Cllr Will Sandry has responsed to the Council’s consultation on the development of it Core Strategy (planning strategy) for the area. This is what Will stated:

It is shameful that the Universities have increased the combined number of their students by about 10,000 over the past fifteen years without building very much student accommodation on campus or in purpose built blocks in the City. Their inaction, leaving accommodation to “market forces” has meant that many young people in the City are disenfranchised. Young people who would like to be first time buyers have been priced out of the market by a lot of the housing stock in areas such as Oldfield Park being taken up by investors letting homes to the student market.

As first time buyers have moved to Frome, Midsomer Norton and Radstock, they now have to travel to their workplace in Bath. This has put a huge strain of the transport networks, the environment, and the local housing sector in those towns.

There should be more in the core strategy about student housing. The Council should set tough targets for the Universities to house more of their students on campus and the Core strategy should make it easier for the Universities to build on their campus. Unless the Core Strategy delivers a robust and sustainable strategy for housing our student population (about 20,000 people or 20% of Bath’s population) the Core Strategy will have failed the people of Bath and North East Somerset.

Both Will and Shaun have responsed to the Core Strategy consultation as part of the Liberal Democrat Group on the Council.

The Council is in the process of creating Regeneration Delivery Plans for the Western Corridor and Lower Bristol Road area of Bath.

RDPs are also being produced for Bath city centre, Keynsham, Midsomer Norton and Radstock and will help inform the strategic site allocations in the emerging Core Strategy. In due course the RDPs will help in the creation of area specific Supplementary Planning Documents which will be material consideration in respect of any planning applications and importantly will provide clarity over actions to deliver key regeneration sites.

The Council states that the,

RDP for the Lower Bristol Road and Western Corridor is being drawn up to help support and encourage economic growth whilst ensuring that the unique advantages of being based in Bath are identified and enhanced.

As part of the Lower Bristol Road and Western Corridor RDP, Savills, the Council’s appointed consultant, will be engaging with local stakeholders including businesses within the area to establish what businesses’ plans are in the short, medium and longer term. This will be carried out through telephone surveys and in some cases, site visits. Savills will also engage with local residents and other local groups to ensure that the voices of those who have a direct interest in this important corridor for Bath are heard.

The current planned engagement for the Lower Bristol Road Western Corridor RDP process is set out below:

– January 2010 – Finalise information gathering (including landowner questionnaires)

– February 2010 – Confirmation of issues and options through stakeholder engagement

– March 2010 – Draft RDP

– April 2010 – RDP sign off

If you have any comments on the future of of this area of the city or the RDP progress, please contact us with your comments.

Bus passengers will be able to travel as many times as they want on Bath bus services whatever the operator because of a bus season ticket scheme created by Bath & North East Somerset Council and introduced by the commercial bus operators in Bath. Both Day and Week tickets will be available for adults and children.

The BathRider Scheme is a national first where a Council has used powers under the Transport Act 2000 to make a ticket scheme. All operators in the city are required to take part in the scheme which starts November 9th 2009.

Public transport groups have given their support for the initiative. Mike Greedy, Passenger Focus Manager, said, “Simplified ticketing and faster journey times are two features that passengers raise as important areas for improvements. Passenger Focus welcomes this initiative which will make travel easier and quicker for all bus passengers in the city of Bath and hopes this can be extended elsewhere in due course.”

Anne Lock, spokesperson for Campaign for Better Transport, said, “Members of Campaign for Better Transport were delighted to hear of the work undertaken by the Council in order to get the BathRider scheme up and running. We welcome the successful introduction of this initiative which will enable buses to ferry passengers around the City without the delays which arise from succeeding passengers fumbling for their fare and receiving change.”

Complex negotiations with commercial bus operators have taken place over the past six months. The Council is grateful to them for their co-operation, assistance, and advice in getting to a workable solution that will offer worthwhile benefits for passengers. Amongst those to benefit the scheme are children going to Ralph Allen School who need two buses to go to school and University students and staff who need more than one bus to get to campus. The ticket is not applicable to Park & Ride services or tour buses.

How does the BathRider work?

Passengers can buy their Daily or Weekly BathRider scratch cards at Bath Bus station; Tourist Information Centre – Abbey Churchyard; Tourism Centre –Bath Spa railway station (Platform 1); STA shop – Bath University.

When the date of travel is scratched off the ticket is then valid for the whole of that day. If it’s a weekly ticket the ticket is sealed over and is then valid for 7 days from the date scratched off. There is no limit to the number of times the ticket can be used that day or week, but the ticket must be shown to the driver each time it is used. The price (set by the bus operators) will be : Daily – £4.95 Adult/ £3.70 Child; Weekly – £17.50 Adult/ £16.50 Child.

To find out more about the district’s public transport network people can go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/transportandstreets

Bath MP Don Foster is calling on Bath & North East Somerset Council to find a new operator for the number 12 service, which has been axed without warning by First Bus.

Don said:

“It is disappointing that at a time when we are trying to encourage more people to use public transport that First Bus are once again putting their shareholders ahead of the public.

“The Council must now work to find a new operator for the 12 route, which is vital not just for those in Southdown, but also those who have to travel to Haycombe Cemetery.”