Monksdale Road Closure

The road will be closed from 7am on Tuesday 20th March until 7pm on Saturday 24th March to traffic and pedestrians.

This is to complete the installation of the new bridge for the Linear Park.

Pedestrian diversions are via Hillside Road / Hiscocks Drive / Oldfield Lane or via Linear Park and St. Kilda’s Road.

The 17 bus will be diverted via Bear Flat and notices have been put on all effected bus stops.

Will has spoken with the Contractors who are not planning to open the road overnight, but may be able to complete the works by mid afternoon on Friday 23rd March.

Article 4 and HMOs – What actually happened?

The Council’s Cabinet last night gave notice of intent t0 implement an Article 4 direction to cover the City of Bath within 12 months. If you are unsure what an Article 4 direction is, please see our HMO Q&A.

This decision has the effect of launching a formal six week public consultation at some point within the next 12 months.

After the consultation results and any other information that is required has been collected, the Cabinet will meet again to decide whether to:

  • Confirm (Go ahead with the Article 4 Direction),
  • Amend (Change bits, for example apply it only to some Wards / exclude some streets) or,
  • Abandon the Article 4 Direction.

The reason for giving this notice of intent is that it protects the Council from being sued by Investors if the final decision – to be taken in 12 months time – is to Confirm the Article 4 Direction

The Council also agreed to ask for evidence as to whether an Additional Licencing scheme should be applied to Homes of Multiple Occupation in the City. The HMO Q&A also explains what a licensing scheme could do.

Cllr Will Sandry made the following comments after the meeting:

“I am happy with the outcome, and was pleased with the engagement by students in our community (who spoke against the Article 4 direction) with both Local Government, and Oldfield residents (who spoke in favour).

In my speech I was clear that the universities have a corporate social responsibility not to take on more students than they or the city can accommodate.

Whilst I recognise the universities need to grow their businesses, they must engage with the Council so that we can understand their housing needs and help facilitate their aspirations for growth in a sustainable way.

The massive increase in the number of HMOs in recent years has had a long term impact on housing available in Oldfield Park for anyone not looking for multi-occupancy accommodation. The long term stability of a viable, diverse community is at a tipping point as a result of the rapid change of tenure.

Council also agreed to progress a licensing scheme for HMOs which has the potential to improve the quality of accommodation in the private rented sector. I am fed up of seeing students and other young people in my community in sub-standard accommodation, with bad landlords who do not invest in the property.”


Tesco withdraw

Tesco have withdrawn their planning applications on the Bath Press site.

Commenting Cllr Will Sandry said: “This was always the wrong site because it was too close to Moorland Road and the traffic at the Windsor Bridge / Lower Bristol Road Junction would have been horrendous.

I know that many people in our community want a Tesco as direct competition for Sainsbury’s and to give them more choice as to where to shop. I am sure that Tesco will be considering other potential sites in the City.

I hope that plans come forward for both affordable housing and office units at the Bath Press Site. “

Article 4 Direction

The Council’s Cabinet will debate a proposal to introduce an Article 4 direction to cover the City of Bath next Wednesday evening.

Additionally, this includes a proposal to introduce an additional licensing scheme which could improve the quality of shared housing in the private rented sector.

Will is aware that students in our community are concerned that an Article 4 direction may decrease the amount of choice that they have about where they live in their second and third years. Will has researched the Universites’ plans for building new accommodation and their projections for increased student numbers.

At present, Bath Spa University doesn’t have enough space in halls and its accommodation office block books streets in Oldfield Park for their freshers. The good news is that the University intends to create 550 study rooms on the Newton Park Campus: http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/development/residential-buildings/ This will be enough for all its freshers to be in University accommodation, and should free up over 120 family homes in the city. This could increase to 200 family homes if they build the 1,000 rooms they have potential to by 2030.

Bath University have told us that they will increase their student numbers to just over 16,000 by 2020. There are currently just under 15,000 students at Bath University. As long as they build the 2,400 study rooms they have promised there will be a surplus of over 1,00o rooms. See page 10 of the masterplan, but beware it is a 9Mb document: http://www.bath.ac.uk/masterplan/documents/Masterplan.pdf

Further Information:

The New Monksdale Road Bridge

Delivery is scheduled for 22nd March, but the date might change. We will update our website to let you know.

The bridge will be arriving in sections and a crane will be used to put it in place.

The transport route for the bridge and the crane will be from the Wellsway via Bloomfield, Hensley, Egerton, Cotswold and Hillside Roads.

All Parking and Loading will be suspended on the route and Monksdale Road will be closed in both directions.

The closure will effect the 17 bus route and we understand First will be publishing the details of the route change.

Bath Half 2012

The race takes place on Sunday 11th March. Parking suspensions in Oldfield Park will be the same as previous years. Oldfield Lane, Second Avenue, Junction Road, and Lower Oldfield Park will all have parking restrictions in place from 06:00-15:30. This is to improve access for the emergency services and buses.

Both Upper and Lower Bristol Roads will be closed from 09:45-15:30. Click here for the Residents’ information leaflet from Bath Half Good luck to all the runners!


Sandpits Grafitti – Restorative Justice

The offensive graffiti on the shelter in the Sand Pits play area has been removed by the Council.

Our local Police have identified the perpetrator and due to his age, he is eligible for the restorative justice programme. He will be spending time cleaning off graffiti in our local community under the guidance of the Council’s Youth Offending Team.

Local residents will remember that the shelter was provided for the whole community because it was identified as a priority by local residents.

Will commented: “Like many in our community, I was upset to see this abuse of the shelter. I am however pleased that a young person has the opportunity to understand what he did was wrong and avoid a criminal record on this occasion.”

Planning a street party?

The Council is waving all road closure charges for street parties in most streets over the Jubilee bank holiday weekend in June.

The Council has recently changed its policies to make it easier for communities to hold a street party. There is a dedicated webpage with all the important things you need to know.

The most important thing is to discuss your plans with the Council at least 6-8 weeks ahead of the event. You can email event@bathnes.gov.uk

Residents may also be interested to know that the Big Lunch is now in its fourth year and falls on Sunday 4th June. Check out their website for some great ideas about street parties and for a starter pack of information.

Moorland Road Pavement Refurbishment

Some residents will have noticed there has been a slowdown in getting the pavements completed.

This is because it’s the same team who do overnight gritting of our road network during freezing weather. So essentially they have been doing that rather than finishing the pavements.

Two new drains are due to be installed on 6th and 7th February during the daytime, but the pavement resurfacing won’t be completed until the weather is warmer.

Our thanks to the highways team who a work very hard to keep our road network running in this severe weather and we look forward to seeing them back to finish the pavements when it warms up.

Don’t forget that a pedestrian crossing is due to be installed across Livingstone Road before the end of March.