The National Trust have created a family discovery trail along two miles of the Skyline walk.
The trail links the recently built woodland play area and a new ‘elf and fairy foray’ in Long Wood. Children are also invited to measure the ant hills, forage for bugs and geo-cache (possibly with parents).
The Mayor of Bath, Cllr Cherry Beath, officially opens the trail on Wednesday 8th April at 10:30 in the woodland play area.
Volunteers seeking to restore Smallcombe Cemetery have been granted nearly £50,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund for their work.
The £48,600 was awarded to the Friends of St Mary’s Churchyard for a restoration project involving repair to the walls, vegetation management and promoting the heritage of the cemetery. The Friends are working with BathNES Council, Bath Spa University and National Trust to realise this project.
Dozens of local people are signed up as friends of the project and have volunteered on action days already. If you would like to join in, get in touch with the them.
Miles House Nursery has received a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted after an inspection last month. The report praises the staff and management for the way in which the nursery is run.
This recent inspection follows up a report last year which rated the nursery ‘inadequate’ because of overheating. There was no repeat of the problem in January.
The good inspection result means that BathNES Council can reinstate the Early Years Entitlement funding which had previously been withdrawn. The funding, which provides all 3 and 4 year olds with fifteen hours of nursery care per week, was delivered by the Liberal Democrats in government.
The next meeting of the University neighbours’ forum will be in the evening of Tuesday 3rd February.
The forum, established by Bathwick’s Liberal Democrat councillors, allows management and students of the University of Bath to discuss topical issues with their neighbours. Residents from Claverton Down and North Road attend, as well as representatives from the Bathwick Hill Resident’s Association and Claverton Parish Council, and indeed local councillors.
For more information, contact Gail Gillespie at G.Gillespie@bath.ac.uk.
Claire Jackson and councillors David Martin and Nicholas Coombes held an advice surgery at the University of Bath Students’ Union. The local Liberal Democrats discussed town and gown relations with university students and union leaders.
In representing every resident in Bathwick ward, both on the hill and on campus, your local Lib Dems have held dozens of advice surgeries and public meetings in halls across the area. If you would like to get in touch with your local councillors, please use the contact information on the right of this page.
The new academic year starts at the University of Bath on 29th September. Undergraduates will be arriving in the week leading up to the new semester, with first year students expected on the weekend of 20th and 21st September.
New students joining the university for the first time will enjoy a Freshers’ Week between 21st and 28th September. There will be a number of events to introduce the new starters to university life, the city and each other. If these cause undue disturbance, please contact the Student Community Partnership.
The University is also holding an Open Day on 13th September, which is likely to attract 10,000 sixth form students to consider studying in Bath. As ever, public transport is likely to busy and roads congested on this day.
Early Years provision at Miles House has been rated as inadequate by Ofsted. While much of the inspection report praises staff at the nursery, high temperature inside the building on the day of the inspection was considered a risk to safety and well-being.
The day nursery was previously rated outstanding in 2010. The recent inspection was undertaken to check management and staffing at the nursery, which was considered to be effective. However, when the inspection was carried out on 6th August 2014, the inspectors found the heat inside the building to put children’s health at “significant risk”. The babies sleep room was recorded to be 27 degrees C, above the recommended 18 degrees C.
Childbase, the company which runs the nursery is appealing the report.
An inadequate rating has a significant implication for BathNES Council, which funds the placement of 44 children at the nursery. The Department for Education Early Years Entitlement funding requires the Council to “Secure alternative provision and withdraw funding, as soon as is practicable, for children who are already receiving their funded entitlement at a provider when it is rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted”
BathNES Council staff will be working with parents and the nursery to assess the implications of this report, and to manage the transition to other providers in a structured way.
The next meeting of the forum for neighbours of Bath University will be in the evening of Tuesday 2nd September. The forum allows local residents and university managers to discuss forthcoming events and matters of concern on the Claverton Down campus.
The agenda includes an update on campus buildings projects, including the new accommodation block, arts centre, and teaching spaces. There will also be a discussion about the controversial North Car Park, subject to a recent planning application.
Bath University has also provided a list of forthcoming events on campus. Local residents are likely to notice the Open Day on 13th September, which is expected to attract 10,000 prospective students. The start of the new academic year is 29th September, with new first year students arriving on campus from 20th and 21st September.
The see-saw at Sydney Gardens is to be replaced shortly. This summer, Lib Dem run BathNES Council will be improving a dozen play areas in Bath with new equipment.
In recent years your Bathwick councillors have been supporting a lottery bid to restore Sydney Gardens, and have campaigned for significantly better play provision to be included in it. However, Cllr Nicholas Coombes and Cllr David Martin have also lobbied for improvements to existing equipment in the mean time.
“We are looking forward to great things with the Sydney Gardens restoration project,” said Cllr Nicholas Coombes, “but we are not going to just wait and let the things slide.”
A pedestrian refuge has been built on Warminster Road behind Bathwick St Mary’s Primary School. Residents, parents and your local councillors had campaigned for a safer crossing for several years.
The crossing links the back gates of the school with the alleyway from St Christopher’s Close. This helps parents walking their children to school in the morning, from both the Minster Way estate and North Road. It is also of benefit to residents of Minster Way and St Christopher’s Close when walking into the city centre.
“I’m glad to see this crossing finally built,” said Liberal Democrat councillor David Martin. “Parents and residents have been asking for this crossing for some time and I’m pleased that we have been able to deliver it. I think that we have reached a good compromise between safety and parking on Warminster Road now.”