Claverton Down Community Hall Valentine’s dance

Dr David Martin at Claverton Down Community Hall

The Claverton Down Community Hall Valentine’s dance is on Saturday 12th February, from 7:30 to 11:30pm. Tickets are £8 available from Peter Marsden on 466610. There will be music from the Dave Parker duo and a light supper; bring your own drinks and glasses.

The community hall has it’s own website at www.clavertondown.org.uk; David Martin is a committee member of the hall.

If you would like your community event published on the website please email nicholas_coombes@bathnes.gov.uk; already there are rumours of Spring street parties!

Warminster Road school crossing

Cllr Coombes and Dr Martin with the Warminster Road crossing campaign

Last September David Martin, along with local residents and councillors, petitioned the council for a school crossing on the A36 Warminster Road. Dr Martin is a school governor of Bathwick St. Mary’s Primary.

B&NES have now proposed that a central island pedestrian refuge is installed close to the rear entrance of Bathwick St Mary Primary School. This will also serve the footpath from the end of St. Christopher’s Close.  Although this is not a complete solution, we welcome the improved safety that this refuge with bring. 

However, it is not likely to be funded until 2013.  It is possible that improved signage can be funded earlier.  We will continue to press B&NES to raise the scheme up the priority list.

B&NES Masterplan

Nicholas Coombes and David Martin at St. John’s Field

With the coalition government devolving more power to local people, B&NES Council has been able to revise its growth plan. The Labour government had insisted on thousands of extra houses which would need to have been built on the edge of the city. The council has changed its ‘Core Strategy’ document to reflect local needs, but it is still not perfect.

Cllr Nicholas Coombes said “Council has passed this plan for public consultation before it is signed off. I am pleased with the overall direction of the strategy, but there are some key details which need to be looked at again. I shall be responding to the consultation and urge interested residents to do likewise.”

You can access the consultation online here ; there is a lot of reading and less than a month to go.

PaCT meeting priorities

Bathwick St Mary’s Primary School

Bathwick’s six-monthly Police & Communities Together (PaCT) meeting was at St Mary’s Primary last Monday.

Rev Prothero chaired the meeting, which included Cllr Nicholas Coombes, Cllr Armand Edwards, PCSO Greg Doyle, PCSO Mike Symonds and Andy Chard from B&NES Council. All previous priorities related to police work; they reported their activities against speeding motorists and anti-social behaviour in Sydney Gardens. New priorities were voted as:

  • illegal parking outside Tesco on Bathwick Hill
  • speeding on Bathwick Hill and Claverton Down Road
  • pedestrian safety on the Bathwick Hill zebra crossing

The next PaCT meeting is planned for 25th May.

Grit bin requests

Nicholas Coombes clears snow on the Bathwick Hill

With the return of the cold weather our roads and pavements are icing up again.

 I have recieved requests for new grit bins on Minster Way (top of hill), The Avenue and Bathwick Hill (middle). While these are not in my gift, I intend to collate these and present an omnibus request. If your area needs a new grit bin please put a request in the comments.

Quarry Rock Gardens now have their own private grit bins after needed to be rescued by the fire-brigade (I helped a little) in January this year.

PaCT meeting – Monday 6th, 6:30pm, Bathwick Primary

Cllr Coombes and Dr Martin at St Mary’s Primary school

The Police and Communities Together meeting is on Monday 6th December at 6:30pm. It is at Bathwick St. Mary’s Primary School on Darlington Road.

Cllrs Armand Edwards and Nicholas Coombes will be in attendence as will representatives from the local police. The public will be invited to select their priorities for action over the next six months. Previous priorities included speeding and road safety.

Congratulations St. Mary’s Primary

Cllr Coombes and Dr Martin at St Mary’s Primary school 

Bathwick St. Mary’s Primary School has been rated as the best state primary in Britain.

The award was from the Sunday Times which recognised high achievement across a range of subject areas.

Dr David Martin, who is a governor of the school added his own congratulations: “I’m proud to be associated with the school. It’s academic success is clear, and is due to the hard work of the whole school community – staff, children and parents.”

Conservatives admit they didn’t plan for Pulteney Bridge Closure

Nicholas Coombes and David Martin on Pulteney Bridge

It is increasingly clear that B&NES Conservatives tried to close Pulteney Bridge without planning for the consequences.

A decision over whether to close the bridge fully has been delayed until April 2011, yet bus services have already been moved away at the request of the council. Thousands of passengers have had their regular service disrupted or cancelled. No alternatives were provided at the time of the change.

Two months later a replacement service for Great Pulteney Street is about to begin – it will run three times a day. Liberal Democrats including Cllr Nicholas Coombes are campaigning for the usual 18 service be restored during the six month decision period.

Cllr Coombes has also discovered that no prior traffic modelling was undertaken to predict the effect of closing the bridge on congestion. Conservative councillors had claimed that there would be no adverse effect on congestion. In answer to a written question, it emerges that these traffic models, prepared in 2008, were of closing the bridge together with opening up the bus gate.

In order to reduce congestion on North Parade, where the buses have been re-routed to, the council now proposed restricting right-hand turns onto Pulteney Road for the duration of the Christmas market this year. Taxis, which formed the majority of the bridge’s traffic, have not yet been re-routed to North Parade, but would be if the bridge were closed fully.

It is clear that the unplanned and botched closure of Pulteney Bridge has caused great inconvenience to local residents and is costing a great deal of tax-payers money in delayed and partial mitigation attempts. So far there hasn’t been a single benefit.