Paul Crossley1

Letter advertising tghe new ring-and-ride scheme delivered to sheltered housing and elderly residents.

Public transport - November 2006

Dear Resident,

During this year the Council has introduced one of the most successful free bus pass schemes in the country. One reason for its success has been that our bus network has been growing for the last 6 years, whereas in most parts of the country it has been declining, because of the difficult decisions we made several years ago to implement the “bus gate” and put in bus lanes.

The Diamond Bus pass scheme is available to everyone over the age of 60 - so if you haven’t yet got yours please apply by calling 01225 477681.

However on the downside the Token scheme was scrapped. This disadvantages residents who cannot walk to bus stops and who found the £25 of tokens per year useful for a small number of taxi trips.

We are pleased to announce that the Council has now introduced a community Ring-and-Ride scheme to provide a door to door service. We attach a leaflet outlining details of the scheme for your information.

If you have any questions or concerns on these or other matters please feel free to contact either Dine or Paul by email, letter or telephone.

Yours sincerely

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Modified on January 22, 2007 at 1:14 AM

The monthly meeting of the Southdown Interagency was very useful this Tuesday and got quite a few snippets for our latest enews. Rev David told us all that he is repeating his Sing-a-long Carol service in the Jubillee Pub in mid December. Noted that one down in the diary. Its good to see the Churches going to different places to connect to people.

At Full Council this week Dine will be moving a motion to make the Common Bond of our local Credit Union co-terminus with the Authority Boundary. This should enable them to get many more savers and also to help more people in hardship. The scandal of Fairpak shows the difficulty experienced by many families on low incomes who the banks ignore.

Our Lateset e-news

Dear Resident

We hope you enjoyed the Ring of Fire firework spectacular and that you were not bothered too much by festivities around Halloween or Bonfire Night.

Christmas is coming

The Christmas Market around the Abbey  this year is from Nov 30 to Dec 10. In addition the Guildhall Market will be running an extra market in the car park area of the Guildhall. Details at www.bathchristmasmarket.co.uk .

Locally Rev. David from St Barnabus will be holding a Christmas Carol Sing-a-long at the Jubilee on Dec 20 from 8pm. Also there will be a Community Play and Carol service at the Methodist Church in the Hollow on Dec 10 at 3.30 pm.

Bath Rugby Club and The Rec

The Strategic Review is being conducted by an independent consultant, Jeff Bishop,  and will include lots of opportunities for people to have their say.

As part of this review a new website has been launched. Its aim is to provide information about the strategic review, the Trust and the Rec itself.

The website will play an important role in the consultation process and will include a questionnaire.

The questionnaire will go live on the website by the end of November. It will offer some options or choices for possible outcomes on the future of The Rec. The questionnaire will be online for six weeks, to allow people time to complete and return it.

The website is for and about the community - local people are encouraged to contribute to and interact with the site by providing ideas, stories, reviews and pictures.

Take a look for yourself and register your views at: www.recreationgroundtrust.org.uk

Roundhill

We are sorry that the seat has not yet been put back following its theft and rediscovery. We hope to get it back in place this month.

Restoration of the Corn Market

The Corn Market is at the end of the car park by the Hilton in the City Centre. Following the runaway success of 'Quest at the Corn Market', Walcot Street Trust has confirmed that during the first week of March, almost 300 people attended the event and were given an interactive tour of the Corn Market in small groups. They then had the opportunity to discover the building's past; and its possible future, at the Corn Market exhibition.

Over 150 people completed a questionnaire concerning their views about the future of the Corn Market and the Walcot Street Area - the majority response on the future of the building was extremely positive. 98% wanted to see the Corn Market restored for public use and 88% of those who live or work in the Walcot Street area want to see it used as an Arts Centre.

The Corn Market is an architecturally important building that occupies a key site in Walcot Street which, if sympathetically restored for public use, could form a gateway into Walcot Street from the rest of the city.

More information about the Corn Market and Walcot Street Trust can be found at http://www.mailwriter2.co.uk/tsub/tct.aspx?id=2189154&tgt=http%3a%2f%2fwww.walcotstreettrust.org.uk%2f .

Litter

Litter is an issue we come back to every month!! We have chased off one fly-tipper and are now pursuing a second. However there are still unacceptable levels of litter round many footpaths. On our last walkabout with PC Alastair Middleton in mid October we cautioned 2 dog owners who were not carrying bags for dog mess.

Safer Communities

We now regularly walk parts of the area with our local beat bobby. The last walkabout was 25 Oct when Councillor Paul Crossley, local Beat PC Alastair Middleton and trainee PCSO Howard Wilton visited Rosewarn Close and the Circle talking to residents and looking at different problems and issues affecting the communities.

Rosewarn Close suffers a lot from fly tipping and over the last year has had two Environment Action Days and repeated clean-ups to keep on top of the problem. Other issues affecting Rosewarn have been untaxed cars and stolen cars being burnt. The car problems have been solved by the placement of new barriers and the illegal cars have been reduced by regular visits from the police. Fly tipping and litter continue to be a problem though.

The second stop on the tour was to The Circle where the issue is the number of cars being parked in a narrow street.

Haycombe Drive

We have put two bollards at the main park entrance from Haycombe Drive to protect a resident's wall that was being deliberately rammed by a group of young drivers.

We will soon be consulting residents of Haycombe Drive, Rosewarn Close and Blagdon Park on a major road resurfacing and environmental improvement scheme for Haycombe Drive.

