Mobile Library cuts back down by Council: maybe…

Councillor Terry Gazzard, Tory Cabinet Member with responsibility for Libraries, has confirmed that he will not be implementing the published proposal to cut the mobile library service (Cabinet Member decision E2015).

However, Cllr Gazzard has indicated that he will now be requiring Council Officers to draw up revised consultation proposals with a range of options, including the option of status quo.

If Cllr Gazzard is to consult on a range of options including the staus quo, surely the other options will either be therefore to increase the level of the service or to cut the level of service. The Tory Cabinet on the Council must use this revised consultation to truly listen to local communities on how the service can best meet the needs of service users.

The previous announcement of Tory cuts can be found here.

Tories attack local readers

A consultation exercise is soon to be carried out by the Council on cutting the mobile library service. Many of these cuts fall on villages, but they also fall on communities in Bath. In Foxhill, for instance, the two library stops in Hawthorn Grove and in Bradford Park are to be cut. Mobile library visits to Twerton will be cut altogether.

These cuts fall on the least well off and most vulnerable in our communities. Getting to the central library by bus is too expensive. The mobile library service gives easy access to books, in particular, for children from the poorest households. This administration seems unable to recognise the importance of making books available to our less well off residents.

This move by the Conservative Administration is about shaving off a relatively small amount of fuel costs, and we are concerned that a valuable service that goes out to residential areas is under threat of reduction. The danger is that some people might well be put off altogether from using the library.

The mobile library will disappear from Twerton altogether. What message does that give to youngsters eager to improve their reading skills? Email us or contact us via the website and let us know your views on these proposed cuts by the Council.

Have your say about play at Sand Pits, Monksdale Rd

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Thanks to the efforts of Mrs Dixon and Cllr Dixon (Lib Dem, Walcot) the Council is planning improve play facilities for children and young people at Sand Pits play park, Monksdale Road, Oldfield Park, Bath.

Local children and young people together with their families are invited to find out more and put forward their views at an open event on Friday August 7, from 2 – 5pm.

Mrs and Cllr Dixon together with us, Council Officers, the play park designers and the Police will be there to talk about the scheme and gather the views of as many local children and young people (and their families), as possible, to help develop ideas about the design of the park.

The investment into Sand Pits play park is part of £2.5 million investment across the area to encourage more children and young people to play outside safely in their own communities.

We are looking forward to showing these proposals to the local community and listening to their feedback. The Sand Pits has long been in need of some attention, it is a well used park with people from all over the city visiting.

Anyone unable to attend but interested in the improvements is invited to take a look at the Facebook group: ‘I love the Sand Pits!’.

For more information about the Play Pathfinder project in Bath & North East Somerset contact pathfinder_enquiries@bathnes.gov.uk, tel 08000 731214 or visit www.bathnes.gov.uk and select pages on Play Out, Hang Out.

Organic waste and cardboard collection problems

Due to staff shortages resulting from sickness and a vehicle breakdown in the afternoon, the collection teams were unable to finish all of the rounds today including the collection on Moorland Road, Crandale Road, and Livingstone Road.

The Council will endeavour to return to the following roads tomorrow, Saturday 1st August.

If you have any problems, please contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41.

Englishcombe Inn application requested to be decided at a public Planning Committee meeting

We have requested that if the Planning Case Officer is minded to refuse planning permission for the Englishcombe Inn site for a new 40-bed Care Home, then the application should be heard in public by the Development Control Committee.

Legally, to request this we had to give planning reasons for our request; and these were:

* This is an imaginative reuse of a derelict facility and adds economic vitality to the area;
* The plan, whilst bulky, pays respect to the existing structure whilst using the contour of the land in an imaginative and bold
way to provide the facilities needed for the proposed client groups.
* The application will generate far less traffic onto the busy Englishcombe Lane than other applications such as for housing and
the precedent for density set just a few hundred yards away at Sabin Close.

We also wrote that the applicant has met with residents and listened to their concerns and made modifications that meet most demands. Obviously, the loss of the building as a pub will not suite those who wish to see it returned to being a public house.

The final decision on whether or not to hear the planning application at the democratic public meeting will be made by the Chair of the Committee, Cllr Les Kew (Conservative, High Littleton).

We now await the decision of the Council Officer and the Chair of the Committee.

Electrification will be huge benefit to Bath

Our MP Don Foster has warmly welcomed the news that the government is to begin immediately with plans to electrify the Great Western line from London to Swansea.

Although the work will take 8 years to complete, it will provide numerous benefits including increased capacity on trains, shorter journey times and, most importantly, a reduction in CO2 emissions.

Liberal Democrats have long campaigned from electrification of the rail network, and this plan was included within the “Green Road out of Recession” document that the party launched in autumn 2008. Don said,

Electrification of the Great Western line is long overdue, and something that I have been calling to happen for some time. This is great news for rail users in Bath, as well as all of us conscious of rising levels of CO2.

