Cllr Nicholas Coombes has requested that the council re-paint the lost white lines at the end of Quarry Road. The dashed lines at the junction with North Road, at the University’s western entrance, have been lost through road patching. Local residents pointed out the lost lines at the most recent University Neighbours Forum.
A project budget of £250,000 has been allocated to improve Sydney Gardens by the Lib Dem run Council.
The budget will pay for immediate improvements to the infrastructure in the park, such as the tennis courts and the play areas. Improvements will also be carried out on some of the listed structures. Work will be co-ordinated with Network Rail’s electrification project to ensure maximum public benefit.
Representatives from local residents’ associations, the Holbourne Museum and local councillors are involved in drawing up a priority list for the works.
Local campaigner Claire Jackson said “it is helpful that the Council has reached out to local community groups and residents to ask for their input. Ideas coming from the steering group are being shared more widely in a consultation leaflet. Local people care deeply about the Gardens and we have to make sure that these works have their support”.
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result means that BathNES Council can reinstate the Early Years Entitlement funding which had previously been withdrawn.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.
Tesco on Bathwick Hill have applied to BathNES Council to change their permitted opening hours.
When the shop was granted planning permission against the wishes of the council in 2007, it was permitted to open between 8am and 9pm. The application seeks to vary that condition, allowing the shop to open between 6am and midnight.
The application can be viewed online, and members of the public can comment until Friday 20th February.
The recent poor weather has slowed the improvements to the muddy path between Combe Down and Claverton Down.
Unfortunately the contractors have now reached the end of their programmed period, and have had to start work in Tunley. With the job unfinished on Claverton Down, the contractors will return in March.
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.
A stretch of pavement on Bathwick Hill is being relaid to improve the surface.
The pennant stones in the middle section of the hill had become uneven. Cllr David Martin requested that they be repaired to prevent the hazard to pedestrians.
The developer of the former MoD offices on Warminster Road has requested that consideration of their application by the BathNES planning committee be delayed again to Wednesday 11th February.
However, they have also submitted a new application for converting the existing buildings to flats. The proposal, which is currently open for consultation, is for 154 dwellings within the eight single story office blocks currently on the site. If permission were granted to the conversion, which would not result in a significant change to the appearance of the site, then it may establish the principal that 154 units could be built on the site.
Your local Liberal Democrat councillors remain of the view that this is a prestige site which demands a high standard of urban design, sensitivity to the local area and consideration for its visual and environmental impact.
Network Rail will be investigating the position of tree roots in Sydney Gardens this week. Work will be from Monday 12th January for most of the week.
Network Rail are planning to electrify the Great Western Mainline, which runs through Sydney Gardens. They will need to lower the track level so that the electric cables can pass through the Victorian tunnels. There also needs to be more secure fencing between the line and the public.
As the gardens are protected, Network Rail are investigating compromise solutions. They are searching for roots in the area with the benches near the line prior to drawing up works plans.
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.