Troubled train firm to spend £29m

Thanks to sustained presure from commuter groups, local councillors and councils, and MPs include our own Don Foster, First Great Western is to pay for more trains and better passenger compensation after poor service on lines to Wales and the West Country.

The Swindon-based train operator agreed the £29m investment package the Government issued a remedial notice against train company for breaching its franchise agreement. Extra drivers and guards will be recruited to resolve a staff shortage. Last month, the company came bottom of a passenger satisfaction league table and a Bristol rail user group staged a fare strike protest. FGW has announced that five extra 3-carriage trains will be leased for the troubled Cardiff to Portsmouth service. Compensation for delayed passengers next year will increase by half, on top of the doubling of compensation already announced for this year.
There will be extra discounted tickets available, better information systems and £4m will be spent on staff training.

Lib Dem Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker MP said:

First Great Western services have been a disgrace in recent months and the Government is right to take action. The company can in fact think itself fortunate that it has not had its franchise removed entirely, particularly as it has now admitted to misreporting figures. The remedial plan which has been agreed with the Government represents a final warning for the company and any breach of this will qualify as a default and the contract will indeed be terminated. I welcome the passenger benefits included in this package, including the 500,000 extra cheap off-peak tickets, the extra rolling stock for the Portsmouth to Cardiff line, the refurbishment of Thames Valley commuter trains, and the provision of better passenger information. But the company must now deliver on these promised improvements. They have a last chance to get it right.

Cllr McGall would like to thank all those local Oldfield Park commuters who have emailed him with the comments and stories about the poor service on the line servicing Oldfield Park Station. We need to keep up the pressure on FGW to ensure they keep their eye on the ball and offer commuters a service fit for the 21st century.

PACT meeting – Wednesday 5th March 2008

Partners and Communities Together (PACT) gives you a chance to meet the team and influence priorities in your neighbourhood.

Current public priorities were established on 17th December 2007:

1. Levels of car crime – criminal damage to vehicles in Monksdale Road.

2. Litter – increase road sweeping.

3. Speeding in Third Avenue, Monksdale Road and Hillside Road.

Next public meeting5th March 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at St Alphages Church, Oldfield Lane, Oldfield Park, Bath.

All members of the public are welcome to attend…

Lib Dem Parliamentary protest on EU referendum

A decision by the Speaker of the House of Commons to refuse to have a debate and vote on a Lib Dem amendment calling for a referendum on whether to be in or out of Europe has met with an angry response from Bath’s Liberal Democrat MP, Don Foster.

This is an appalling decision,” said Don. “To deny Parliament the chance to vote on our proposal to allow the public to have a real say on Britain’s membership of the European Union is an outrage. As LibDem Party leader, Nick Clegg MP, has said, ‘It is like allowing the British public to choose their mode of travel without asking whether they actually want to continue on the journey at all.

In the last referendum over 30 years ago, people voted to be in a very different Europe from what we have now. There have, rightly, been many important changes as the European Union has developed and grown in size. But the British people have not had the opportunity to vote on those changes.

Because of the Speaker’s decision, they will be denied the opportunity to decide whether or not they want to stay in the EU.”

“Labour and the Conservatives have colluded to prevent the real referendum on Europe taking place. The Conservatives are proposing a vote on the narrow issue of the Lisbon Treaty. Meanwhile, as the events in the Commons show, the Labour Party is terrified of an open debate on the real issue.”

“It’s time for the Westminster establishment to stop being so cowardly over Europe and have an open debate with the country. Liberal Democrats will be proud to lead the case for British membership of the EU.”

PACT meeting – 5th March 2008

Partners and Communities Together (PACT) gives you a chance to meet the team and influence priorities in your neighbourhood. Register your priorities

Current public priorities were established on 17th December 2007

1. Levels of car crime – criminal damage to vehicles in Monksdale Road.

2. Litter – increase road sweeping.

3. Speeding in Third Avenue, Monksdale Road and Hillside Road.

Next public meeting

5th March 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at St Alphages Church, Oldfield Lane, Oldfield Park, Bath.

7.56% is real tax increase in Council budget

7.56% is the real tax increase residents are facing this year. Directly, residents are going to be charged a 3.95% Council tax increase. However, with all of the hikes in other fees and charges and the introduction of new fees planned by the Conservative Cabinet, the real figure is 7.56%.

New and increased charges in this budget include: the introduction of charges for on-street parking for disabled drivers; increases in charges for services for older people; an increase of 56% for residents’ parking permits; increases in park and ride fares; extensions to other car park charges; and a 10% increase in garden and bulky waste charges.

This Conservative budget appears to have a low Council tax rise, but when all the other charges and fees are taken into account, the real burden on residents is much higher.

The budget will hit vulnerable people with high charges; it will punish drivers, without improving traffic flows; it will delay, put off or abandon important environmental measures, such as same-day collection and extending recycling; and it will exacerbate problems through cuts to the Council’s youth and other services.

The Liberal Democrats believe this Tory budget of service cuts and increased charges is fundamentally flawed. We have fought hard for improvements, and will be proposing an amendment which is intended to reduce the burden on older people and the vulnerable, to help protect services for young people and to put environmental protection high on the agenda.