We have recently seen an increase in reliability of this service, so Bath and Oldfield Park train users are now finally getting a better deal. However, we still have the problem of hugely expensive fares – the London to Cardiff line is the 3rd most expensive per mile in the world.

There are still improvements needed to our service in the eight years before electrification, but there is now clearly a brighter future ahead for rail users in Bath.

Hopes for school transport improvements dashed

Local campaigners’ hopes that the new school year could bring improvements to school transport arrangements have been dashed by B&NES Cabinet members’ decision to reject key proposals from a committee review.

The Council’s Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting on Monday night was dominated by a paper on the Transport to Secondary School Review previously initiated by the panel.

In responding to the recommendations within the review, the Cabinet members for Children’s Services and Customer Services accepted a number of proposals such as investigating sources of funding for school transport, but crucially rejected proposals on:

• A flat rate weekly fare of £10;
• Cheaper weekly tickets for second and third children in a family;
• Making school transport a priority for the Council;
• Revising the distance which children may be expected to walk or cycle to 1.5 miles rather than 3 miles.

Councillor Nathan Hartley (Peasedown), who is the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet member for children’s services, commented:

I am disappointed that, despite a hard fought campaign by parents and a full review by the panel, the Cabinet is still refusing to take any definite action to address the issue of school transport.

The Cabinet members said in their response that school transport is not a financial priority for the Council and that the Council was not in a position to tell parents what is an acceptable distance to walk to school. The Cabinet has made it clear they are not going to bring about any significant change, and that they will not be willing to look at this matter again.

Everyone in this area knows that if we could improve arrangements for transport to school it would go a long way towards tackling congestion, particularly in Bath. We’re sure many people are looking forward to clearer roads now the school holidays are here – if we could encourage more people to use public transport to get to school, it could be like this all year around.

Hayesfield Sports and Performing Arts Building Project – Planning Permission granted

Planning Permission has now been granted for Hayesfield School to go ahead with their plans to re-develop the Upper School Site.

We are all very excited about this and would like to thank those local residents who supported the School in developing their plans, such that the Council have approved the scheme.

The School is now embarking on the next stage of the development and they have selected a contractor and are in the process of drawing up of the site construction programme.

The School is holding a public at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday 30th July at the School Hall  to give local residents the opportunity to meet the building contactors and discuss the construction plans, and timeframe for the new Sports Hall and Performing Arts Suite.

COMMUNITY CASHBACK – Have your say in how criminals’ cash is spent

You could have a say in how millions of pounds seized from criminals is spent on community projects

A new pilot fund is giving people a direct say in how the ill gotten gains of criminals can be used to benefit their communities in the fight against crime – and you too can have a say.

The £4 million Community Cashback scheme is being funded by money and assets seized from wealthy criminals. It allows the public to choose which worthwhile community projects are funded by feeding in their views to a new dedicated website, neighbourhood policing meetings or through Citizens’ Panels.

Successful bids will have to show how the local community has been involved in selecting the project, demonstrate good value for money and be related in some way to tackling antisocial or criminal behaviour locally. This might include renovating a vandalised play area, investing in a youth centre or installing security measures on estate.

To suggest a scheme for Oldfield Park click here.

The Community Cashback fund will ensure a portion of the ill gotten gains of criminals are ploughed back into communities at a grassroots level, funding the projects that the public decide will make the most positive difference to their lives.

Seizing capital assets deprives criminals of money, reduces the incentive for crime and promotes fairness and confidence in the criminal justice system. But schemes like Community Cashback fund are only successful if people use them. We hope you will use it.

The message behind Community Cashback and Community Payback is simple – the public must have a stronger voice in the criminal justice system – after all, it operates on their behalf and must have their backing.

New fire control centre delayed – again!

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The opening of a regional fire control centre covering the west country has been delayed until May 2011.

The centre, which is opposed by the the Liberal Democrats, Avon Fire Authority and the Fire Brigades Union, will handle emergency calls from Gloucestershire in the north to Cornwall in the south.

It was supposed to open two years ago, but has been delayed again because of problems with the IT system.

The government said it was a complex project which would deliver benefits. Cllr Shaun McGall, a member of Avon Fire Authority said:

The project is over budget and will not deliver either cost savings or more importantly improved service to local residents and the emergency services. It’s time the Government pulled the plug on the scheme.

Responding to the announcement the Fire Brigades Union said the project was

“like Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch with everyone knowing it was dead apart from government which insists it is still alive”.

This project is a total waste of tax payers money, at a time when fire authorities are facing severe financial constraints and cutbacks in public spending it’s absolutely immoral the government is throwing huge amounts of tax payers money that’ s going nowhere.

The money would be better used on frontline services throughout the south west.

Regionally the union said the additional 10-month delay will cost a further £1,548,930.

Read the rest of this entry.