Council Cabinet take Don’s advice

At its meeting last Wednesday the Council’s Conservative cabinet outlined a package of measures to help small businesses during the recession. This included six of Bath MP Don Foster’s eight suggestions. These are:
• Increasing the take up of small business rate relief
• Introducing a park & ride service at appropriate hours on Sundays
• Ensuring the Council pays its suppliers promptly
• Conduct rent reviews that reflect the current economic situation
• Consult properly with local small businesses on all changes
• Effectively promote the ‘Buy with Confidence’ scheme

This extra help cannot come soon enough for hard pressed local businesses. In particular in the face of some horrendous rent increases and large hikes in business rates.

Any small business wishing to take advantage of Business Rate relief in the Combe Down area should contact us. In other areas local councillors or Don’s staff will be happy to help, or ring the Council’s call centre on 01225 394041

Attempted break-in on Third Avenue

At approximately 10.30pm on Thursday May the 7th, an unknown offender has entered the rear garden of a residence and the used a spade to attempt to force entry to the back door. The culprit ran off when a light came on. The Police recommend that all garden tools and any other items that could assist offenders are securely locked away.

If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact the Police on 0845 456 7000. Alternatively you could contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Mayor’s plant donation to brighten station

People giving a makeover to a Bath railway station are looking for help with plants. Residents in Oldfield Park have worked tirelessly to improve the look of their station, which had become neglected and overgrown.

The On Board Project aims to encourage residents to take a pride and interest in their community.

Last week the Mayor of Bath, Tim Ball, visited the station to donate some plants to the scheme.

According to the Bath Chronicle, June Player, co-founder of the project, said: “These and any other plants are much appreciated as the station is a very large area, not only to plant out, but also to maintain. Although quite a lot of people now know about this project and donate us plants we would be more than happy to receive more. In fact, help with anything at all would be great.

She went on to say “You don’t have to be a gardener and know lots about plants to be an On-Boarder. This is meant to be an enjoyable, community and healthy interest. The amount of time put into it is entirely up to the individual.”

Information about the legend of Bladud’s pigs is now also on noticeboards on the platform, which have been funded by the Severnside Community Rail Partnership.

For more information or to get involved, email Protect.Bath@hotmail.co.uk.

Moped removed from Moorfields Road

Between 3pm on Friday 1st May and 8.30am the next morning, unknown person/s have removed a moped vehicle from this location. The moped was found in a nearby field, with the steering locked snapped and broken and bodywork scratched.

If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact the Police on 0845 456 7000. Alternatively you could contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 55111.

Register to vote: have your say

Make sure you are registered to vote in the European Parliament elections on June 4. To be able to vote in the European elections residents must be registered to vote by Tuesday 19 May.

We want to make sure that no-one misses out on their right to take part in this election just because they aren’t registered to vote. Some residents think they might be automatically registered once they pay council tax, but this isn’t the case.

If you’re not sure whether you are on the electoral register or would like to be sent a registration form, contact the Council on 01225 477333 or visit www.bathnes.gov.uk and search for ‘Elections’ in the A-Z index.

If you are going to be away on 4 June, you can apply for a postal vote or a proxy vote (where someone you trust votes on your behalf on polling day). It’s easy to arrange; just call the Council’s Electoral Services team on 01225 477333 to request a form. Applications for a postal vote will need to reach the Electoral Registration Officer by 5pm on Tuesday 19 May. The deadline for ordinary proxy applications is 5pm on Wednesday 27 May.

Victory for the Gurkhas

The historic victory of the Lib Dem motion in the House of Commons was a victory for justice.

This is an historic victory for the Gurkhas who have served our country so bravely. This Government has now lost its moral authority. From the first moment Nick Clegg challenged Gordon Brown on this over a year ago, he didn’t understand that there was a simple moral principle at stake. People who are willing to die for our country, should be allowed to live in our country.

The Government must listen to Parliament and scrap these shameful rules immediately and grant justice without conditions to all retired Gurkhas.

There is a great analysis of the vote on the BBC website.

Many people were angry about the way in which Gordon Brown and his Immigration Minister Phil Woolas had failed to listen to public demands for fair treatment for the Gurkhas.