By trying to claim a low Council tax increase on the one hand and introducing new fees and increased charges on the other, the Tory Cabinet is driving our authority into the sand, putting its head in after it and blaming everyone else.

Council votes to get rid of bottled water

A Liberal Democrat motion calling on the Council to stop buying bottled water for its meetings and offices and to use tap water instead was adopted last week.

This motion was an initiative by the Liberal Democrat Group and we were delighted that it gained the support of Councillors from other Groups. The Council has established a principle against the purchase bottled water and can now move forward to look at the implementation of this motion.

We have been working on this issue for several months and the adoption of this motion is very timely, given that within the last fortnight major campaigns have been launched encouraging people to drink tap water and ask for it in restaurants.

The Council should not be spending public money on bottled water when we have perfectly good tap water, which is hundreds of times cheaper, does not need to be transported and does not need the packaging which must be recycled or ends up in landfill or as litter.

There are great concerns about the wider issues such the effect it has on the water systems of areas where bottling takes place and the marketing strategies of bottled water companies. Our Council has taken a lead on this issue, to do something practical locally and set an example.

Councillors voted 32 in favour to 29 against the motion, sadly the Conservative Group did not support the final motion.

Bath Councillors appalled by Post Office hit list

The Post Office Network Change list for Bristol and Somerset has been revealed in the press a few days ago. Four Bath Post Offices are down for closure. Thankfully at this time Moorland Road Post Office is safe. However, Cllr Sandry and McGall are campaigning with Don Foster MP and other local Lib Dem councillors against the Government plans for the city as a whole.

Local people in Walcot will certainly be outraged to hear the Government is planning to close their Post Office. It is a focal point of local life in the community and certainly contributes to keeping the Camden Road shops busy. We urge Oldfield Park residents to support the campaign to save Bath’s Post Offices across the city, and to sign the petition here.

Across the City in Newbridge, Councillor Caroline Roberts (Lib Dem, Newbridge) who is a regular patron of the Lower Weston Post Office, said:

After the closure of Yomede Post Office, local people were hoping that the Lower Weston Post Office on Newbridge Road would be safe. Since the closure of Yomede, elderly people in Newbridge area have already had to take the bus to get to Lower Weston. The nearest Post Office will now be in Weston Village – which is not on a bus route – or the city centre. The future of the very popular shop attached to the Post Office is now in jeopardy

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Closer to Oldfield Park, the Government is proposing to close the Post Office on Bear Flat. Fellow Lib Dem Councillor Marian McNeir (Lyncombe) stated:

I just don’t believe this. Bear Flat is a vibrant shopping area and many people depend on being able to walk to the local shops, including the Post Office. It is an essential part of our daily lives and I think it is ridiculous to expect local residents to drive or take a bus into the town centre – this could be impossible for elderly people and young families. Why should they have to have this type of inconvenience when we have a successful Post Office on our doorstep? This is a backward step which does nothing to help local people. I call on the govt to reconsider.

Our Member of Parliament, Don Foster, is concerned that the social importance of Post Offices is being ignored by the Government. These closures do not take into account the knock-on effect on other shops in the local community. It will be the elderly and vulnerable who are most affected by these closures as they may struggle to travel the extra distance to important services.

Genesis Charity centre under threat

The Genesis Trust is a charity which has worked with disadvantaged people in Bath since 1990, providing soup runs and a lunch kitchen, training, life skills and reintegration into employment.

The Trust has been renting the Old Labour Exchange in the city centre from the Council, and has found it an ideal location from which to run its workshop projects and furniture shop, together with the training projects and as an administrative base.

However the Council has confirmed it has plans to put the building on the market in April. As far back as October 2007, The Somer Housing Group, in partnership with The Genesis Trust, had put forward an innovative proposal to develop the premises into affordable housing, together with a ground floor base to accommodate The Genesis Trust. The Council has never formally responded to the proposal, and only revealed their plans last week in answer to a question Cllr Beath tabled.

We believe the valuable work, training and care of disadvantaged people in the community undertaken by the Genesis Trust, goes a long way towards fulfilling some of the Council’s major priorities and objectives. We should give them every support.

The proposal from the Somer Housing Group to purchase and sensitively restore this much loved building is surely one which would gain community support. The provision of low cost / supported housing in the city centre, together with a permanent base for the work of Genesis, is much needed.

The Genesis Trust does a great job in the city, and their proposal with Somer Housing would be an excellent use of this historic building. we are sure local businesses and residents do not want to see more bar and bistro-type development here, and would welcome a more permanent home for The Genesis Trust. We should be supporting initiatives like theirs.

City MP Don Foster also gave his support to the Genesis Trust proposal after visiting the premises with Councillor Beath (Lib Dem, Combe Down) on the morning on the 11th February to hearing all about the work of the Trust.

“No waiting at any time” parking restrictions

On the 13th February the Council made the following order as modified, under provisions contained in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as amended, the effect of which will vary ‘no waiting at any time’ parking restrictions and increase the time for limited waiting from 20 minutes to 30 minutes in certain roads in Bath. The affected roads include Ashford Road and Cotswold Road.

Any queries contact Michael Harper on 394203 who will pass them on to the instructing officer.