Paul Crossley

Liberal Democrats in Bath have long been calling for sensible approach to student housing by Government. On the one hand the Government are asking for outrageous numbers of new housing but then it refuses to count student housing. Bath is a small city and each family house that is taken over for multile let adds to the pressure on our housing stock. Yet if we built 400 student housing units and save 100 family houses the Government does not acknowledge the figures. Areas such Oldfield have large numbers of HMOs let to students.

Our MP Don Foster backs this view and is calling for Common Sense Campaign on Affordable Homes

Don Foster MP has called for residents to back him against the Government in his common sense campaign on student housing.

Bath residents now have the chance to get behind Don's view that new purpose-built student accommodation should count towards the affordable homes target set by the Government and he is urging them to make themselves heard on this issue.

Don said, "It's simply common sense that the Government should allow student houses to count towards the target. The new purpose-built accommodation means that students will move out of the houses in the most affordable areas of our City. Can the Government really not see the benefit of this?

"We now have the opportunity to get involved with the RSS consultation process, which could dramatically affect the number of houses to be built within the Bath . If we are to stop Government indifference towards local circumstances, then it's crucial that Bath residents take this opportunity with both hands. I hope the public will make their voice heard, either directly to the consultation, or by getting in touch with me."

The consultation process for the Regional Spatial Strategy, (which demands that 21,300 new homes are built in Bath and North East Somerset by 2026), has now begun and runs until the 24th October. Throughout this period, members of the public can voice their concerns to the Government over any aspect of the Government's plans for the South West.

Don added, "We raised this issue with the Secretary of State some time ago, and she pointed us towards the consultation process. However, the deadline is approaching, so it's important we act now."

Please sign our petition at student housing link

The drama in Zimbabwe continues. The world prevaricates, Mugabe procrastinates, the Southern African states hesitate and the people's suffering continues. And now MDC MPs are being arrested and the election of the Speaker of the House becomes the latest battleground in this sorry tale.When will the world wake up to this preventable disaster in the making and help the people find a positive future away from the bullying and intimidation that is currently daily life for so many.

Please check out the Sokwanale Blog on the interesting blog list in the right hand column and read and see what is happening in this country.

Well done to all our athletes in the Olympic games. As a keen cyclists I have been following our cycle team with a keen interest and it has provided some great events in so many different styles. Team Bath provided a number of our athletes and Heather Fell got a silver medal.

Apart from the great cycling the star for me was the Bolt from Jamaica and three fantabulous races.

The task ahead over the next four years must be to get more people active and healthy as well as providing the stars for 2012.

In Bath we had a low key hand over event to mark the passing of the flag from Beijing to London.

Many people lost out through the Equitable Life fiasco. It is now clear that the Government failed in its duty to regulate. Prudence Brown caught out yet again and again and again on issue after issue. This one does though go back to the incompetent Conservatives and their cloud cuckoo economics of the late 1980s. It is also clear that it is now the Governments duty to provide compensation and to put in place regulation to stop this happening again. The new chancellor certainly picked up the short straw taking over the treasury just as all Gordon's chickens were coming home to roost and the world economy goes into free fall.

Alastair Darling needs to visit Vince Cable and get some advice I think on this issue.

Our MP Don Foster has just issued a press release on this matter.

Date:Tuesday 19th August

I will campaign for those who lost out through Equitable Life - Foster

Bath MP Don Foster is urging all constituents who have lost money through pensions and investments with Equitable Life to contact him, so that he can effectively take up their case in Parliament.

Commenting, Don said, "I feel that after 8 years and 13 reports it's time for the Government to finally admit that it comprehensively failed to regulate Equitable Life properly - and to start talking compensation.

"It is critical that the Government now sets out a credible, transparent and independent process to enter into a dialogue with policy holders over compensation. My colleague Vince Cable MP has led the Liberal Democrats in Parliament on this issue - and he is the Equitable Members Action Group's Political Champion. I would hope that everyone in Bath who has lost money through Equitable Life contact me so that we can put more pressure on the Government to pay out this compensation."

