood is that, while the Government ducks the long term decisions necessary to secure the future of Post Offices, 12,000 post office branches (urban and rural) will close.

Why this matters

Post offices are the lifeblood of communities in both rural and urban areas, particularly when they are combined with other services, such as the local shop. When the local post office closes other services often follow suit, which can be devastating for the community. It is vital that the true social value of this network is included as well as its economic value when looking at the long-term future of this valuable network. Post Offices in rural areas play a particularly crucial role. They have an ‘existence value’ similar to the local school or village pub. They also provide vital face-to-face access to government, postal and commercial services for communities which may not have, for example, a local bank branch.

Research for Postwatch in 2004 showed that:

75% of those surveyed felt their local post office was ‘extremely important’
59% thought it was ‘essential to their way of life’
91% agreed it played an ‘important role in their local community’
86% felt that losing a Post Office means ‘a lot of people lose their independence’
27% found it difficult to get to another post office when their local one closed

These figures increased among the elderly or those with disabilities affecting their mobility.
Action is needed by the Government now to prevent the mass closure of post offices occurring.
Only the Liberal Democrats have a plan which can save the post office network.

The Liberal Democrat plan

Following the passing of the new policy at Harrogate Conference in March 2006, we are the only party to have a costed and credible set of proposals to keep post offices open and, where necessary, to open others. Our opponents have no such policy.

Our plan keeps the Post Office Ltd in the public sector and enables Royal Mail employees to get a share in their company through a radical employee share ownership Trust, similar to the John Lewis Partnership. Royal Mail will take a new ownership model, with the sale of some of its shares providing the investment needed by our post offices.

The Liberal Democrat plan would enable us to –

Open new post office branches where they are needed
Keep the Post Office in the public sector
Make the Royal Mail into a successful company, with new investment freedoms
Give Royal Mail staff a guaranteed stake in their company through employee share holding and participation
Protect and improve the service to customers that provides a daily delivery at a uniform price across the country

Taxpayers must not subsidise nuclear power

The Government has given the go-ahead to a new generation of nuclear power stations, which is a flawed decision based on a sham consultation – we all know that ministers made up their minds long ago.

The Government has effectively locked us into nuclear power for the best part of a century. By the time they are up and running in the 2020s nuclear power plants may be obsolete given the breathtaking progress in renewable technologies.

The Labour Government Minister, John Hutton MP, was not able to give a cast iron guarantee that taxpayers will not have to subsidise the costs of nuclear in the future. The Government had nothing to say about today’s pressing issue – spiralling fuel prices. The new Energy Bill must include measures to protect the millions of households who are struggling to meet their winter fuel bills.

The UK has an energy crisis now – nuclear power cannot fill the energy gap. Energy conservation and investment in renewables should be our top priorities.

Rail commuters plan next move in battle against fare increases

Local rail commuters are meeting in Bath on Tuesday to plan the next phase of their campaign for better services at Oldfield Park Railway Station.

This time last year, Cllr Shaun McGall, supported the fares protest, due to the overcrowding on services in the Bath, Bristol and West of England area.

The new timetable which was launched on the 9th December remains below the standard of service commuters should recieve, and this combined with the unjustified hike in prices in January, timetable changes, short trains, old rolling stock, and continuing poor punctuality and reliability means we must put more press on both the Labour Government and First Great Western to up their game and provide a modern, and fairly priced service across our area.

Please play your part in helping to pile on the presure to First and the Governement to ensure we get more trains, and that passengers not shareholders come first.

Please write to Don Foster, our Member of Parliament and to the Managing Director of First Great Western, with your comments and views.

Two Tunnels Lottery success

A campaign to win a portion of £50 million of Lottery funding to create new cycle routes in Bath has been successful.

It was revealed on the 12th December that the Two Tunnels project will be awarded £1m, thanks to the votes of local people.

The project is part of a national initiative by sustainable transport charity Sustrans and is supported by the Council. Sustrans battled its way into a shortlist of four organisations competing for the £50 million pot to fund projects around the country, under the National Lottery’s The People’s Millions scheme.

