Parking Survey in the area

The Police want to make residents aware of a parking survey being carried out throughout Bath. Staff of a company called Nationwide Date Collection will be recording PART registration numbers and any permits on display and duration of stay. This will occur between 6am and 9pm on Thursday June the 25th, Saturday June the 27th, Thursday July the 2nd and Saturday July the 4th. All staff will be carrying company identification and be wearing hi visibility jackets with the company name on them. This is a genuine survey and this message is to allay any concerns residents may have. As always though, please report any other suspicious individuals to the police.

Car crime in Oldfield Park

There have been three incidents of vehicle interference and theft in your area recently.

Between midnight and 9.30am on Monday June the 22nd, unknown person(s) have removed a motor vehicle from Moorfields Road. The moped in question is a blue Piaggio ZIP with the registration number WU55AEE.

Also in Moorfields Road, a motor vehicle was damaged between 1.30pm on Sunday June the 21st and 5am the following morning. Unknown person(s) have smashed the drivers side window. It is unknown at this if any property has been removed.

Between 10pm on Sunday June the 21st and 6am the following morning, unknown person(s) have removed a pushbike that was secured in a cycle rack on Moreland Road.

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

Car crime on Moorfields Road

At approximately 4.15am on Saturday June the 13th, a resident on Moorfields Road was awoken by what was described as an “angry man” shouting and kicking a motor vehicle, causing damage.

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

Lib Dems will not renew Trident

The Liberal Democrats yesterday became the first major political party to state that they will not support a renewal of Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent system.

While Prime Minister Gordon Brown MP has recently called for a scaling back of Britain’s nuclear warheads, the Lib Dems do not believe this goes far enough to tackle this crucial issue, and leader Nick Clegg MP, has announced his party will not support the future replacement of Trident.

Commenting, Bath MP Don Foster said;

When we don’t even have enough to provide our troops with proper equipment, maintaining a cold war era weapon that will cost up to £100 billion is not sustainable. In this time of new global threats, it is vital that we utilise a defence system that can combat the problems we face now, rather than those of the 50 years ago.

Moped stolen from the Oval

Between 10pm on Wednesday June the 10th and 1.30am the following morning, a moped has been removed from a back garden. The vehicle was later recovered.

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.

Accusations fly over transport vote

Five senior, cross-party Councillors in Bath and North East Somerset have accused Council leaders of coercion and “thinly veiled threats”, with regard to a crucial planning vote on the controversial Bath Package of £54m of government funding for transport projects in Bath.

Councillors from the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Groups have called on GOSW and the Local Government Minister to reject the decisions taken by the Bath and North East Somerset planning committee of 20th May; saying that:

Voting was not free for all Councillors on the planning committee – members were “pressurised, encouraged or coerced” into voting in favour of the applications;
• One committee member was substituted at the last minute (despite being present in the room) by a Councillor who had not previously seen the applications or visited the sites;
• Proper democratic processes were not followed with regard to consultations;
• Key documents were suppressed or not released and inaccurate or misleading information was given to the public and members.

Councillor Gerry Curran (Lib Dem, Twerton, Lib Dem spokesman on planning) commented: The way the committee was conducted did nothing for the reputation of the Council. In my opinion, it brought that reputation into disrepute in the eyes of the public. People did not see the committee process as having been fair, open and honest and many are of the opinion that some members were predetermined in their view on the applications.

Council needs to be seen to be fair, open and honest. It has failed on this occasion.

“I have been working to persuade the Council to separate the BRT and the Newbridge park and ride elements of the final planning application in the hope that by doing so it will go some way towards restoring the Council’s damaged reputation.”
Read the rest of this entry.

Foster writes to Denham on BRT

Bath MP Don Foster has today written to the new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham MP, to re-affirm his view that the Bus Rapid Transit planning application should be called in.

Don wrote to Mr Denham’s predecessor at the department, Hazel Blears, in the lead up to the local planning meeting on June 20th. Ms Blear agreed to a ‘Section 14 Direction’, meaning she would take a closer look at the plans. This direction is still in force.

Don said:

I felt it was important for the new Secretary of State to receive my views on this issue first hand, which is why I have written to him drawing attention to my correspondence with his predecessor. I do not believe that consultation with local residents has been adequate, and research into alternative routes has not been considered. These are both issues I raised at an Overview and Scrutiny panel meeting last autumn.

Two Tunnels – Open Day – 27th June 2009

In November 2007 Sustrans secured £50 million of Big Lottery funding for 79 projects across the UK, collectively known as ‘Connect2’.

£1 million was allocated to the Two Tunnels Project in Bath.

As its contribution to the Sustrans Connect2 celebrations for 2009, Wessex Water (the current owner of Combe Down Tunnel) has kindly allowed the Two Tunnels Group to hold a fourth open day on Saturday 27 June 2009, during which members of the public are invited to walk through the mile-long tunnel before it is transformed to its new role. Everyone is welcome.

Please take this opportunity to walk through the tunnel. If you can make it please go to http://www.twotunnels.org.uk/combe_down_27_6_09.htm to book your preferred time slot.

Chance to comment on Englishcombe Inn conversion plans

We are encouraging former regulars of the Englishcombe Inn and local residents in the area to comment on Cedar Care’s revised planning application for conversion of the Inn into a 40 bed care home.

The previous planning application was not refused due to the change of use of the site from a public house to a care home, but on a range of other planning grounds.

Councillor Will Sandry chaired a public meeting on the 28th May 2009 to bring together the concerned former regulars and local residents with the developers and their architects. The revised plans were displayed and many residents took the opportunity to quiz the developer, Mr Ash Desai, on the revisions to the plans.

Many local residents took the opportunity to ask important and searching questions of the developer and architects on their revised plans. Residents particularly wanted to know whether concerns they had previously expressed were being addressed in the new proposals.

Former regulars of the Englishcombe Inn also voiced their opposition to the plans and to the loss of a public house which was a community asset in the area.

At the meeting Councillor Shaun McGall explained the way the planning process works and urged residents to get involved with the process by submitting official comments on the new planning application.

It’s vital that former regulars and local residents take the opportunity to make their voices heard on this application, whether for or against.

We encouraged residents to send a copy of their comments to their local Councillors. If there is a lot of opposition to the application then we will request that the planning application should be decided in public by the planning committee rather than by planning officers.