Those who have lost out can contact Don by writing to 31 James Street West , Bath , BA1 2BT , or calling 01225 338 973.

Council Tax is unfair and unjust. It needs replacing with something that is fair and delivers. It needs to be accompanied by a reform of the way Central and Local Government interface and above all it needs Central Government to allow Local Govenment more responsibility and accountability for the services it delivers.

Council Tax was a fag-packet idea from the Conservatives when they pannicked over the hated Poll Tax. Sadly when the Labour took over they failed to sort this mess out. A decade further on and the problem gets worse and now well in advance of the next General the Conservatives have announced they have no ideas and no solutions for the problem. Well nothing new there then. The following story was in the Financial Times.

Sweeping reform of council tax rejected

Financial Times

By Jim Pickard and Jean Eaglesham

Published: August 19 2008 22:48 | Last updated: August 19 2008 22:48

A Conservative government will not undertake a big reform of council tax in its first term, despite regular criticism of what the Tories have dubbed "the ultimate stealth tax", Eric Pickles, the shadow local government secretary, has indicated.

Mr Pickles has admitted that any changes to the unpopular levy would be "incremental" at most.

Sunday was the annual open day at Chris Rich's market garden. He started this last year and found it really successfull. Chris has been one of the stalwart stalls in Bath Farmers Market since it started. Increasingly customers are wanting to know how food is produced. Chris has his market garden in Batheaston and provided fresh food to the market year round.

As oil prices go up food security is rising up the agenda. I think as a country we need to be producing more of our own food and this is certainly one of the aims for our Transition Movement here in Bath. Government should be encouraging home production and allotments. After all local food saves on food miles and our carbon footprints. I also think if more families grew their own food they would buy less junk food and so the health of the nation would also improve.

I intend to start growing far more of my own food in my garden. So brought a number of lettuces and brassicas and planted them out in the afternoon. My dilemma is how to keep the slugs at bay as I do not like to put poisonous slug pellets down. Anyhow empited out one of the compost barrels onto the soil and surrounded the plants with gravel.

Last Friday I had a visit round Milsom Place. This is a new shopping centre in the heart of Bath using an area that connects Broad St and Milsom St and includes the Octagon and opens up access to Baths two Elizabethan buildings. It is an amazing development that Colin Darracott and myself pushed to get underway four years ago and which is now nearing completion. It has also refreshed the Shires Yard complex. The whole place is looking fabulous. Jamie Oliver will be making it the HQ for his Italian chain and lots of other shops will be completing the set up to make this a great shopping area. L&R have done a really good job.

Picture shows the new patio area of Moon and Sixpence and the corner of one of the two Elizabethan buildings.

When I became Leader of Bath in 2002 Bath had a reputation in the building world as a place where you could not do business. Over the next 5 years this was turned round and the delivery of projects like Milsom Place is one such example of a difficult site, an imaginative soultion and co-operation between all concerned to deliver. Lets hope the new administration keep this changed perception up. 

I am a co-chair of B&NES Learning Difficulties Partnership Board. Reporting to the board we have three networks based in Radstock, Bath and Keynsham. The Keynsham Network has been conducting a high street survey to assess all the shops for accessibility. On Saturday they put on a presentation of their work which was open to the public. Free coffee and cakes were added to encourage visitors and it was an excellent morning and afternoon session.

People with Learning Disabilities get a raw deal from society and Partnership Boards around the country are working to improve things.

Here in Bath and NE Somerset Liberal Democrats are calling for 20mph speed limits in residential areas. We are hitting a brick wall though with the Conservative administration so we decided to visit Portsmouth were they have managed to bring in 20 MPH speed limits in all residential roads in the city. It is so much more pleasant and safer with slowetr traffic speeds.