Bus Shelters

We have got Adshell to repair the bus shelter at the entrance to Haycombe Drive on the Hollow. We intend to make sure that vandalism damage is repaired as swiftly as possible as this actually deters the vandals in the long run.

Hutchinson Mast in Mount Road

Hutchinson have still not submitted an application for a mast in Mount Road. Following our consultation with residents we have asked for them to investigate the possibility of another site suggested by residents.

Ring-and-Ride scheme

The Council recently gave the go ahead to a trial a scheme in Bath for a Ring and Ride service whereby those who don't have access to other forms of transport can ring for a mini bus service which will pick them up from home between the hours of Monday to Friday 9.30am - 2.30pm. Phone 01225 395321 for more information.

Car Torching

Our area has in the past suffered from young hooligans bringing stolen cars to be torched here. We managed to block off several of the torch sites with new barriers. The youngsters have now taken to torching these stolen cars in other areas of the town. The problem is still there and needs addressing but its consequences are not in Southdown so much as before. We will continue to be vigilant and keep this problem out of our area.

Local Plan

Please add any comments you may have on the Local Plan. The consultation phase ends on December 14^th.

If you wish to see details and submit comments please follow this link http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/environment/planningservices/default.htm

Credit Union

The Credit Union, currently based on Southdown and Twerton will be expanding to cover the same boundary as Bath and NE Somerset area. Saving with the Credit Union is a lifeline to families on low incomes who cannot get bank accounts. It is covered by the Financial Services Act and keeps people away from loan sharks or organisations such as Fairpak. It is also available for anyone to use as a Savings Account. Dine will be moving this change at Full Council whilst Paul has been a regular saver for over 2 years. If you wish to know more please contact either of us for further details.

Bath City Farm

We attach a flier from Bath City Farm that may be of interest to you with this email.

Environmental Tip

Dust on the condenser coils at the back of the fridge wastes up to 30% energy. Clean the coil on the back of the fridge twice a year.

For the best energy providers have a look at http://www.simplyswitch.com/ or if you would like us to send you a leaflet with a number of energy saving tips please ask us and we will put one in the post to you.

Southdown Community Safety Action Group

 Next Meeting Tuesday 12th December at St Joseph's RC Church in Sladebrook Road at 7pm - all welcome

We are borrowing a speed gun and will be doing some speed checks in Southdown Road, Whiteway Road and Englishcombe Lane over the coming week.

Planning applications

http://planning.bathnes.gov.uk/publicaccess/

Road Works in Southdown

http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/transportandroads/roadclosuresandworks/roadreport/default.htm

All Meetings of the Council

www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/councilinformation/howthecouncilworks/diaryofcouncilmeetings

The forward plan of the Executive of the Council http://ewp.bathnes.gov.uk/ewp_efp.asp

Councillor Surgery

If you would like to speak to either Councillor Dine Romero or Paul Crossley personally, surgeries are held on the first Saturday of the month at the Methodist Church in the Hollow from 10 am until midday. No appointment is needed. Alternatively, you may contact us by phone or email.

Councillor Paul Crossley                     Councillor Dine Romero

www.readmyday.co.uk/paulcrossley1

The Southside sports pitch was officially reopened today following a very generous donation from Barclays Bank 'Spaces for Sport' project. At the opening ceremony we also awarded a certificate to a young Millenium Volunteer who had done over 500 hours volunteering in the community. The new pitch is excellant and will be well used by the community.

Unfortuneately the RDA/BCP evaluation into a renewed Community and workspace centre has come back with a price tag that is too large. So we will have to go back to the drawing board and look for a further solution to the problem of the building. 

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Posted by: PaulCrossley    in: My entries

Modified on November 25, 2006 at 5:36 AM

Letter delivered to residents of Roundhill Grove

Roundhill Grove - parking - 15 November 2006

Dear Resident,

Many people In Roundhill Grove have approached us about the lack of car parking space. At the next area committee on November 28th at St Phillip's Primary School in Odd Down we are proposing to submit an application to modify the grass verge on the outer bend of the grass curve closest to the Circle end to allow more vehicles to park and reduce the number of times when parked cars cause severe restrictions to traffic flows in Roundhill Grove.

If you have any comments on this proposal please contact either Dine or Paul by email, letter or telephone before the 28th November.

Yours sincerely,

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Posted by: PaulCrossley    in: My entries

Modified on January 22, 2007 at 1:13 AM

First ceremony of the day in my ward at Haycombe Cemetry. Very windy and a bit chilly but very nice service. Rev David from St Barnabus conducted the service. In the afternoon I attended the main service at the Abbey with the marchpast in front of the Guildhall. I think it is important to remember the past and those who gave there lives and to reflect on how things are as a result.

One of the great things about Bath is the number of trees. However Southdown is one of the least treed parts of the city. Went to look at some trees in residential areas that need thinning and pruning and in one or two cases removing. Tree work is often unpopular especially felling. So Dine and I consulted quite extensively with all the residents to ensure we got the best solutions. The correct trees for thinning and understanding for those being felled and replaced.

In Haycombe Drive at the circle we have a wonderful stand of beech and sycamore which can be seen from a large area of Bath. Some of the beech are nearing the end of their life. So we discussed the gradual replacement and will develop a 20 year plan for the stand. Unfortuneatly global warming and rainfall changes is making it increasingly hard for beech to get established in Bath. We will probably replace with lime.

At our surgery the two guys from Hutchinson came along. Although the petition has 160 signatures against it only 2 residents came along to speak to the operators. We did discuss another possible site and they will look at it and report back on whether it is feasable or not.