Rail commuters plan next move in battle against fare increases

Local rail commuters are meeting in Bath on Tuesday to plan the next phase of their campaign for better services at Oldfield Park Railway Station.

This time last year, Cllr Shaun McGall, supported the fares protest, due to the overcrowding on services in the Bath, Bristol and West of England area.

The new timetable which was launched on the 9th December remains below the standard of service commuters should recieve, and this combined with the unjustified hike in prices in January, timetable changes, short trains, old rolling stock, and continuing poor punctuality and reliability means we must put more press on both the Labour Government and First Great Western to up their game and provide a modern, and fairly priced service across our area.

Please play your part in helping to pile on the presure to First and the Governement to ensure we get more trains, and that passengers not shareholders come first.

Please write to Don Foster, our Member of Parliament and to the Managing Director of First Great Western, with your comments and views.

Two Tunnels Lottery success

A campaign to win a portion of £50 million of Lottery funding to create new cycle routes in Bath has been successful.

It was revealed on the 12th December that the Two Tunnels project will be awarded £1m, thanks to the votes of local people.

The project is part of a national initiative by sustainable transport charity Sustrans and is supported by the Council. Sustrans battled its way into a shortlist of four organisations competing for the £50 million pot to fund projects around the country, under the National Lottery’s The People’s Millions scheme.

The Sustrans project is called Connect2. Once complete the project will see hundreds of miles of walking and cycling routes spring up around the UK – providing extra bridges, extra links – improving travel and reducing our carbon footprint. Two Tunnels is just one of the many projects included in this scheme.

The multi-user path will join Bath and Midford by a virtually flat system of tunnels and impressive overland paths following the existing disused railway. The route makes a wide sweep through Oldfield Park, surfaces in the secretive Lyncombe Vale and finally emerges in beautiful open country at Tucking Mill, before joining the long distance Sustrans NCN24 route at Midford.

The campaign promoters expect the ‘Two Tunnels’ route to benefit businesses, residents and visitors. They believe it will encourage visitors to stay for more than a simple two-hour visit to the city centre, and make more use of what Bath has to offer. It will also secure the future for the impressive railway structures on this famous old route, and offers a chance to make good use of some of Bath’s more under-appreciated assets, reclaiming them for residents and visitors.

However, the route first has to be built, and while much of the work has already been done courtesy of the Victorian engineers who built the railway, it will cost an estimated £1.8 million to complete.

Further information on the Connect2 project is available at http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/.
For more information on the Two Tunnels Greenway, see:http://www.twotunnels.org.uk/

Nick Clegg’s acceptance speech as the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats

My election as leader of this party marks a new beginning.
Today is about two things: ambition, and change.
Renewed ambition for the Liberal Democrats.
Renewed ambition to reach out to the millions of people who share our values, but have not yet voted for us.
It’s about renewed ambition for Britain.
Because we want to change politics, and change Britain.
I would like to thank Chris for the energetic and committed way he has campaigned in this leadership election.
We have been rivals in this contest. From today, we are colleagues again. I look forward to working closely with him for the good of liberalism in Britain.
I would also like to thank Vince Cable for the magnificent way he has led the party in these past two months.
There are few men who have excelled as an economist, a comedian and a ballroom dancer.
Finally, I would like to give my warmest thanks, on behalf of the whole party, to Ming Campbell. He took over the Liberal Democrats at a difficult time, and provided enormous stability and professionalism to the party. Without his work, building on the extraordinary achievements of Charles Kennedy and Paddy Ashdown before him, the party would not have the bright future which it now does.
I am a Liberal by temperament, by instinct and by upbringing.
My own family was marked, scattered and reunited by the tragic conflicts of the last century.
I was taught from an early age that Britain was a place of tolerance and pluralism, with a history steeped in democracy and the rule of law.
I believe that liberalism is the thread that holds together everything this country stands for. Pull out that thread and the fabric of the nation unravels.
We are a people with a strong sense of fair play and social justice. An instinct to protect the environment for future generations. We are suspicious of arbitrary power, wary of government interference. We want to play an active, enlightened role in the affairs of the world.
And we have always put our faith in the power of ordinary men and women to change things for the better.
So why is Britain still not the liberal nation we want it to be?
Look around us:
Our civil liberties casually cast aside.
Gigantic, faceless and incompetent Government bureaucracies.
Security and opportunity in short supply, particularly in the poorest communities.
Families struggling to meet each month’s bills. Struggling to balance the demands of work, and the time for a real family life.
Above all, our politics is broken.
Out of step with people.
Out of step with the modern world.
That is why I have one sole ambition: to change Britain to make it the liberal country the British people want it to be.
I want a new politics: a people’s politics.
I want to live in a country where rights, freedoms and privacy are not the playthings of politicians, but safeguarded for everyone.
Where political life is not a Westminster village freak show, but open, accessible, and helpful in people’s everyday lives.
Where parents, pupils and patients are in charge of our schools and hospitals.
Where fine words on the environment are translated into real action.
Where social mobility becomes a reality once again, so that no-one is condemned by the circumstances of their birth.
Why have we stopped imagining a better society?
Look at what we’ve got.
The Conservatives and New Labour have governed in the same way.
Top-down and centralising
I refuse to believe that the only alternative to a clapped out Labour Government is a Conservative party which has no answers to the big issues – environmentalism without substance, social justice without money, internationalism without Europe.
The challenge for my party is clear and simple: to define a liberal alternative to the discredited politics of Big Government.
I want to open up my party, open up Westminster, and open up politics for good.
To lead well, a leader needs to listen.
That’s why I will hold regular and public Town Hall Meetings.
That’s why I want to open up the Liberal Democrats to give people who support us, but aren’t members, a say on the big issues.
That’s why I will spend at least one day every week listening and campaigning outside Westminster.
That’s why I will set up a network of real families, who have nothing to do with party politics, in every region of this country to advise me on what they think should be my priorities.
If you once voted Lib Dem but think we’ve spent too much time focusing on ourselves.
If you once voted Conservative but don’t know what they stand for any more.
If you once voted Labour but feel let down after ten years of disappointment.
If you’ve given up voting altogether, but still care about the world we live in:
Then a newly united, energetic, optimistic Liberal Democrat party is there for you.
This is an unprecedented time of opportunity for liberalism in Britain.
If we are to grab this opportunity, my party will need to change.
We must start acting like the growing national political movement that we are. More professional. More united. More ambitious.
Liberalism is the creed of our times.
The old left-right politics has broken down. Labour and the Conservatives are mutating into each other, united in defence of a system which has let the people down.
Instead, we must start where people are, not where we think they should be.
In short, I want the Liberal Democrats to be the future of politics.
Because Liberal Democrats have the courage to imagine a better society.
To break the stifling grip of the two-party system for good.
To bring in a new politics.
Of politicians who listen to people, not themselves.
No more business as usual. No more government-knows-best.
I want today to mark the beginning of real change in Britain.
The beginning of Britain’s liberal future.

Vote for Connect2 and improve walking and cycling in and around Bath

£50 million, four competitors and only one winner. The polls are open. Have you voted yet?
Two projects to create new cycle routes in Bath and Norton Radstock are part of the 79 schemes UK-wide that will happen if Sustrans’ Connect2 wins, so please vote to bring a share of £50 million to our area.

You can play your part in winning the bid by voting and asking everyone you know to vote too. Just a few moments of your time could make all the difference.

You can vote online now at www.sustransconnect2.org.uk. Telephone voting will begin on Friday 7 December. All voting concludes at 12 noon on Monday 10 December. The telephone number will be able on the sustrans website.

Two formerly glorious but long disused railway tunnels will become part of an exciting cycle and walking route between Midford and Bath. There are three opportunities to vote for this project to win the funding – online now, and by landline and mobile from 7 December. All voting concludes at midday 10 December, with the winner announced on 12 December.

The Two Tunnels Greenway Project will create something to enjoy for cycle commuters, families, walkers and tourists from a series of disconnected parts of the old Somerset and Dorset railway, running south from Bath and beneath Combe Down. It will link to the Bath-Bristol cycle path at the northern end and also give commuters from Midsomer Norton and Radstock a pleasant, flat route into Bath from the South.

The project is part of a national project by sustainable transport charity Sustrans and is supported by Bath & North East Somerset Council. Sustrans has battled its way into a shortlist of four organisations competing for the £50 million pot to fund projects around the country, under the National Lottery’s The People’s Millions scheme.

