Double by-election wins for B&NES Lib Dems

Our local Liberal Democrats are welcoming two new councillors today.

Cllr Simon Allen has been elected to B&NES council to represent Radstock. Last night he won the by-election to replace a deceased Independent member. Andy Halliday was elected to Keynsham Town Council after the previous Labour member resigned.

I’ve been running both of their election campaigns through July and spent seventeen hours in Radstock yesterday co-ordinating our activists, so I am especially pleased with Simon’s win. B&NES council remains under Conservative minority control, but the Liberal Democrat group is now in a better position to challenge them. After yesterday’s win we become the largest party on Keynsham Town Council, but the ruling Conservative-Labour coalition is likely to hold there.

Radstock result; turnout 33%, LD 542, Lab 386, Ind 370, Con 55.

Keynsham result; turnout 31%, LD 599, Con 313, Lab 306.

Phone mast application withdrawn

Phone mast on The Avenue

A proposal to increase the size of the phone mast on The Avenue, near the university, has been withdrawn.

Vodaphone had hope to near double the height of their existing mast so that it would protrude beyond the tree line. Wet leaves damp the signal of the current mast within the canopy.

Well organised Beech Avenue residents were able to send enough letters of objection, plus a letter against from Bath University, to persuade the phone company to drop the application. Local residents will be vigilant for any further planning applications.

Wet-house on Lime Grove?

Lime Grove School

As I have written before, the old school on Lime Grove has been considered by the Conservative council as a site for a wet-house.

For all the time that the site was the leading contender for a homeless hostel, suitable for alcohol consumption, the plans were kept secret and only leaked out when the cabinet member accidentally referred to them in a council meeting. Currently, the planned location is by Kingsmead Square – although this is also hotly contested.

My ward colleague in Kingsmead has asked for the documentation about the decision and was only able to force access using the Freedom of Information act. This shows that Lime Grove was considered by the experts as the best site, although the cabinet eventually chose Kingsmead because they thought that there would be less public resistance.

Given that the Kingsmead site is also controversial, I asked the Conservative in charge about the Lime Grove proposals. The written quetion and answer are here – scroll to question 6 on page 6. He says that the Kingsmead site decision will not be re-visited and that he has no hold on the Lime Grove site. However, he did not answer my points about the secrecy and lack of consultation surrounding the process.

I have checked with the council’s property team and they are preparing to re-market the site for commercial purchase (you may remember the aborted student housing bid of last year). All indications are that the Lime Grove site will not be used for a wet-house.

The only question remaining – can you trust a Tory?!

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

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.

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.

Broken pavements

Cllr Coombes inspects broken paving on Bathwick Hill

Normal service resumes with this pennant stone report:

Bathwick Hill has always had some uneven paving slabs because of its pennant slabs. The Conservative council provides enough budget to the street repairs department to replace pavements every 70 years on average. However, this applies to normal pavements; the real stone used in Bathwick is much more expensive.

The maintenance problem was obvious on Bathwick Hill this afternoon when I walked past this popped paving slab opposite the care homes. I’ve reported this to the council and hope that no one trips in the mean-time.

City car club

Today I joined the City Car Club, so I can drive without owning a car.

Since passing my test years ago I have never owned a car; I’ve never really needed one, they are very expensive to run and there’s a huge environmental cost. However, I accept that there are a few occassions when it is very hard to get by without.

I’ve been tempted by the car club idea for a while. Members of the club are able to book one of a fleet for a few hours or days and pay a standard rental charge (about £5/hr or £50/day) including petrol and insurance. However, until recently there have only been a few cars in Bath, in inconvenient (for me) places. What changed this is discovering a new car parked right outside my office this week, in its own designated bay.

I also know of plans to hugely extend the fleet across the city next year; I hope to see a bay opposite my flat on Bathwick Hill in a few months. Bathwick should also have club cars on Sydney Buildings and in the Sydney Place area in the future. From their website and my own customer service so far I would strongly recommend joining.

While I’m giving free adverts, I’d like to write that the Wessex Connect (U18, blue buses) drivers are far friendlier than their First counterparts, plus the service is considerably better value for money. I’d also like to plug the Phone Co-op, a co-operative telecoms provider. Aside from brilliant customer service and being considerably cheaper than their rivals, their phone purchasing policy is very considerate.