The Sustrans project is called Connect2. Once complete the project will see hundreds of miles of walking and cycling routes spring up around the UK – providing extra bridges, extra links – improving travel and reducing our carbon footprint. Two Tunnels is just one of the many projects included in this scheme.

The multi-user path will join Bath and Midford by a virtually flat system of tunnels and impressive overland paths following the existing disused railway. The route makes a wide sweep through Oldfield Park, surfaces in the secretive Lyncombe Vale and finally emerges in beautiful open country at Tucking Mill, before joining the long distance Sustrans NCN24 route at Midford.

The campaign promoters expect the ‘Two Tunnels’ route to benefit businesses, residents and visitors. They believe it will encourage visitors to stay for more than a simple two-hour visit to the city centre, and make more use of what Bath has to offer. It will also secure the future for the impressive railway structures on this famous old route, and offers a chance to make good use of some of Bath’s more under-appreciated assets, reclaiming them for residents and visitors.

However, the route first has to be built, and while much of the work has already been done courtesy of the Victorian engineers who built the railway, it will cost an estimated £1.8 million to complete.

Further information on the Connect2 project is available at http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/.
For more information on the Two Tunnels Greenway, see:http://www.twotunnels.org.uk/

Nick Clegg’s acceptance speech as the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats

My election as leader of this party marks a new beginning.
Today is about two things: ambition, and change.
Renewed ambition for the Liberal Democrats.
Renewed ambition to reach out to the millions of people who share our values, but have not yet voted for us.
It’s about renewed ambition for Britain.
Because we want to change politics, and change Britain.
I would like to thank Chris for the energetic and committed way he has campaigned in this leadership election.
We have been rivals in this contest. From today, we are colleagues again. I look forward to working closely with him for the good of liberalism in Britain.
I would also like to thank Vince Cable for the magnificent way he has led the party in these past two months.
There are few men who have excelled as an economist, a comedian and a ballroom dancer.
Finally, I would like to give my warmest thanks, on behalf of the whole party, to Ming Campbell. He took over the Liberal Democrats at a difficult time, and provided enormous stability and professionalism to the party. Without his work, building on the extraordinary achievements of Charles Kennedy and Paddy Ashdown before him, the party would not have the bright future which it now does.
I am a Liberal by temperament, by instinct and by upbringing.
My own family was marked, scattered and reunited by the tragic conflicts of the last century.
I was taught from an early age that Britain was a place of tolerance and pluralism, with a history steeped in democracy and the rule of law.
I believe that liberalism is the thread that holds together everything this country stands for. Pull out that thread and the fabric of the nation unravels.
We are a people with a strong sense of fair play and social justice. An instinct to protect the environment for future generations. We are suspicious of arbitrary power, wary of government interference. We want to play an active, enlightened role in the affairs of the world.
And we have always put our faith in the power of ordinary men and women to change things for the better.
So why is Britain still not the liberal nation we want it to be?
Look around us:
Our civil liberties casually cast aside.
Gigantic, faceless and incompetent Government bureaucracies.
Security and opportunity in short supply, particularly in the poorest communities.
Families struggling to meet each month’s bills. Struggling to balance the demands of work, and the time for a real family life.
Above all, our politics is broken.
Out of step with people.
Out of step with the modern world.
That is why I have one sole ambition: to change Britain to make it the liberal country the British people want it to be.
I want a new politics: a people’s politics.
I want to live in a country where rights, freedoms and privacy are not the playthings of politicians, but safeguarded for everyone.
Where political life is not a Westminster village freak show, but open, accessible, and helpful in people’s everyday lives.
Where parents, pupils and patients are in charge of our schools and hospitals.
Where fine words on the environment are translated into real action.
Where social mobility becomes a reality once again, so that no-one is condemned by the circumstances of their birth.
Why have we stopped imagining a better society?
Look at what we’ve got.
The Conservatives and New Labour have governed in the same way.
Top-down and centralising
I refuse to believe that the only alternative to a clapped out Labour Government is a Conservative party which has no answers to the big issues – environmentalism without substance, social justice without money, internationalism without Europe.
The challenge for my party is clear and simple: to define a liberal alternative to the discredited politics of Big Government.
I want to open up my party, open up Westminster, and open up politics for good.
To lead well, a leader needs to listen.
That’s why I will hold regular and public Town Hall Meetings.
That’s why I want to open up the Liberal Democrats to give people who support us, but aren’t members, a say on the big issues.
That’s why I will spend at least one day every week listening and campaigning outside Westminster.
That’s why I will set up a network of real families, who have nothing to do with party politics, in every region of this country to advise me on what they think should be my priorities.
If you once voted Lib Dem but think we’ve spent too much time focusing on ourselves.
If you once voted Conservative but don’t know what they stand for any more.
If you once voted Labour but feel let down after ten years of disappointment.
If you’ve given up voting altogether, but still care about the world we live in:
Then a newly united, energetic, optimistic Liberal Democrat party is there for you.
This is an unprecedented time of opportunity for liberalism in Britain.
If we are to grab this opportunity, my party will need to change.
We must start acting like the growing national political movement that we are. More professional. More united. More ambitious.
Liberalism is the creed of our times.
The old left-right politics has broken down. Labour and the Conservatives are mutating into each other, united in defence of a system which has let the people down.
Instead, we must start where people are, not where we think they should be.
In short, I want the Liberal Democrats to be the future of politics.
Because Liberal Democrats have the courage to imagine a better society.
To break the stifling grip of the two-party system for good.
To bring in a new politics.
Of politicians who listen to people, not themselves.
No more business as usual. No more government-knows-best.
I want today to mark the beginning of real change in Britain.
The beginning of Britain’s liberal future.