The Sustrans project is called Connect2. If it wins in December, it will see hundreds of miles of walking and cycling routes spring up around the UK – providing extra bridges, extra links – improving travel and reducing our carbon footprint. Two Tunnels is just one of the many projects included in this scheme.

The multi-user path will join Bath and Midford by a virtually flat system of tunnels and impressive overland paths following the existing disused railway. The route makes a wide sweep through Oldfield Park, surfaces in the secretive Lyncombe Vale and finally emerges in beautiful open country at Tucking Mill, before joining the long distance Sustrans NCN24 route at Midford.
The campaign promoters expect the ‘Two Tunnels’ route to benefit businesses, residents and visitors. They believe it will encourage visitors to stay for more than a simple two-hour visit to the city centre, and make more use of what Bath has to offer. It will also secure the future for the impressive railway structures on this famous old route, and offers a chance to make good use of some of Bath’s more under-appreciated assets, reclaiming them for residents and visitors.
However, the route first has to be built, and while much of the work has already been done courtesy of the Victorian engineers who built the railway, it will cost an estimated £1.8 million to complete.

The businesses of Bath & North East Somerset can help by alerting their staff and their clients to this opportunity to vote for something good for Bath & North East Somerset. Organisers are asking businesses to ask their staff and clients to sign up for a voting reminder at www.sustransconnect2.org.uk.

For more information on the Two Tunnels Greenway, see:http://www.twotunnels.org.uk/

For information on Sustrans Connect2, visit: http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/

Oldfield Park Railway Station:- Update from Passenger Focus

The additional carriages leased in to ease the capacity problems created by the timetable change last December are being returned to Northern Rail at the end of this week. Eight units are going back but FGW have leased in an additional 12 units to replace them so they will have more than enough carriages to service the new timetable which starts next Monday. I have been concerned at the amount of short-forming of trains that has been occurring in this area over the past couple of months and have taken this matter up directly with the new Chief Operating Officer in the company. He is fully aware of the issues affecting our part of the route particularly the Cardiff/Portsmouth short-formings which have a significant impact on cross-Bristol routes during peak times. As a result of my intervention, I am hopeful that a ‘spare’ unit will be stabled at Westbury from next Monday onwards to cater for breakdowns or shortages which may occur during the morning peak. This will provide the facility for the ‘spare’ to in-fill if there are problems with the allocated train heading towards Bristol.

I have also managed to persuade the company to strengthen its contingency plan in respect of stopping High Speed trains at Oldfield Park and Keynsham during the morning peak IF local services have failed and passengers are left stranded at those stations. This contingency has been used a lot more this year and I will be monitoring its use as the new timetable unfolds.

What would be extremely useful for me would be if you could report back occasions where you have been left stranded at Oldfield Park due to the cancellation of a local service and then suffered the frustration of seeing a High speed train flying past on its way to Bristol. A short email would suffice and would then allow me the opportunity to make an early challenge to the company as to why the contingency plan was not used. (Note : readers please post a comment on the blog and I will forward to Passenger Focus) Sometimes they may decide not to stop as there may be another local service a few minutes behind it. This is fine as long as there is sufficient capacity on the following train to pick up the total number of passengers waiting at Oldfield Park. If there are occasions where this happens and passengers are left behind then please let me know asap.

Mike Greedy

Passenger Focus

Don Foster seeks votes for local Two Tunnels project

Bath Member of Parliament, Don Foster, is urging people to give backing to bikes by voting for charity Sustrans in a lottery competition to win a £50 million boost. Don Foster is leading a parliamentary bid to win support for the green transport group, which is on a shortlist of four for the Big Lottery Fund’s People’s £50 Million Lottery Giveaway.

The Liberal Democrat MP has joined forces with Labour former Home Secretary Charles Clarke to table a Commons motion backing the Sustrans Connect2 project. The aim is to revitalise walking and cycling in 79 locations by creating new routes for journeys, with crossings and bridges over busy roads, railway lines, rivers and canals. Mr Foster said the Bath area’s Two Tunnels initiative would give residents an easy and interesting flat, straight route between Midford and Bath, linked to other cycle and walking routes at both ends. He said:

The Two Tunnels scheme is one of the most exciting cycling and walking projects planned by Sustrans across the country as part of its Connect2 project.

