Cuts to bus services (No.10 and No. 20a/c) not acceptable

Early morning services and the city’s circular route are to be cut from the bus timetable at the beginning of May as First Bus reduces the service they are providing.

Early services from Combe Down, Foxhill and Larkhall are being lost. The biggest impact will, however, come from the complete removal of the 20A/C service, which stops at Ralph Allen School, the University of Bath and the RUH.

Bath MP Don Foster said that the cuts are unacceptable and will be meeting with First Bus Managing Director Justin Davies to discuss the plans.

Don said, “Many people rely on early morning buses to get to work, what option will be available to them now? Local buses need to be able to serve the needs of residents, not force them into their car.

“The loss of the 20A/C route will be a massive blow. Many students use it to get to the university and it provides a direct link for residents across the city to our local hospital. The Council must look at finding another operator for this route.”

Please sign our petition, at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/onthebuses , calling for these services to be re-instated.

You can follow more about the story on the Bath Chronicle website

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Update on changes to Use Classes Orders

I have just received the following forwarded email from the National HMO Lobby, from the Government Department for Communities and Local Government. If you follow the link, you will find it says –

“27 Feb 2009: Multiple Occupation

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to consult on amendments to use classes orders in relation to houses in multiple occupation.

Mr. Iain Wright: We are committed to consulting on possible changes to the use class order in relation to houses in multiple occupation. We are considering the most appropriate mechanism for this consultation, and plan to consult in the spring.”

Same Day Waste Collection is coming

Refuse lorry Over the years as the Council has introduced different recycling and collection schemes we have ended up with a system where you put one box out one day another on another day and your garden waste on a third. In certain areas different boxes were also put out in differing locations.

The first step was to get all residents to put all collections out to the same spot. The next step was to have been to move to same day collection in the autumn of 2007. However the current Conservative administration put that back a year and a half and it will now be happening this summer, from the 8th June 2009 – although the cardbaord / green waste service will remain fortnightly.

This is good news for us all as we now have all collections done on the same day. As a bonus this step also has the side effect of increasing recycling rates by about 6%. More information on this move can be found at here.

We will keep you regularly updated on this important change.

Council’s rent hikes will turn Bath into ghost town

Despite the current economic climate, the Conservative Council is seeking to impose 40% rent rises on some local businesses. “Short ‘n Curlys” hairdresser on Lower Borough Walls and neighbour Bath Pet Centre were both informed their rent would be going up massively.

Thanks to intervention from the Lib Dems, Short ‘n Curlys were able to negotiate a rent increase of only 5% instead.

After meeting with local business owners in January, Bath MP Don Foster proposed an 8-point plan to boost the local economy based on what business owners said they needed. The plan included asking the Council to conduct appropriate rent reviews. Don said, “It is quite simply outrageous that the Council is asking local businesses to fork out an extra 40% for rent at this time.

“Such a rise could well force many businesses to close their doors for good, and leave Bath with a number of empty units. The Council has to realise that keeping a customer is easier than finding a new one. They must conduct sensible rent reviews unless they want to turn Bath into a ghost town.”

Lib Dem Councillor Will Sandry helped challenge the rent increase and made sure that B&NES talked to the business. He said, “I find it quite bizarre that the Council is demanding these staggeringly high rent increases, but then is prepared to negotiate to a substantially lower level. ”

The Council risks putting a number of local shop outs of business if it continues on like this. They must follow the suggestion put forward by Don, and conduct sensible reviews. How many businesses will know they can negotiate down their rent in this way?

Clive Walden, owner of ‘Short ‘n Curlys’ said, “If my rent had gone up by 40% I think that might have been the end of my business. That kind of rise is not realistic at this time. The Council needs to realise the true value of local businesses.”

Scrap the RSS Housing Targets

Our MP Don Foster has been campaigning against the Whitehall imposed targets that will see Bath and North East Somerset forced to build over 21,000 homes within the next 20 years. The rate of new home building has slowed significantly, and this target is unachievable as well as unwanted.

There should be new affordable housing, but it should be local residents and the local Council who are best placed to decide how many homes are appropriate, not the Government. Liberal Democrats have always believed in letting local people have the final say on local issues.