Vote for Connect2 and improve walking and cycling in and around Bath

£50 million, four competitors and only one winner. The polls are open. Have you voted yet?
Two projects to create new cycle routes in Bath and Norton Radstock are part of the 79 schemes UK-wide that will happen if Sustrans’ Connect2 wins, so please vote to bring a share of £50 million to our area.

You can play your part in winning the bid by voting and asking everyone you know to vote too. Just a few moments of your time could make all the difference.

You can vote online now at www.sustransconnect2.org.uk. Telephone voting will begin on Friday 7 December. All voting concludes at 12 noon on Monday 10 December. The telephone number will be able on the sustrans website.

Two formerly glorious but long disused railway tunnels will become part of an exciting cycle and walking route between Midford and Bath. There are three opportunities to vote for this project to win the funding – online now, and by landline and mobile from 7 December. All voting concludes at midday 10 December, with the winner announced on 12 December.

The Two Tunnels Greenway Project will create something to enjoy for cycle commuters, families, walkers and tourists from a series of disconnected parts of the old Somerset and Dorset railway, running south from Bath and beneath Combe Down. It will link to the Bath-Bristol cycle path at the northern end and also give commuters from Midsomer Norton and Radstock a pleasant, flat route into Bath from the South.

The project is part of a national project by sustainable transport charity Sustrans and is supported by Bath & North East Somerset Council. Sustrans has battled its way into a shortlist of four organisations competing for the £50 million pot to fund projects around the country, under the National Lottery’s The People’s Millions scheme.

The Sustrans project is called Connect2. If it wins in December, it will see hundreds of miles of walking and cycling routes spring up around the UK – providing extra bridges, extra links – improving travel and reducing our carbon footprint. Two Tunnels is just one of the many projects included in this scheme.

The multi-user path will join Bath and Midford by a virtually flat system of tunnels and impressive overland paths following the existing disused railway. The route makes a wide sweep through Oldfield Park, surfaces in the secretive Lyncombe Vale and finally emerges in beautiful open country at Tucking Mill, before joining the long distance Sustrans NCN24 route at Midford.
The campaign promoters expect the ‘Two Tunnels’ route to benefit businesses, residents and visitors. They believe it will encourage visitors to stay for more than a simple two-hour visit to the city centre, and make more use of what Bath has to offer. It will also secure the future for the impressive railway structures on this famous old route, and offers a chance to make good use of some of Bath’s more under-appreciated assets, reclaiming them for residents and visitors.
However, the route first has to be built, and while much of the work has already been done courtesy of the Victorian engineers who built the railway, it will cost an estimated £1.8 million to complete.

