Keep commuter trains stopping at Oldfield Park Station

Don Foster MP for Bath and local Lib Dem Councillors have called on First Great Western to reverse a decision that will stop a busy commuter train stopping at Oldfield Park station.

First Great Western has announced that the service departing Filton Abbey Wood at 17:09 and Bristol Temple Meads at 17:23 will no longer stop at Oldfield Park station. This service was crucial for a large number of residents living in the South West of Bath using it on a daily basis. As a result, commuters will be expected to get one of the already over-crowded trains leaving Bristol Temple Meads at 17:14 or 17:49.

Matt Hemsley, a commuter between Oldfield Park and Bristol Temple Meads, raised the issue with Don. Matt said, “This loss of this service is a great worry among commuters on this route. Trains are already full at peak time, and removing this service is only going to make the situation worse. It is a regular occurrence to see people, especially cyclists, turned away.”

Commenting Don Foster said, “I wrote to First Great Western in mid-November asking them why they have decided to stop this service from calling at Oldfield Park. I have also made enquiries to see what First Great Western’s estimates the number of customers currently using the service are and what alternative services they expect them to use”.

First Great Western replied that the other trains are less crowded. But this conflicts with the experience of passengers who claim that it is already over-crowded.

Compromise sought on To Let signs

will-sandry-and-the-to-let-signs.jpgWill Sandry has written to all the letting agents in the Oldfield Park area to request that they restrict the number of To Let signs they use this coming year. The text of the letter is below:

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing to request that you show restraint with the number of To Let signs you have already put out, or are soon to put out in the Oldfield Park area.

The To Let signs are disliked by the community in and around Oldfield Park. You may remember that in the past few years there has been a significant amount of resident anger towards the proliferation of signs.

To reflect to you my residents’ general concerns:

• The large numbers of signs are unsightly.
• Most of the people you are marketing to will be looking online for properties in first instance.
• As you mainly market the properties to students, students will use the accommodation lists provided by their University.
• My residents who live in the properties which are To Let dislike the signs, because it attracts unnecessary attention to their homes. They see these signs as an advertisement to criminals that there are multiple high value electrical items in the property. Oldfield crime data from the police supports this as being the case.

I recognise that as legitimate businesses you would wish to take every opportunity to promote your business. I would be happy to facilitate a meeting of all the Letting Agents in the area with a view to arriving at a Gentlemen’s Agreement between you whereby the use of To Let signs is restricted.

I look forward to hearing from you as to whether you would like to be involved in this type of discussion.

Kind regards,

Will Sandry
Councillor for Oldfield Ward

Linear Park work starts on 4th January

Works to deliver the Two Tunnels Greenway are due to commence on 4th January. Sustrans are delivering the works in 5 sections to minimise disruption and to allow local residents to use as much of the path as possible during the works. The sections are as follows:

· Devonshire Tunnel portal to Hiscocks Drive bridge (access via Bloomfield Road open space);

· Hiscocks Drive bridge to Monksdale Road (access from Monksdale Road);

· Monksdale Road to St Kildas Road (access from Monksdale Road – NO access from St Kildas Road);

· St Kildas Road to Millmead Road (access from Millmead Road – NO access from St Kildas Road);

· Millmead Road to Bellots Road bridge (access from Millmead Road – NO access from Bellots Road).

The sections will be constructed in this order and no works shall take place to one section only at a time. The rest of the route shall be left open for public use and constructed sections shall be opened prior to the next section being occupied.

Through discussions with officers at the council and Sustrans we have agreed that this is the best way to allow continued access. It is anticipated that works to each section will take approximately two weeks, however Sustrans will be posting notices within Linear Park during the works keeping residents updated on progress.

Follow this link to the  Sustrans Website about the Two Tunnels project

Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

Local Councillor Will Sandry has been successful in getting the Council to move forward the issue of houses of multiple occupation in Oldfield. Will Sandry said, “members of the community tell me that some letting agents and private landlords actively discriminate against young couples and families wanting to rent property.

