Bath University is hosting the 2015 Modern Pentathlon European Championships this summer.
The five events, swimming, shooting, riding, fencing and running, will take place on campus between 18th-23rd August. Bath residents are invited to take part.
Tesco withdraw licence application
Tesco have withdrawn their application to extend the alcohol licence for their shop on Bathwick Hill.
The company had applied for permission to sell alcohol until midnight, even though the shop currently closes at 9pm. The move caused concern among local residents, many of whom objected to the application.
A hearing of the Licensing Committee, scheduled for 27th January, has now been cancelled.
New see-saw at Sydney Gardens
Bath & North East Somerset Council’s £225,000 investment into 10 local play parks will be completed before Christmas. A new see-saw has been added to the Sydney Gardens play area in Bathwick.
Cllr David Martin said: “This continued investment into our local play parks will benefit many children and families and we’re delighted to be able to complete this work before the Christmas holiday. Play equipment has a natural shelf-life and Bath & North East Somerset Council wants to make sure that our areas are safe as well as fun. We welcome feedback on the new facilities being provided and look forward to a new generation of children having fun on our play areas.”
Improvements to the play area at Bath’s Royal Victoria Park are also planned in the new year, as part of a wider investment project. This will include replacing the play park’s triple slides with a bespoke slide and tower unit.
Tesco apply to extend alcohol licence to midnight
Tesco on Bathwick Hill have applied to extend their alcohol licence to allow the store to sell drink between 6am and midnight.Currently the stores closes at 9pm, when their existing licence stops.
People who live within the vicinity of the store may make representations before 30 December 2014. They must complete a form and post or email it to licencing@bathnes.gov.uk. Representations should cover any of the four licencing objectives:
- the prevention of crime and disorder,
- public safety,
- prevention of public nuisance,
- the protection of children from harm.
Some will remember that Tesco’s original licence application in 2008 was for later hours, which Cllr Nicholas Coombes and local residents persuaded the licencing committee to reduce.
Cycle tour of Britain – 12th September
The cycle Tour of Britain race will visit Bath on Friday 12th September. The Bath to Hemel Hempstead stage is 206km long and will occur on the sixth day.
The stage will commence at the Royal Crescent on Friday 12th September at 10:15am; the peleton will ride down Milsom Street, over Pulteney Bridge and along Great Pulteney Street. In Bathwick, the riders will pass the Holburne Museum, going down Darlington Street, over the Bathwick Hill roundabout and out along Pulteney Road.
Park run on Claverton Down
Bath’s first Park Run will be on Claverton Down next month along the National Trust’s Bath Skyline paths.
Park Run organise weekly runs for the community, which are timed over a 5km distance. The first event in Bath is being organised by @bathrunner.
The meeting place is in the council fields opposite Monkton Prep school, at 10am on 4th October. The organisers are also having a trial run on 27th September.
Cleveland Walk to be gritted in winter
Cleveland Walk will be gritted by BathNES Council this winter for the first time thanks to your Liberal Democrat councillors. Council staff have now accepted Cllr David Martin’s request to add the street to the gritting route.
Residents and local councillors have long been pressing to have Cleveland Walk gritted in winter, to support users of the school and nursing home. The introduction of the 734 bus service has now tipped the balance in favour of gritting.
The 734 bus, itself the result of work by your local councillors, has proved popular with Bathwick residents as it takes the directly into the city centre.
Miles House Nursery rated inadequate for overheating
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.
Cleveland Pools win lottery backing
Cleveland Pools, Britain’s only Georgian lido, has won lottery funding to develop its restoration bid. The Cleveland Pools trust have been awarded £366,200 to work up their proposals and business plan, with an expectation of a £4.1 million grant to implement the scheme.
Trustees of the pools want to re-open the lido for public swimming for the first time in thirty years. BathNES Council provided the trust with a lease for the site last year, and have supported the lottery bid. Hundreds of volunteers have also backed the bid, writing the application documents, clearing the site and fundraising.
National Trust ’50 things’ on Bathwick Hill
The National Trust launched their ‘50 things to do before you’re 11¾‘ summer campaign on Bathwick Hill this weekend.
The campaign (covered in the Bath Chronicle) is to encourage children to enjoy the outdoors. Earlier this year, the Trust opened their new adventure play area on Claverton Down.