Bathwick Hill snow stops bus

Stuck bus on Bathwick Hill

This evening’s snow made Bathwick Hill impassible for many drivers including the 18 bus.

The road is normally gritted but the afternoon snowfall resulted in a wet and slippery surface, worst uphill of Cleveland Walk. Many drivers parked where they could and walked home as fellow motorists slid in the slush.

First were also compelled to leave their bus parked on the hill as it could not drive up safely. Passengers had to walk the rest of the journey as the snow continued falling. The bus was rescued an hour later, being gently slid backwards down the hill to turn around at Cleveland Walk.

Winter continues

Snow in Bathwick

The ‘Big Freeze Update’ from the council is abridged below for public information purposes. Whether the ‘big’ refers to the length of the update or the severity of the freeze is not made clear.

  • it is cold and will remain such for some considerable time; it has and will snow, road and pavement conditions are described as extremely hazardous
  • grit was delivered to the council on Friday; it will be used sparingly on major routes and in grit bins, not on residential roads or pavements as per this map
  • most schools will be open on Monday, though Bathwick St Mary’s is currently unsure; updates on the council website
  • there will be no waste collections on Monday; none was collected on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday so this should be brought back indoors. The Christmas trees left in the street are quite festive though

Helping Quarry Rock Gardens with the fire brigade

Nicholas Coombes clears snow on the Bathwick Hill Nicholas and firement clear snow at Quarry Rock Gardens

Quarry Rock Gardens has been in the news a little lately, first in the Chronicle and then on BBC Points West.

The static home caravan site houses 90 residents aged 50+ at the top of Widcombe Hill. Being a privately run site it is not eligible for council gritting (not that many other residential roads have been gritted either!), but the owner of the site has not made any provision for snow and ice. Consequently many residents are housebound and have been for the past week.

I went up to Quarry Rock this morning to check that residents were alright and was pleased to see that most were able to drive out or walk to the bus stop – carefully – and that neighbours were looking out for each other.

However, I was not alone – the fire brigade had also come up to help! With few fire to attend in the cold and wet, Bath Blue Watch drove two of their rescue tenders up to Quarry Rock to dig the residents out. I explained some of the problems to the crew then picked up a broom to help out.

Suitably inspired, my flatmate and I spend another hour that afternoon clearing the pavement outside our home on Bathwick Hill.

Winter

Winter in Bathwick

As the cold snap continues, here’s a public service announcement relayed from BathNES council:

  • schools are closed
  • main routes (Bathwick Hill, Claverton Down and North Road) will be gritted, roads not gritted now will not be in future
  • there are NO rubbish or recycling today; please take the waste (and christmas trees) back in

information and updates are at http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/bathnes, but this has crashed a few times.

Nick Clegg meets Bath

Nick Clegg at a public meeting

Happy New Year

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, is in Bath this week for a free public meeting. The town hall style event is open to anyone to turn up and ask a question.

Having seen Nick at conference, I know that he is a very impressive public speaker. What’s more, having done almost one hundred town hall meetings since becoming leader, he’s pretty good at them.

The meeting is at St Michael’s, Broad Street (by Waitrose) starting at 6:30pm this Thursday 7th Jan. You can turn up on the night, but seats are being booked fast; you can reserve for you and your friends at http://www.nickclegg.com/2009/12/meets-bath/ for free.

Whether you are an instinctive liberal democrat or a floating voter, he’s well worth a listen.

Futher delay for fenced footpath

Footpath AQ78 from Claverton to Coombe Downs

A government inspector today announced an additional investigation into the Claverton Down to Combe Down footpath.

Earlier this year a public enquiry was held to determine the legal width of footpath AQ78. The contested section is the fenced part by Quarry Farm at the Widcombe Hill end. Then the Inspector that the footpath was 5m, in some cases 7m wide. This was even more than the case made by the council; the difference was advertised for renewed consultation.

