On this Wednesday afternoon, 28th October, at 3.00 pm, on the Guildhall stairs, the Chairman of the Council, Councillor Bryan Chalker, will be unveiling a commemorative plaque in memory of the late Harry Patch, who was the last surviving British soldier from World War 1. Harry was very proud to be a Bathonian and it was felt appropriate to remember him and his comrades in this way.

There will be colours from the Light Infantry (representing Harry’s Regiment) and a bugler will play. Guests attending include, the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, the High Sheriff of Somerset, two of Harry’s grandchildren, the Mayor of Bath, the Area Manager of the Avon Fire and Rescue Service (Harry was once a fireman), Officers from the Rifles Regiment, serving Officers from the Army, and representatives of the Royal British Legion and several Bath Veteran Groups.

King Bladud’s statue will be back on public view in Bath’s Parade Gardens at the end of the month thanks to work done by King Bladud’s Pigs project in partnership with Bath and North East Somerset Council.

The life size statue of King Bladud will be officially unveiled on Saturday 31 October by Chairman of Bath & North East Somerset Council, Councillor Bryan Chalker and Gitte Dawson from the King Bladud’s Pig project as part of Heritage Open Week. The statue of King Bladud will stand alongside a stone pig carved by Nigel Bryant and students from The City of Bath College.

The statue, sculpted by Pieroni in 1859, depicts King Bladud the supposed founder of the city of Bath. During the 19th century, the statue stood on the top of the fountain in Bath Street. In 1872, it was removed from Bath Street and has been in the grounds of various houses on Entry Hill and in the gardens of Springfield Nursing Home.

In 2007, the statue was placed in storage. Ever since then, the Council has been keen to get the statue back in its rightful place. This has now been possible thanks to support from Kind Bladud’s Pigs project who have cleaned the statue and helped with the installation.

To mark the unveiling of the statue, 30 of the brightly coloured King Bladud’s Pig sculptures from the 2008 project will also be on show in the Parade Gardens on the day.

Councillor Bryan Chalker, Chairman of Bath and North East Somerset Council said:

“Bath and North East Somerset Council is delighted that the statue of King Bladud can once again be enjoyed by the public and would like to thank King Bladud’s Pigs project for their help with the move. We want to celebrate the history of the city and get a new generation interested in learning more about the world class arts and culture on our doorstep.”

Gitte Dawson, King Bladud’s Pigs project, said:

”Right from the beginning, the King Bladud’s Pigs project team were keen to restore this statue to public view, and so were the members of the public! Some people donated money towards this end, and we are very pleased that it has been possible to finance both the installation of the statue and the creation of the stone-carved King Bladud’s Pig from the proceeds of our poster, book and mini pig sales which carried on long after the pigs had all been sold.

“This is in addition to the £200,000 the project raised for the Two Tunnels project. A display about that project – on which work is due finally to start in January 2010 – will also be available on the day.”

A Liberal Democrat Councillor has attacked a decision by Conservative-run B&NES Council to cancel the forthcoming UK Youth Parliament Elections, which are due to take place in the authority in January.

Cllr Nathan Hartley (Peasedown St John) was contacted by frustrated members of the young people’s campaign group DAFBY (Democratic Action for B&NES Youth) last week with the sad news that the Council has decided to cancel the annual elections – which are now approaching their tenth year.

Cllr Nathan Hartley, who nine years ago was one of the founding members of DAFBY and the UK Youth Parliament elections here in B&NES, said:

“This is an awful decision to make. Now approaching its tenth year of activity the UK Youth Parliament has been extremely successful in engaging young people in the democratic process and encouraging countless teenagers to take an active role in society.

This move by B&NES Council is a smack in the face to every young person who has been involved with DAFBY since myself and group of peers founded the group in the year 2000.”

B&NES has cited a lack of staff support behind their reason for cancelling the elections.

Last Sunday, Cllr Nathan Hartley held an emergency meeting with DAFBY members in an attempt to save the elections. At the meeting, the group laid out a set of proposals of how to address the situation, and to get the election process back on track.

At the time of going to press, no one from the Authority has accepted Cllr Hartley’s invitation for a meeting to explore a rescue package.

Cllr Hartley continued:

“I really do hope the Council decides to make a positive U-turn and re-instate the elections.
Imagine if B&NES decided to cancel the 2011 local elections – if they did there would be a public out-cry. These elections that promote and enable youth democracy should be no different.”

The Conservative-led Council also have plans to cut the number of DAFBY meetings down to two per month (from the current four) and cancel all Council-funded transport to the meetings from April 2010.

For a full list of road works in Oldfield Park this week click here.

Commenting on the debate over the proposed homelessness centre near Kingsmead Square, Cllr Will Sandry (Lib Dem shadow Cabinet member for healthier communities and older people and Councillor for Oldfield) said:

“Cllr Pritchard, through indifference and inaction, has lost £2.5M of central government funding for this project and now he is stuck with the James Street West site as it has become the only affordable site.

“The shameful thing about this project is that it is still not clearly defined what will be at the site, but it is accepted that the site is too small to provide the right facilities for the complex needs of homeless people in Bath.

“Cllr Pritchard knows that all he needs to do is pick up the phone to the Homes and Communities Agency to re-establish dialogue. But for some reason he is unwilling to do this.

“The one thing I agree with Cllr Pritchard about is that the facilities at the current Julian House desperately need to be upgraded.

“Unless he sorts this mess out soon, we will be left spending millions on a second rate facility.”

For a full list of roadworks in Oldfield Park this week click here.

For a full list of roadworks in Oldfield Park this week click here.