Twenty is Plenty: Lib Dems' fact-finding mission

Liberal Democrats in Bath & North East Somerset are continuing their call for 20mph speed limits to apply on residential roads within the authority. As part of this campaign Councillors Neil Butters (Bathavon South), Paul Crossley (Southdown) and Caroline Roberts (Newbridge) recently visited the City of Portsmouth, where 20mph limits have been introduced on almost all of the residential roads.

They found that the 20mph scheme is popular and appreciated by the vast majority of residents - the Council said they had received only 7 objections to the policy. It is improving road safety; cycling and walking are increasing; and the environment has improved.

Councillor Crossley commented: "The Liberal Democrats have been campaigning on this for our area and so far we have met with a stone wall from the Conservatives. What Portsmouth has shown that this is easy to implement and is popular. While the narrow Victorian streets of Portsmouth lend themselves particularly well to the lower limit, there are still numerous roads in our authority where 20mph limits would be sensible."

Councillor Caroline Roberts said: "With the lower limit, pedestrians in particular feel safer. I know from speaking to residents just how many are concerned about the speed of traffic in their road - Portsmouth have shown that something can be done about it. We have to respond in a similar fashion to make our communities safer places to live."

Councillor Butters added: "This scheme is not only applicable to cities but is equally important for our villages and towns. Of course, implementation will be different to Portsmouth, as we don't have narrow Victorian streets, but our residents want the same results: safer speeds in their communities. I am pleased that some of the villages in my ward already have 20 mph limits. However, some are advisory only. We also need to think carefully about the issue of enforcement, and self-enforcement.

"The safety aspect is crucial and is supported by the British Medical Association (BMA). A child hit at 30mph has an almost 50% chance of dying, at 20mph this drops to just 5%."

You can join the Liberal Democrats calling on the Council to implement 20mph limits on our most residential roads by signing the on-line petition at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/twentyisplenty

Dyson is planning to build an engineering acedemy in Bath. All the secondary schools want it, most residents want it, our Bath MP wants it and the Council through its planning committee decided to approve it. As a Councillor on the planning committee it was a difficult decision. The design is modern and the site is in a flood zone. However we decided on balance that the flood issue could be overcome, the design issues gave us a great improvement on what is there and the education opportunity is enormous.

The Dyson scheme meets all the Government aims for diversity in education and specialist academy provision. Engineering is certainly an area our country needs to develop to meet the challenge of the future. The Labour Government is even corrupting planning process to rush through nightmares such as new Nuclear Power Stations.

So what has the Labour Government done? it has decided to put the whole thing to a public enquiry. The minister concerned has all the facts she needs to be able to make up her mind. She has all the arguements against and all the arguements for. In this instance a public enquiry will simply be a waste of everyones time and money. She should have said Yes or NO. No wonder this government is in crises. What a shower. While the Government dithers and racks up needless cost for the taxpayer I wonder how long it will be before Dyson goes elsewhere with the project. Strangely our Labour MP for NE Somerset has been quiet on this subject.

See article at this LINK  Information about the Dyson School here

Bath is a real singing cities with more choirs per head than just about any part of the UK. Grenville Jones - one of our many Choir Maestros has three choirs and a singing charity for older people. One of his choirs - the City of Bath Male Voice Choir - now two years old - got through all the heats to the first round of public voting. Saturday saw all six excellent choirs sing in the Last Choir Standing Show. Singing and community choirs are a great source of social cohesion. The rapid growth of open abiolity choirs in recent years has really given everyone a chance to sing and be part of great sounds.

Bath is through to the next round withe the choir from Liverpool dropping out this week. Choir singing at the Widcombe Rising Street Festival this year.