Save Woolies – the Governement responds…

Cllr McGall and thousands of others signed an epetition on the 10 Downing Street website urging the Governement to help save Woolworths including its branch on Moorland Road from the administrators.

The Governments response to the epetition is below, but the basic answer was that they weren’t repared to do anything to save Woolies:

“The Government fully recognises the important contribution the retail sector makes to the UK economy and the vital role that retail plays in communities across the country. It was disappointing, therefore, to hear that Woolworths had gone into administration.

With the world economy facing downturn, it is regrettable that businesses in Britain will be hit and some will fail. The task of Government is to do all it can to support the economy as a whole, and to back entrepreneurs to build new businesses and workers to find new jobs.

The Government is determined to deliver help viable businesses, with its Real Help business support package delivering vital support for companies throughout the UK.

Nearly £300m of eligible applications from over 2600 small businesses have been assessed, are being processed or have been granted to assist businesses’ lending needs via the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme.

The first £1bn tranche of guarantees to support banks affected by the credit crunch lending to businesses under the £10bn Working Capital Scheme has now been completed.

As part of the Budget, the Chancellor announced a scheme to provide up to £5bn of additional trade credit insurance to businesses which have suffered reductions in their level of cover. This will be delivered as part of the Working Capital Scheme and will help mitigate the cash flow constraints caused by this reduction in cover.”

Government have head in the sand on urban gulls

Bath MP Don Foster has vowed to continue lobbying the government over controlling urban gulls, following the disappointing response in his adjournment debate on Thursday.

Don said, “While clearly the main focus of the government should be dealing with the financial crisis, it does not mean that they should be ignoring other issues.

The government claims that adequate research already exists, but the problem is getting worse, so that quite simply cannot be true. Attempting to control gulls is costing councils thousands of pounds, and currently this is money down the drain.

“I will collate further evidence that proves research is necessary, and write to the Minister. Urban gulls are a major issue in towns and cities up and down the country, and it is time the government took this issue seriously.”

Here in Bath & North East Somerset we are left to our own devices to deal with urban gulls, there is no government advice on what works. We are pleased that Don raised this issue in parliament and that he will continue to tackle this issue.

We face a major problem if the Herring Gull becomes protected, as it is nigh-on impossible to differentiate them from black-backed gulls. We might have to stop almost all the work we are doing.

Government admits “Twenty is Plenty”

This week the Labour government have admitted that “Twenty is Plenty” and will be encouraging Councils across the country to reduce the speed limit on residential roads to 20mph.

Liberal Democrats in Bath have been campaigning across the city for 18 months, calling for this change, and hundreds of residents have signed a petition calling for 20mph limits. The British Medical Association have also backed 20mph limits, because 20mph is a much safer speed than 30, and its introduction will lead to safer communities, especially for children.

Bath MP Don Foster said,

It is clear that speeds in residential streets are just too high, and I am delighted to see that the government has now realised that ‘Twenty is Plenty’.

The response to this campaign has been positive, and we have had some success in Bath in gaining a lower limit for individual streets, but what we need is a shift across the city to lower speeds.

These comments from the government are a good start, now we need action to make it easier for councils to reduce speed limits.

The speed of traffic on residential roads is an issue that comes up at almost every door we knock on, people have been very happy to support our campaign for 20mph limits.

These days it is not often that the Labour government is ahead on an issue, but our Conservative Council has stalled on the grid when it comes to reducing speed limits. It is time they took notice of this Lib Dem campaign, because ‘Twenty is Plenty’.

Don to call for research into urban gulls

Bath MP Don Foster tonight called on the government to fund research into controlling urban gulls. Don lead an Adjournment Debate on this issue in the House of Commons this evening.

Don said,

Urban gulls have been a menace in Bath for some time, attacking rubbish bags, defecating across the city and damaging cars and buildings. Many other towns and cities across the country have to deal with the issue of urban gulls.

However, while councils across the country are trying to deal with this problem, the fact is that no-one really knows what to do, because there has been no research into the issue.

The urban seagull problems have to be resolved. We need research to help us identify effective control measures, we need greater clarity about the rules allowing such measures to be undertaken and we certainly don’t need any moves which will make tackling the problem more difficult.

Too many people have lived for too long with the menace of the urban seagull. I hope we can hear tonight what help the government has to offer.