The businesses of Bath & North East Somerset can help by alerting their staff and their clients to this opportunity to vote for something good for Bath & North East Somerset. Organisers are asking businesses to ask their staff and clients to sign up for a voting reminder at www.sustransconnect2.org.uk.

For more information on the Two Tunnels Greenway, see:http://www.twotunnels.org.uk/

For information on Sustrans Connect2, visit: http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/

Oldfield Park Railway Station:- Update from Passenger Focus

The additional carriages leased in to ease the capacity problems created by the timetable change last December are being returned to Northern Rail at the end of this week. Eight units are going back but FGW have leased in an additional 12 units to replace them so they will have more than enough carriages to service the new timetable which starts next Monday. I have been concerned at the amount of short-forming of trains that has been occurring in this area over the past couple of months and have taken this matter up directly with the new Chief Operating Officer in the company. He is fully aware of the issues affecting our part of the route particularly the Cardiff/Portsmouth short-formings which have a significant impact on cross-Bristol routes during peak times. As a result of my intervention, I am hopeful that a ‘spare’ unit will be stabled at Westbury from next Monday onwards to cater for breakdowns or shortages which may occur during the morning peak. This will provide the facility for the ‘spare’ to in-fill if there are problems with the allocated train heading towards Bristol.

I have also managed to persuade the company to strengthen its contingency plan in respect of stopping High Speed trains at Oldfield Park and Keynsham during the morning peak IF local services have failed and passengers are left stranded at those stations. This contingency has been used a lot more this year and I will be monitoring its use as the new timetable unfolds.

What would be extremely useful for me would be if you could report back occasions where you have been left stranded at Oldfield Park due to the cancellation of a local service and then suffered the frustration of seeing a High speed train flying past on its way to Bristol. A short email would suffice and would then allow me the opportunity to make an early challenge to the company as to why the contingency plan was not used. (Note : readers please post a comment on the blog and I will forward to Passenger Focus) Sometimes they may decide not to stop as there may be another local service a few minutes behind it. This is fine as long as there is sufficient capacity on the following train to pick up the total number of passengers waiting at Oldfield Park. If there are occasions where this happens and passengers are left behind then please let me know asap.

Mike Greedy

Passenger Focus

Don Foster seeks votes for local Two Tunnels project

Bath Member of Parliament, Don Foster, is urging people to give backing to bikes by voting for charity Sustrans in a lottery competition to win a £50 million boost. Don Foster is leading a parliamentary bid to win support for the green transport group, which is on a shortlist of four for the Big Lottery Fund’s People’s £50 Million Lottery Giveaway.

The Liberal Democrat MP has joined forces with Labour former Home Secretary Charles Clarke to table a Commons motion backing the Sustrans Connect2 project. The aim is to revitalise walking and cycling in 79 locations by creating new routes for journeys, with crossings and bridges over busy roads, railway lines, rivers and canals. Mr Foster said the Bath area’s Two Tunnels initiative would give residents an easy and interesting flat, straight route between Midford and Bath, linked to other cycle and walking routes at both ends. He said:

The Two Tunnels scheme is one of the most exciting cycling and walking projects planned by Sustrans across the country as part of its Connect2 project.

The winner of the money will be decided by a TV programme and telephone vote in early December, with the Bath scheme hoping to get £1.1 million if Sustrans wins. The Commons motion urges people to vote for the “exciting UK-wide project” because it would promote sustainable travel by connecting millions of people to the places they want to go. Sustrans hopes to restore Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s swivel bridge in the docks area in Bristol as part of the project, four decades after it stopped working. London mayor Ken Livingstone and the Olympic Delivery Authority are among other supporters of Connect2, which will also benefit Weymouth, one of the 2012 venues.

Online voting begins on Monday, November 26, with telephone lines opening on Friday, December 7, and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly championing the Sustrans bid on an ITV1 show on Tuesday, December 4.