Letting agents and private landlords favour letting a property to a group of unrelated people because the rental income from a home in multiple occupation can be twice as much as when the property is let to an individual or couple.”

HMO’s are part of modern living. They are needed throughout the UK to meet housing needs, but in some areas where there are too many of them there is a big community imbalance created.
Local young couples and families are priced out or excluded from the area. For us in Bath this has meant they have to move further afield to areas such as Peasdown, Radstock and Frome.

This then puts a huge strain on our transport network and helps create the gridlock we all know too well as our local people have to commute in to the City to work.

Oval Phone Mast REFUSED

The application for a phone mast was unanimously refused by the Planning Committee today.

Cllr Will Sandry who spoke at the meeting said, “The mast was almost twice as high as the street lights around it, it would have looked completely out of place at The Oval. Credit has to go to the local residents who ran a very good and well thought out campaign to oppose this mast.”

‘Ball rolling’ on planning permission for HMOs

Liberal Democrats have welcomed the result of a vote which could lead to B&NES Council requiring planning permission for dwellings to be converted to shared homes or ‘HMOs’.

 

Lib Dem Councillors from Bath had tabled a motion to this week’s Council meeting to go forward with the so-called ‘Article 4 Direction’. The rule would allow the Council to require planning permission for new HMOs even though the national blanket requirement has been removed by government.

 

Councillor Will Sandry (Liberal Democrat, Oldfield), who was the proposer of the original motion, accepted an amendment which tasked the Cabinet member for service delivery with taking the project forwards. Councillor Sandry commented:

 

“I was quite happy to accept the alternative version of the motion because it means we can get the ball rolling on what will be a very important project for the city. This is an opportunity for the Council to take action to help build more balanced communities in some parts of the city.

 

“We do need to do something to tackle concentrations of HMOs as a predominance of shared housing in an area can lead to tensions within the community – from a lack of available parking spaces to a lack of affordable (rented or purchased) housing for couples and families.

 

“There’s quite a long lead in time to get the Article 4 Direction up and running, so we really need to get going on this right away. I will continue to press the Cabinet member for action.”

 

Councillor Nicholas Coombes (Liberal Democrat, Bathwick) spoke in the debate about the value of shared housing to the community, he commented:

 

“We are very clear that this motion is not intended to suggest shared housing is unwanted. I’ve lived in a shared house for many years now – both as a student and a young professional – and I know first hand that it is really the only way to afford to live in a city.

 

“The planning permission requirement for conversions won’t be detrimental to people who want to live in shared housing – in fact it should drive standards of accommodation up by ensuring that future shared homes will be suitable for multiple occupants and by weeding out less professional landlords.

 

“To further improve to our HMO stock the council should increase the scope of the licensing rules to ensure that more sharers live in a safe and fit for purpose home.”

Bridges: Monksdale & Millmead Roads

New Bridges for the Two Tunnels Route

Access ramp, missing bridge, Linear ParkSustrans have submitted a pair of planning applications for the replacement bridges that will span two roads in Oldfield Park – Millmead Road and Monksdale Road. Help the route: follow the link and provide a supportive comment – no need to write pages, but just a sentence describing why the bridges are a good idea for the route.

Why does the route need bridges?

Route walk: Dartmouth Avenue: bridge siteThe current arrangements, for many, are no obstacle at all, so it can be difficult at first to see why the crossings actually need replacement bridges and new ramps. The access ramps were built at a time when far less was known about accessibility – they’re pretty steep. Something better’s needed because ramps, gates and road crossings can be a serious issue if you happen to have a pushchair/young children/pets – and may be a complete blocker if you happen to be in a wheelchair.

The new bridges will allow an easy crossing of the two roads. At the same time, replacement ramps on an easier gradient will allow far better access to the new Two Tunnels route – especially for people in wheelchairs. Lastly – and this is something that’s provided much of the funding – the two new bridges will provide safe routes for people to Oldfield Park’s schools.

