The Council’s programme of free family play activities comes to the Sandpits Play area on Thursday 23 July between 2 and 4 pm

The session will involve one or two simple play activities; this may include mud painting, kite making, traditional games, mini-beast hunts, family forest school, bat walks and more.

The sessions will be led by a play officer from the Council’s Parks Department, with support from local play workers. People can drop in at any time; there is no need to book.

Play sessions are being organised by the Council’s parks team and will also run from 2 – 4pm at other locations in Bath on the following dates:

July
Wednesday 22
Royal Victoria Park Play Area, Bath, BA1 2LZ

Thursday 23
Sandpits Play Area, Bath, BA2 1A

August

Wednesday 19
Carrs Wood, BA2 1RZ

Tuesday 25
Archery Field, Weston, Bath, BA1 2XD

Things might get messy, or even wet, so please wear appropriate clothes. All children need to be accompanied by an adult and all accompanying adults are invited to join in the family play.

Shaun McGall and Will Sandry have been elected to represent the residents of Oldfield Ward until May 2019.

Cllr Will Sandry said: “I’m so very pleased to have been re-elected and  I thank those who had confidence in me. I will continue to do my very best for our community”.

Cllr Shaun McGall said: “It’s a great honour to serve the residents and businesses of our community again; thank you for your trust in us both to stand up for the communities within the Ward”.

We’re releasing our report back about our achievements on behalf of the residents of Oldfield Ward over the past four years.

Following your feedback we’ve also made a mini-mainfesto of the improvements we’d like to make in the Ward over the next four years if you elect us on Thursday.

Follow this link for the full report back and mini manifesto

Cllr Will Sandry and Cllr David Dixon with Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate Steve Bradley
Photo by Paul Gillis – PaulGillisphoto.com

The forthcoming revamp of the Bath sports and leisure centre will add ten pin bowling and climbing to the activities on offer at the popular city centre venue.

B&NES’ Lib Dem-run Council is currently reviewing two final bids for a £15m+ investment into leisure facilities across the area. The bowling and climbing plan are included in both offers.

Councillor David Dixon (Lib Dem, Oldfield) has been the Cabinet member responsible for brokering this new deal. He commented:

“I am delighted that we are now just weeks away from announcing the preferred bidder who will take over the running of our local leisure facilities and invest in improving them. We all know just how tired Bath Sports and Leisure Centre is looking. The Liberal Democrats have worked hard to bring forward concrete proposals and we are now on the cusp of signing a deal.”

“The Liberal Democrats took control of B&NES Council in 2011. At that point, the future of leisure in the area was looking bleak. The outgoing Conservative administration left a legacy of poor contract management, no strategy and no funding.

“The Lib Dems have already delivered a completely revamped Odd Down Sports Ground with 3G pitches, a new pavilion and cycle circuit. We signed off a new and improved strategy for leisure last year and started the search for a new operations partner.”

City-centre Councillor Manda Rigby (Lib Dem, Abbey) added:

“Our strategy for leisure activities in Bath is ambitious and fully funded with no extra expense to the tax payer. It will see ten pin bowling and a climbing wall included in the contract for Bath Sports and Leisure Centre alongside heavy investment in the changing facilities and a new learner pool.

“Keynsham will get a brand new leisure centre and we will secure the future of Culverhay as a much-loved sports centre to the south of the city. I am delighted with the hard work that has been put in by Council Officers over the past years who have shared our vision to make this a reality”

Councillor Katie Hall (Lib Dem, Lyncombe) said:

“Bowling and climbing are great activities which have a lot of appeal for families and young people. These will be a fantastic addition to the wide range of leisure activities already on offer locally.

“The fact that there will not be a bar associated with the bowling alley is particularly welcome and will help create health-focussed, family-friendly atmosphere. “

Steve Bradley, Liberal Democrat candidate to become MP for Bath, said:

“Local residents have a clear choice on May 7th between a forward-thinking and ambitious Liberal Democrat-run Council, which will deliver concrete improvements and a hesitant Tory-run Council that will steer clear of the hard-to-do issues.”

The preferred final bidder will be announced within weeks.

· Two bidders remain; both are charitable trusts with significant leisure experience, who are committed to working with the Council to deliver its objectives of raising levels of physical activity and tacking health inequalities as set out in the Fit for Life strategy.

· The contract will deliver in excess of £15 million of investment to modernise and upgrade its leisure centres

· It will provide a major refurbishment of Bath Sports and Leisure Centre which will include new family-focused activities such as 10 pin bowling, a climbing wall, enhanced soft play as well as complete refurbishment of the changing facilities, fitness suite and studio space.