My brother and his two children - all now fully fledged Americans - visited England from Florida. They had been supporting Hilary in the Democratic race and were pretty incensed that Florida votes had been discounted in the process. As a Barak supporter from day 1 and as someone who has lived with the unfair voting system we have in the Uk my whole life I had little sympathy for his case. The rules is the rules. When the rules get trampled on then unjust elections follow and injustice prevails. I do not think anyone can say the outcome in America did not reflect the view of the people voting. As I see it Florida Democrats broke the rules. Fair Cop as we say.

I took a days holiday and we did the King Bladud's Pig trail bumping into a number of tourists from round the world and a number of Bath residents I knew as we went round. Everyone was having fun with the pigs. I have put a few of the pigs on the photoblog. At the Bath Aqua glass shop had a long chat with Annette who is thrilled with the way the pig trail has taken large numbers of extra people down Walcot Street and other lesser visited shopping streets. Below is Annette's pig - Bladud.

 After the heat of the trail, visited the Thermae Spa - another Pig Sponsor with Bubbles. Had a great two hour Spa experience. The Conservatives are still moaning about the Spa and still producing literature with false accounting figures in them. The facts are that it has been a boon to the city in terms of prosperity and employment. Our hotels are full and visitor numbers are keeping up - in contrast to many parts of the Country. The new £25M investment in a new 4star hotel next door in the old Tech College is under way. And other Spa related investments have come to the city as well. The truth is that in the 80s and 90s when the Tories had a long period of control of the city they let it decay and go nowhere. They closed the famous Kings Bath and put a shop on it. The Liberal Democrats by contrast got the new Spa related health tourism economy kick started and into action. We are all angry at the failure to deliver the Spa on time. Below is the Bath Spa pig - Bubbles

The Chronicle ran the story and have had some interesting comments back from readers. Roger and I continue to be contacted by staff who would like the Council to adopt the scheme. Press Link Here.

Bath, despite its hilly terrain, has a lot of cyclists and we are trying to get the Council to join up to CycleScheme. This is aa great scheme sanctioned by the Government and run by a Bath based company. Roger Symondas and I have been meeting with its director, Richard Grigsby, and are trying to get the personnel section to adopt the scheme for Council employees.

We have had several calls of support from staff who want to join the scheme. As you would expect though the Conservative administration is against the idea. This is probably because a bicycle does not have four wheels and drink petrol. I think someone should tell them their leader rides a bike - even if the chauffer is following just behind . 

Council should adopt cycle-scheme

Bath and North East Somerset Council is being urged to take a lead on environmentally friendly commuting and set an example to businesses in the local area by cycle-mad Lib Dem Councillors and Don Foster MP. Historically Bath and North East Somerset Council has been slow to assume a leadership role in promoting green travel choices. Now Councillor Paul Crossley (Southdown) has asked the Council to join the Cycle to Work scheme which offers employees VAT-free bikes, repaid by loans that are exempt from income tax and national insurance, through a salary sacrifice system.

Cllr Crossley commented: "Cycling is not only good for the environment but it also reduces road congestion and improves health. Many other Councils offer such schemes to their employees, as do several firms here in Bath. The Council should be leading on the green travel agenda and cutting the carbon footprint of the area. The cycle scheme is a great way of getting more people onto bikes and properly equipped for safe and comfortable commuting to work."

Cllr Roger Symonds (Combe Down), another keen cyclist, added: "In fact in Bath we are lucky to have Cyclescheme - the country's leading company in promoting this salary sacrifice idea - right here in the city. This is a great scheme, which I fully support, to get employees on their bikes, not only will it show that the Council values its staff, but a fitter healthier workforce will give better value."

City MP Don Foster added:"Getting people out of their cars and onto public transport, or cycling and walking should be a high priority. When one of the leading companies offering this scheme is based here in Bath, it amazes me that our Council is so far behind the times. With so many Council offices based in Bath city centre, the Council should be taking a lead in promoting sustainable methods of getting to work, as well as cutting congestion in the city."

Picture shows Don Foster MP, a manager from Cyclescheme and Cllr Roger Symonds.