Alternatives

One alternative would be to ease the gradient of the existing ramps – which would have meant a great deal more material removed from the embankments – and would have retained the road crossings, which may then have justified (expensive) signal controlled Toucan crossings.

The other alternative is to put in bridges. These will not be replacements of the narrow masonry arches of the originals. Instead, the proposal is to build out the existing embankment to close the gap to thirty metres, and this will then be bridged with a steel span of a specific type – a ‘Warren Truss’ – here’s more from ‘Wisegeek’ on Warren Truss bridges. A bridge of this type will be lighter than the original, but will be a good fit for the location – and they’re commonly used in connection with railway works. A bollard at either end of each bridge will prevent vehicle access.

So let’s build bridges

Linear Park, North of Dartmouth AvenueIn the planning application, you’ll find details of the design – for instance, the bridge spans will be supported on concrete plinth foundations within the tips of the embankment at either end. It may even be that the cores of the earthworks for the new bridges will be made with some of the material from the Devonshire Tunnel cutting. (For one of the bridges this would mean that it will be brought back to the place from which it was removed). You’ll also see that the existing slope will first be stripped and ‘Stepped’ to key the new material into the old railway earthworks – this is a high quality and secure approach to building earthworks: sometimes neglected, but not in this case.

These two bridges will be an asset to the route, and the people who will use them for day to day travel. Please help them into being by supporting the planning applications.

Student Funding – A message from Vince Cable

The Liberal Democrats have always championed our universities. We have long fought for a fair deal for students.

Now in Government we are in a position to turn that campaigning into real action.

The higher education package I am announcing today will promote high-quality university teaching and research. It will guarantee fair access for all, regardless of background. It will deliver a progressive, sustainable funding structure.

The key points are –

1) The poorest 30% of graduates will pay less for university – access to higher education will always be based on ability, not ability to pay.

2) Graduate contributions will be capped – we have rejected Lord Browne’s proposal to allow universities to set charges as high as they wish.

3) Maintenance grants and loans will be improved – almost one million students will receive more overall maintenance support than they do now.

4) Student loans will be extended to part time students – no longer will they be ignored by the system.

Our plans are fair for students, fair for graduates and affordable for the nation. Please click here to read the full details of our proposals.

These plans represent an important first step to improving higher education in Britain and making sure that it remains open to all.

I hope you will join me in the coming months in getting this message out to people across Britain.

Thanks and best wishes,

Vince Cable

PS Click here to find out more about our £7billion education package recently announced by Nick Clegg to give a fair chance for every child.

10 Moorland Road – Change of use approved on appeal

10 Moorland Road (Will Sandry and other campaigners)The application for a change of use of 10 Moorland Road (The Old Busy Fingers Shop) has been approved on appeal. It will now change to a local estate agent’s second office on Moorland Road.Cllr Will Sandry said: “I am disappointed with this decision by the planning inspectorate. Moorland Road must remain predominantly a shopping street. A second office for an estate agent already on the street is an unwelcome addition to Moorland Road.”

You can read the full decision by the Planning inspector here:

http://idox.bathnes.gov.uk/WAM/doc/Appeal%20Decision-424775.pdf?extension=.pdf&id=424775&location=VOLUME2&contentType=application/pdf&pageCount=1

Car seat clinics – Monday 25th October

The Council is offering free “Car Seat Clinics” during half term. This is part of the national Good Egg safety campaign. Parents and carers can bring their car and car seat along and the Good Egg expert will check the fitting of the seat and give advice about whether it is correctly installed – free of charge!

By law, car seats need to be used for all children from birth until age 12 or until a child is 135cm in height. Parents and carers are also being encouraged to check the date of manufacture of their car seat – the products have a shelf life of between 5-7 years.

The clinics are on Monday 25th October at the Green Park Sainsbury’s in Bath from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. (Pines Way, Green Park, Bath, BA2 3ET); and on Wednesday 27th October at Tesco in Midsomer Norton from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. (Old Mills, Midsomer Norton, BS39 7SW).