The Canal and Rivers Trust have been working to drain the muddy section of the canal towpath near Sydney Road. This stretch of path is popular with parents taking children to Bathwick St Mary’s Primary, but in recent years it has often been muddy and difficult to pass.
New channels are being installed to stop water from the hillside pooling on the path. Work is being undertaken by volunteers, using materials paid for by Cllr David Martin’s devolved funding.
Bathwick councillor David Martin has arranged for benches in Sydney Gardens to be refurbished. He has used his devolved funding to pay for the work.
While waiting for the results of the Sydney Gardens restoration project lottery bid, work still needs to be done to maintain the park. Many benches have broken in recent years and have not been replaced. BathNES parks staff have fitted new seats to existing benches to improve them cheaply and effectively. Two have already been salvaged in this way, and a third is planned.
The children’s play area in Sydney Gardens has received a new piece of equipment. The old carousel was replaced this week by a rotating cone climber.
“We are looking forward to Sydney Gardens being restored with our lottery project,” said Cllr Nicholas Coombes. “However, in the short term we need to keep the park up to scratch. That’s why David Martin and I have asked for equipment like this to be installed, which can be re-used in the future.”
Liberal Democrat run BathNES Council will be resurfacing sections of Bathwick Hill and Widcombe Hill over Easter.
Work on Widcombe Hill will start on 13th April, the week before Easter, and work on Bathwick Hill will begin on 22nd April. Neither road will be closed at the same time as the other, and both will be open for the Easter weekend. The resurfacing works are expected to be completed within the two week period.
The lower portion of Bathwick Hill was resurfaced in 2011, and now the council will be completing the job. In their budget last month the Liberal Democrats on BathNES Council allocated £2million for road resurfacing, while freezing council tax for the fourth consecutive year.
The National Trust have built a woodland play area for children on the skyline walk. The official opening by the Mayor of Bath will be on 9th April.
The new woodland play area is on Claverton Down, to the east of the Bath Clinic. Its design has been influenced by Combe Down School. The Trust hope that it will “re-kindle the love of the great outdoors by bringing communities together to explore, discover and have fun in our wonderful natural settings.”
Bugler Coaches will be reducing their 18B bus service from 20 April. From next month it will only run during the morning peak times.
The 18B is one of the few services which runs down Bathwick Hill and over Pulteney Bridge directly into the city centre. The route was welcomed by many local residents who appreciated the direct link, lost when the Conservative council tried to close Pulteney Bridge to buses in 2010.
However, the yellow buses do not seem to have generated enough custom to be sustainable through the day. Buses will now only operate during the mornings, Monday to Friday. The last bus each day will leave the university campus for the city at 10:50.
As the Rennie Close development nears completion, double yellow lines are to be extended into the cul-de-sac.
BathNES Council has made the Traffic Regulation Order to prohibit on-street parking for the whole road. Parking in the close and Lime Grove Gardens has been problematic recently, as it is not possible for the council to restrict parking in a private development.
Residents of Rennie Close have designated parking bays and garages, so the road was designed without the need for on-street parking. This means that parking at the roadside can be dangerous or obstructive. Now that it can be legally restricted BathNES Council will be able to enforce against inconsiderate parking.
Over 100 local people viewed the latest proposals from the developers for the former MoD site at Warminster Road.
Concerns were raised about school provision, the impact of additional traffic, and the general layout and design of the housing.
“I am pleased that the public is engaging in the process via this consultation”, commented Cllr David Martin, “we look forward to securing a high quality development on this important location”.
Residential roads in Bathwick will be given 20mph speed limits this summer.
The Liberal Democrat run council has been consulting on reduced speed limits, and rolling out 20mph zones, across the city. When Bathwick residents were asked their opinion, they responded to the council survey 2 to 1 in favour of 20mph limits for residential roads.
Cllr David Martin met with BathNES Council staff recently to discuss implementation of the ‘twenty is plenty’ project in our area.They talked about project timetables, and about how to manage traffic speeds on Bathwick Hill.
A recycling bin has been installed at the top of Madeira Walk on Bathwick Hill, and a new larger bin installed opposite Cleveland Walk.
The small bin opposite Cleveland Walk was funded by Cllr Armand Edwards, when he arranged for three bins to be installed on Bathwick Hill. However, with the level of usage in the summer from Bathwick meadows, the provision was insufficient. Cllr Nicholas Coombes used his devolved funding to buy a larger bin for the Cleveland Walk junction, so that the smaller bin could be used at the top of the field. The Bathwick Hill Residents Association had requested a bin here to help deal with litter and dog fouling on the fields. The installation of the bin was delayed to align with works to the bus stop, to reduce costs to the public.