The Moorland Road Christmas lights will be switched on at 4:30pm, this Saturday 26th November.

Key event times:

• Santa arrives at 3.00 pm outside Sainsbury’s – Presents for all children under 8.
• Lights switch on at 4:30pm – Performances by students from Bath Spa University and the University of Bath

Will said: “I think that this is going to be a very successful switch on of the Christmas Lights and I am delighted that students in our community will be putting on street performances to entertain the crowds.

As in previous years, the Moorland Road Traders are doing a grand job of making the Christmas lights happen; David and I wish them very successful trading in the run up to Christmas.”

Homes in multiple occupation (HMOs) is the term used for when a number of unrelated people live in a house and share the bathroom and kitchen, but have their own bedroom. There have been very many conversions to this type of living in Oldfield Park and elsewhere in the City in recent years. Typically this accommodation is used by students, young professionals and migrant workers.

For a few months, we have been running a mini survey on our website. A large number of people have said yes. Have you had your say yet?

Complete the survey on the right hand side of this page.

Primary Schools around Oldfield Park are £57,096 better off this year thanks to the Pupil Premium. The Pupil Premium is national Lib Dem policy, which made it in to the Coalition Government Agreement. It allocates money to schools based on where it will help pupils from less well-off backgrounds the most.

The breakdown is as follows:

• St Johns RC Primary – £11,224
• Moorlands Infants – £10,248
• Moorlands Juniors – £9,760
• Oldfield Infants – £11,712
• Oldfield Juniors – £14,152

Secondary Schools in Bath are nearly £160,000 better off:

• Hayesfield – £50,264
• Culverhay – £26,840
• Ralph Allen – £40,992
• St Marks – £23,912
• Beechen Cliff – £26,840
• Oldfield School – £17,568

Read more about the pupil premium here

Cllr Will Sandry represents you and the Council as a member of Avon Fire and Rescue Authority.

Will said: “The Fire and Rescue service do a wonderful job, but there is much we can do to keep our homes safe. If you use an open fire, don’t forget to get your chimney swept regularly and follow the advice from the Fire Brigade”

Chimneys with fires using smokeless fuel, bituminous coal, oil and gas should be swept at least once a year, those using wood should be swept every three months when in use.

When lighting your fire:

• Don’t use flammable liquids such as petrol or paraffin
• Don’t burn paper or rubbish
• Don’t overload the fire with fuel
• Go into the loft occasionally when the fire is alight to check for smoke from cracks, defective brick work or mortar joints

Livingstone Road Crossing proposal

After many years of campaigning by your Councillors and many members of the community, there is at last a plan for a new crossing for Livingstone Road at its junction with Moorland Road.

The footways along Moorland Road are due to be resurfaced in the near future. At the same time, the footway will be widened at the junction with Livingstone Road and new dropped kerbs provided.

The Council is now consulting the public with reference to a proposal to provide a zebra crossing on Livingstone Road near the junction with Moorland Road (outside Tile Solutions) as shown on the drawing. Click here or on the picture above for the full sized drawing.

Subject to the resolution of any adverse comments, a Traffic Regulation Order will be published so that the crossing can be installed by the end of March 2012.

If you have any comments to make about this proposal, please email us as soon as possible.

Will and David on Moorland Road

Will and David are really pleased to announce that the pavements on Moorland Road are due to be resurfaced over the next few months.

Sorting out the pavements were one of our key manifesto pledges to you so we are delighted that this is being done so quickly.

We know that a lot of people (mainly the elderly and those with mobility issues) fall on the uneven paving slabs or on the double kerb along the south side of the road.

The paving slabs are due to be replaced with tarmac; and even though the double kerbs will remain, Will has worked with the Council’s highways engineers to ensure the second kerb is set back. This will create a wider step to make it easier for the people with poor eyesight or mobility problems to use.

Will said: ” I’ve seen many people fall on the Moorland Road pavements; it’s horrible to see, and even more horrible for the person who has fallen. One lady had to wait over 30 minutes for and ambulance, so anything we can do to reduce the likelihood of a fall is a great improvement.

The pavement will be resurfaced along both sides of Moorland Road between Shaftesbury Road and the Library. Click here for a PDF of the planned works: Moorland Road Pavement Plan

It is anticipated that the works will commence on Monday 24th October 2011 and continue for up to 6 weeks.

The day-time working hours are between 0700 and 1900 on weekdays. However in order to minimise disruption to businesses, residents and shoppers the contractors intend working in isolated areas replacing damaged kerbs, raising utilities / drainage covers and replacing footpath cross drains, whilst maintaining access at all times.

http://oldfield.mycouncillor.org.uk/files/2011/10/Moorland-Road-Pavement-Plan1.pdf

The potentially more disruptive works – excavation of the existing pavement and replacement with tarmac surfacing, will take place in the evenings between 1900 and 2330 weekdays.

There is flexibility in these arrangements and our Highways engineers will be happy to discuss residents and businesses  particular needs to help with access.

Both vehicular and pedestrian access will be available at all times along Moorland Road. However it will be necessary to restrict parking adjacent to each work area using traffic cones and pedestrian barriers, allowing for a pedestrian route to be created in the carriageway.

Pipe ready for insertion on 28/09/11

Tonight will see the insertion of the final section of pipe into the section of Moorland Road between Shaftesbury Road and the Library.

This should mean that the Sainsbury’s section of Moorland Road will be fully open by the end of this week and the Velo Lounge section very soon after. This will be a great relief to the traders and the community.

Next steps for your local Councillors are to try and sort out the uneven paving on the pavements!

www.thisisbath.co.uk

Reporters from the Bath Chronicle are on Moorland Road, tomorrow, 22nd September 2011 as part of the Chronicle Meet-the-people sessions. Paul Wiltshire, the Deputy editor and our local area reporter Felicity Crump will in the Busy Bee Cafe from 11am-noon. Why not pop a long an let them know if you’ve got a local story for them?

Wales and West will be closing the Moorland Road / Livingstone Road / Herbert Road junction to all traffic at 7pm on Tuesday 20th September. The closure will last about an hour and is to enable them to insert their new gas main.

The time has been selected to have the least possible impact on the Moorland Road businesses.

Gas Works Continue

Wales and West have advised us that the works are progressing well in Moorland Road – they have successfully inserted the new main on the right hand side of the road as it went the full length required i.e to Triangle North. The left hand side did not go as far and stopped on a blockage just past the junction with Herbert Road.

They are currently commissioning the main on the Francis DIY side of the road and are aiming to have this completed, together with all works on the right hand side in the first section of Moorland Road (i.e. between Shaftesbury Road and Livingstone Road) by the end of next week, with the left hand side in this section completed and cleared by the end of the following week.

Next week they will be completing connections on the junctions with Herbert Road and Livingstone Road, and this will involve open cutting new links around the junctions to minimise any impact on traffic flows. They will then continue with the insertion of the main on the left hand side from a point just past the Herbert Road junction and will have to see how far it goes from there.

Road closures have been kept to an absolute minimum and the success of this next insertion will dictate whether the next closure (due on 03/10 on the section adjacent to the Library) will be required or not.

WWU now have more information concerning the mains locations for the final connections works adjacent to the Brook Road bridge it is now apparent that these works cannot be completed without a closure on the West Avenue/Triangle North junction due to the size/location of the required excavations here.

A new closure request has been submitted to B&NES to close this location from 12/10/11 – 18/11/11, although WWU have committed to only enforce the closure when absolutely necessary, however with the extent of the connections works required a closure will be unavoidable.

The map shows the closure area. For a larger image, click on the map.