Don has signed a petition calling on the Prime Minster to scrap the centrally imposed RSS targets. We hope many local residents would also be interested in signing up to oppose this scheme. The link is: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SuspendRSS/

Make Small Business Rate Relief automatic

Our local Bath MP, Don Foster, has become a signatory to a Parliamentary Bill that would see Small Business Rate Relief paid automatically to those businesses that qualify. The Small Business Rate Relief (Automatic Payment) Bill is supported by the Federation of Small Businesses as well as a host of other organisations, including:

National Federation of Sub Post Masters
Local Government Association
Association of Convenience Stores
National Federation of Retail Newsagents
Campaign for Real Ale

Small businesses are an important part of the economy. We are lucky in Bath to have a number of independent businesses, such as many of those on Moorland Road, which adds to the unique flavour of the city.

This relief on business rates could make a massive difference to a number of small businesses, yet we know that in Bath and North East Somerset there is currently £1million of rate relief unclaimed. This Bill will ensure that small businesses receive the money that is earmarked for them, and we are delighted that Don Foster supports it.

In the meantime we hope that the Council will continue to promote this rate relief to small businesses and ensure the maximum possible take up.

Doubts about B&NES Council office plan

The Conservative-run Cabinet of Bath and North East Somerset Council has adopted a report outlining plans for the Council’s future office arrangements – including the redevelopment of Keynsham Town Hall and the removal of most Council offices from Bath.

Liberal Democrats have opposed previous Conservative plans to build a brand-new Council office on a single site because:

1.      of the enormous costs involved;

2.      centralisation does not favour delivery of local services at a local level;

3.      a new Council office it’s not our residents’ top priority for Council spending in the current economic downturn.

Now the Conservative Cabinet is looking at ‘new’ proposals which are clearly intended to bring in a single office by the back door. The Cabinet is considering an almost total withdrawal of Council departments from Bath and the creation of a shiny new building on the site of Keynsham Town Hall – to be partly funded by the sale of vacated offices in Bath, leaving the Cabinet open to accusations of selling off the family silver.

If the Cabinet is serious about regeneration then it needs to look for ways to support existing businesses and create new jobs right across the district. Moving staff around like ‘chess pieces’ is of benefit to no-one, particularly not those members of staff whose jobs will be disrupted.

We are also concerned that the Cabinet has approved a budget of £0.8M for a 9-month ‘viability appraisal’ – that works out at nearly £90,000 per month! Is this the right message to be sending at a time when businesses across the district are struggling to survive?

Children in Bath will benefit from schools plan

Proposals from the Lib Dems for big improvements to schools and teaching will see over £5million of extra cash for schools in Bath and North East Somerset to boost the education and life chances of thousands of children.

The plans were launched by Party Leader Nick Clegg and Shadow Secretary of State for Schools, David Laws MP. They call for raising standards in all local schools; closing the gap between children from rich and poor families and ending the era of Government meddling in education.

Speaking about the proposals to local party members, Bath MP Don Foster said that there are a number of radical ideas to ensure all young people get the best start in life. The extra cash will make a real difference in our local schools. He is particularly pleased that funding is proposed to cut infant class sizes to private school levels of 15.

We will also introduce a £2.5bn Pupil Premium, to ensure that extra funding goes to the pupils with the highest needs, whichever school they are in. And some of that extra money will pay for after school and Saturday classes, and extended school days.

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Estate Agents must control themselves

Streets in some areas of Oldfield Park in Bath are currently a forest of TO LET signs. It is well known that Oldfield Park has a high number of properties let to students. One consequence of this is that every January and February there are TO LET signs on most streets; in some cases multiple signs from the same agency.

Local Councillors are calling on Estate Agents to self- regulate the number of signs they put up.

Cllr Will Sandry has called on estate agents to remove their multiple TO LET signs in Oldfield and not to put them up in such excessive numbers in future years.

There are special regulations that the Council has in place to stop estate agents putting up signs in the conservation areas of the city, but Oldfield is not a conservation area.

If the estate agents do not respond maturely and in the best interests of our residents they can be assured that Councillors in Bath will be asking Council Officers to extend this special “Article 7” regulation to cover all other parts of the City.

Alternative budget proposals from opposition Councillors

Members of B&NES Council’s Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet are proposing an alternative budget this week as the Council begins the process of setting the Council’s budget, spending priorities and Council Tax for the next year.

Budget proposals were made in the first place to the Corporate Performance and Resources O&S Panel, which met on the 2nd Feb 2009.

Councillor Paul Crossley (Southdown), Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said:

“The Conservative budget is a budget with only limited ambition for our area. It does not seek to solve the pressing problems and issues affecting residents, but rather concentrates on stashing away funds in reserves, building new Council offices at vast expense and delaying essential service improvements.

“We recognize that at these times of uncertainty the Council must cut its coat according to its cloth. We are proposing a lower Council Tax level than the Conservative budget – a 3.25% increase in contrast to the Conservative 3.5% proposal.”