· There will also be improvements to Culverhay Leisure Centre and a potential new build leisure facility in Keynsham to include a swimming pool, learner pool, fitness suite and studio space

· The new contract will also cover Chew Valley Leisure Centre, Odd Down Playing Fields and the Pavilion.

One of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats on B&NES Council has been to introduce licensing for small (3-4 bedroom) Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). This was not about controlling absolute HMO numbers, but rather improving standards. In this regard licensing has been very successful as demonstrated by facts below:

 
· Approx. 1,000 HMOs brought into licensing scheme;
· Over 80% of inspected properties did not meet all the licencing standards with almost a third not even meeting minimum legal standards;
· Therefore this scheme will have improved the improved the accommodation of over 3,000 residents.

Cllr Will Sandry said: “Students and young professionals are particularly vulnerable to being taken advantage of by unscrupulous landlords. I’m delighted that this scheme has improved the quality of homes for thousands of residents in my community. “

The Council’s planning committee have refused permission for this development. This is a victory for local residents and indeed for your local Liberal Democrat Councillors who have worked very hard to secure this result.

Cllr David Dixon said,

“This is Bath, a conservation area and World Heritage Site. Every development must enhance this and should not simply make do. Here is an application to support a building which is totally out of character to its surroundings, a building that stands out as a blot on the landscape across the South of Bath, a building that towers it’s neighbours.”

He then gave three very good reasons that the committee could use to refuse the development and thy did indeed use one of those reasons. Cllr Dixon continued,

The proposed development, by reason of its inappropriate design, incorporating a predominance of flat roofs, would be incongruous in this prominent location and out of character within its context. This would be harmful to the character and appearance of this part of the Conservation Area. That is from the 2007 reason for refusal.

You can also read Cllr Will Sandry’s personal objection to the application here: WS Objection 43UOP

Residents may have noticed that some of the the bicycle parking on Moorland Road has been moved to other locations on the street. This is so a hire station for the popular Next Bike hire scheme can be installed.

Cllr Will Sandry said: “David and I have been pressing for the Next Bike scheme to be brought to a location near Moorland Road and Oldfield Park Station. I’m really pleased that this has been possible because the Next Bike scheme is being expand this year.”

Shaun McGall added: “We are keen to get more visitors to Moorland Road. That is why the Next Bike station is important for Moorland Road”

We’ve been asked to nominate important Local Green Spaces in Oldfield Ward which would help protect them from future development. Allotments are already designated under existing local plans, but other areas would you like to be included?

Possible Local Green Spaces are shown in the drawing and include the centre of The Oval, the Moorfields Rec and the Sandpits

Will, David and Shaun would like you to let us know what you think and why these spaces are important to you. Please email us at oldfieldbath@gmail.com

Click for larger image

We are asking residents and businesses what they think of proposals to improve the centre of Moorland Road at its busy junction with Herbert Road and Livingstone Road.

The proposals are:

1. Resurface the whole junction in buff coloured tarmac (same sort as you see around traffic lights).

2. Widen the uncontrolled pedestrian crossing on Herbert Road.

3. Shorten the white zig-zag outside Busy Fingers to create 2 additional parking spaces for shoppers.

Cllr Will Sandry said: “If local residents and businesses approve of these proposals, I’m confident that the visual appearance of the junction will be improved and crossing Herbert Road will be easier for pedestrians.

I’m delighted that the proposals include two additional on street parking spaces. Cllr Dixon and I know how important parking spaces are to the Moorland Road Traders and their customers.”

Improvement works to the public toilets at the Sandpits play area off Monksdale Road are scheduled to start next Monday, 23rd June.

Here are some of the key features:

• There will be two self-contained cubicles with the toilet and handwash facilities within each one, and large enough for a parent with a couple of small children and a pushchair to use together.

• One of the toilets will be DDA compliant, and both will have babychange facilities. A payment system will be on each door, requiring 20p to access (as with the existing Automated Public Toilets).

• There are no moving parts within the toilet, and the controls, eg flush and handwash are non-touch sensors. The inside is resistant to vandalism and misuse with an easy clean tiled interior and hard-wearing fittings.

• The doors are linked to both the lights inside, as well as a 15 minute timer, meaning that the toilet lock will open after a verbal warning and 15 minutes occupation (deterring misuse).

• There will be remote monitoring systems detecting and reporting problems back to Healthmatic enabling rapid response by their engineering, maintenance and cleansing teams, as well as a 24 hour telephone service line.