The winner of the money will be decided by a TV programme and telephone vote in early December, with the Bath scheme hoping to get £1.1 million if Sustrans wins. The Commons motion urges people to vote for the “exciting UK-wide project” because it would promote sustainable travel by connecting millions of people to the places they want to go. Sustrans hopes to restore Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s swivel bridge in the docks area in Bristol as part of the project, four decades after it stopped working. London mayor Ken Livingstone and the Olympic Delivery Authority are among other supporters of Connect2, which will also benefit Weymouth, one of the 2012 venues.

Online voting begins on Monday, November 26, with telephone lines opening on Friday, December 7, and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly championing the Sustrans bid on an ITV1 show on Tuesday, December 4.

Have you say on the University of Bath Masterplan

Have your say on the the future of the University of Bath campus at Claverton Down.

The University of Bath is holding a public consultation exercise as senior staff begin to prepare a masterplan for the Claverton Down campus. The plan will outline future proposed developments at the campus, and the university’s other sites elsewhere in the city. And before the final plan is published next summer, the university says it wants residents’ views on a number of issues. These include transport and parking, sustainability and the provision of student residential accommodation both on campus and elsewhere in the city. The plan also includes areas for campus development, including new teaching and research facilities.

You can have your say via the web at: www.bath.ac.uk/masterplan2007 This site is availble until Monday 17th dEcember for your comments. Please make use of it!

Zero Waste Week: Calling all Individuals and Community Groups

You may remember the Zero Waste Week that the Council held last year and the BBC family of five who reduced the amount they threw away to the equivalent of one yoghurt pot.

Following the success of the week, this year the Council is looking to invite local people and also community groups to take part and see how much you can reduce your waste over the course of a week.

Anyone can take part, either as an individual or a community group. The definition of a ‘community group’ is as broad as possible so this may range from the whole of Oldfield Park or school community through to a local group or association, street, block of flats or even a virtual community.

So far, over 20 groups have already expressed an interest in taking part. The aim of the week is to encourage as many people as possible to take up the challenge to see how much you can reduce what you throw away over the course of a week, by reducing, recycling and composting as much as they can.

The week will run from Monday 26 November to Sunday 2 December this year. If you are an individual or community group who would be interested in taking part or would like to find out more, please contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41 or email councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk

Two Tunnels project to compete on TV for funding

People are being invited to vote for a project to restore the Two Tunnels Path, in Bath, to be awarded a cash boost from the Big Lottery Fund as part of a television show to be screened later this year.

Two Tunnels Path project is one of 79 schemes that together make up Connect2 – a UK-wide Sustrans project .

Connect2 is competing for £50 million of funding that will be given away following a TV programme and public vote. The funding comes from the Big Lottery Fund’s Living Landmarks: The People’s Millions, and in early December there will be a television programme on each of the Living Landmarks projects competing to win the £50 million.

At the end of the week the telephone lines will open, and then everyone will get the chance to vote and help to make Two Tunnels a reality.

The Council and local councillors Will Sandry and Shaun McGall are working closely with Sustrans, the charity behind the Connect2 project, to ensure as much local support as possible.

Below is a link that takes you to a registration form – please do enter your email and mobile number so that you can be informed of when the TV programme will be shown and the number to phone to vote for Connect2. Your details will only be used to give you this information, and because the vote may be at a weekend, your asked to provide your mobile number if possible. You will no be charged for any texts sent to your phone regarding Connect2.

Recycle your old electrical goods

The Council has installed new facilities for residents to recycle any type of household electrical item. The Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations which came into force earlier this year means that any unwanted electrical product should now be re-used or recycled wherever possible and not disposed of to landfill.

The Council’s three Recycling Centres at Keynsham, Bath and Old Welton have been provided with recycling banks which will take a full range of large and small household electrical appliances from vacuum cleaners to hairdryers, from TVs to electric lawnmowers.

Cllr Sandry and Cllr McGall are pleased the Council is extending the range of materials local residents can recycle. The Council will be actively encouraging residents to keep their old electrical goods out of household waste bins and instead separating them for recycling.

Althought the new Tory-Controlled Council has set targets for recycling, the Liberal Democrats believe that we should be aiming for a zero waste situation.

To find out more about the WEEE regulations and how you can recycle your old electrical goods, please contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41.