British Waterways – towpath tidy 2009

Thank you for your keeness to join in with Towpath Tidy 2009!

On;     Sunday 29^th March

Meeting at:    Towpath by Bathwick Hill

Time;    10am (until approx 1pm)

BW Activity Leader;  Steve Manzi/Alison Colebrook

Activities;   Litter picking, Vegetation Management, Painting, Sign Cleaning

Car Parking available at;  there is limited parking close to Bath centre.  Please contact me if you need more details on suitable places to park.

Please find attached a copy of our Volunteer Agreement form, which we require you to sign and return to me (by email is fine if you print your name and address or alternatively return it to me on the day).  If you will be bringing children to the event, it is fully your responsibility to supervise and ensure the welfare of the children during the event – British Waterways Activity Leader will of course support you with this where possible on the day.

What to expect

All Volunteers involved in Towpath Tidy activities will be met on site by a BW Activity Leader who will give a safety induction at the start of the day/activity, therefore it is important that all volunteers turn up at the meeting time in order to listen to this briefing for their own safety.  The leader will also require all volunteers to sign in so if they need to leave site at any time, they must let the leader know.  

I have enclosed a Safety Advice Sheet for volunteers, which I would be grateful if you could spend a couple of minutes to read.  This has some general safety advice that volunteers will need to be aware of on the day.  If you have a medical condition that they feel a leader should be aware of, e.g. asthma, hearing difficulties, please speak to the BW Activity Leader at the start of the day.

We will provide any PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) such as gloves, lifejackets as appropriate to the task.  Please wear old, warm clothes that you won’t mind if they get dirty, and bring waterproofs if it looks like raining.  Due to the nature of the terrain along our waterways, please wear flat-soled, sturdy shoes or boots, (not open toed shoes or trainers which do not provide enough grip).

At the start of the day, all volunteers will be organised into groups, normally with a BW staff member working with them (for support as well as social reasons!).  Activity Leaders will give instruction on each activity and will be on site throughout the day, if you or your group have any queries or problems.

There will be welfare facilities (inc toilets) located at Sydney Gardens and handwipes on site for volunteers to use.  Refreshments will be provided

Attached is a map of the meeting point – if you require directions, please contact me and I will be able to send you more details.

If you have any problems on or before the day, please contact myself on 07917 373119.

Our ambition this year is to give all South West Waterways key visitor sites a big spring clean – A big challenge but together we can do it!!!!!

Bath and North East Somerset Council set it’s budget last week for the next year. The Conservatives increased tax by 3.5%, including £1million to prop up the council pension fund, and a further £800,000 to investigate building new offices. Despite being a potential beneficiary of both offices and generous pension fund, I did not vote in favour!

The Liberal Democrats instead proposed an alternative budget. Our fully costed plans cost less than the Conservatives, yet still managed to find £500,000 extra to spend on street cleaning, significant extra investment in the Youth Service (subject to Tory cuts), improved recycling services and £3million to fund a new school transport plan.

Instead of forcing a bus road through Newbridge, I supported a plan to get thousands more school children onto buses, reducing peak time congestion. The eventual plan is for ‘free’ bus travel for all children, as it currently is for older people. The concessionary fares scheme has been very successful at one end of the age range, we would like to start children on buses, so that they become public transport users for the rest of their lives.

As predicted, the Labour councillors abstained (hardly worth them travelling to the meeting) so the Conservatives were able to push through their budget. The Conservative deputy leader said that now was not the time for public spending, we needed to save for a rainly day. I would like to point out that it is currently raining and that public spending is exactly what is needed. Given that reduced access to finance is a contributor to this recession, increasing council tax and then squirrelling millions away in reserves and pension funds is not helping the situation. More money is taken away from taxpayers and even less comes out of the system than normal!

The closest vote of the night was unexpected and wonderfully dramatic. Normally most council meeting follow a predictable pattern, but here – almost uniquely – the debate changed the meeting.

Cllr Tim Ball (Lib Dem, Twerton) proposed a personal motion to set aside a little money to fund a creche in his ward. BathNES council plans to cut the creche’s funding, causing its closure. Single parents who leave their children at the creche in order to work, will no longer be able to do either. The debate followed predictable lines until a Conservative member made a more-than-usually offensive remark about the poverty trap, to shocked silence. In response, a rarely heard Liberal Democrat councillor gave an stunning unplanned speach about the purpose of our council; to help those in need. It was enough to turn both the Labour and Indepedent councillors to vote with the Liberal Democrats in favour of the creche. Two Conservatives were shamed into abstaining, but sadly the remainder chose to vote against the creche, meaning that the funding bid fell. I understand that behind the scenes negotiations are now underway.