In a letter, the Planning Inspectorate announced that objections have again been recieved, which an inspector wil need to consider and then re-rule. Another public enquiry may be needed, but an exchange of letters is more likely.

PaCT meeting review

Claverton Community Hall

Bathwick’s beat police officers hold a PaCT meeting every six months to “give you the opportunity to influence what happens in your neighbourhood”. A panel of police and council staff, plus me, is chaired by Rev Prothero of Bathwick St Mary’s. This month we were out of his parish in the Claverton Down Community Hall.

The three priorities of the previous meeting were reviewed, the first two mostly pertaining to the police. Their patrols in Sydney Gardens have been regular and productive. Noise complaints are down and, after one successful confrontation, graffitti attacks are also much reduced. However, it is acknowledged that all uses of the park reduce seasonally due to the cold weather and dark nights. Regarding speeding, the police run an hour or so of speed checks from their van at different points around the ward every month.

The final priority, to install a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill near Tesco, was a council issue. Unfortunately no member of council staff was at the meeting, but I was able to report the success of our petition with the crossing allocated funding for this financial year (ie before April next year).

Following discussion, the three new priorities are (also shown on the police website):

  1. to investigate road safety on Sham Castle Lane, looking at speeding, signage and closure
  2. to continue to enforce speed limits on Claverton Down Road and to accelerate the provision on double yellow lines
  3. to provide a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill, monitored by the police for its first few days.

I hope that in future BathNES council staff will also be able to attaned these meetings. I am a representative to the council, not of the council; I am as unable to understand or explain the many failings of the organisation as any other member of the public!

Police meeting – Tuesday 8th; 6:30pm

Claverton Community Hall

The latest Police and Communities Together meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday 8th December) at 6:30pm in the Clavteron Down Community Hall.

This is the first time that the PaCT meeting will be held on Claverton Down, so a new audience is welcomed. Residents are invited to the open meeting to share their views about policing, council services and local issues. To close the meeting, a public vote of the issues raised will decide the top priorities.

Cllr Nicholas Coombes will be sitting on the panel, as ever, joined by representatives from the police and council.

Bathwick Hill crash caused by parked lorry

Car crash on Bathwick Hill at canal bridge

Two cars crashed while avoiding a badly parked lorry on Bathwick Hill near Tesco.

The accident happened at around 18:30 today (3rd Dec) causing damage to the front of both cars. The occupants are not thought to be seriously injured. The cars collided outside Miles House, just uphill from the canal and Tesco store.

According to the police officer on the scene, a lorry parked on the South (downhill) side of the road stuck out into the carriageway causing drivers to pull out around it. One such driver passing the lorry was struck by another heading uphill. Both cars came to rest on the uphill carriageway and the lorry drove off.

While the exact circumstances are unclear, this accident will have reinforced the fears of residents about this stretch of road. Following the death of a pedestrian in September 2006, Tesco opened an express store on the site against the wishes of the council concerned about traffic safety. While deliveries to the store continue to cause problems, the key issue remains parking.

Bathwick Lib Dem councillors Nicholas Coombes and Armand Edwards have raised the issue of illegal parking in the vicinity of Tesco three times with the Conservative cabinet this year, most recently yesterday. The same question, “how many parking tickets have been issued; is this satisfactory?” has now been asked three times. In May, the answer was “five tickets”. In November, the answer was “we don’t count tickets in this area”. When attention was drawn to this discrepancy in December, the answer was “we still don’t count tickets in this area”.

At no point has the cabinet member answered the question whether the level of parking enforcement was suitable to address the problem of dangerour parking in the area.

Local residents and councillors have recently heard that their petition for a zebra crossing at the site has been successful; the work is due to begin shortly. Speaking with Cllr Coombes at the scene of the accident, the attending police officer welcomed this development as it would slow traffic speed on this part of the hill.

The council must get on with painting the promised zebra crossing and make sure that the existing parking restrictions are enforced.