Sharon Ball

Are you taking part in Zero waste week well several leading Liberal Democrat Councillors in Bath are taking part once again in the Council’s Zero Waste Week Challenge. Councillors Paul Crossley (Southdown), Cherry Beath (Combe Down) and Ian Gilchrist (Widcombe) have all undertaken to attempt to produce no waste for one week (29.09.08 to 05.10.09.)

It will be interesting to see how they get on as this is quite a challenge.

Councillor Beath commented:

“My family are keen on composting at home and I have recently purchased a kitchen composting gadget in which you put both cooked and raw food waste mixed with a bran-based organic fermented material which prevents the indoor compost bin becoming slimy and smelly. The resulting product is then added to our larger compost heap outside. It’s appalling to think of compostible waste going to land fill.”

Councillor Crossley added:

“Liberal Democrats are committed to making Bath and North East Somerset the number one recycling authority in the country.

“It is disappointing that the Conservative-run Council administration is delaying the introduction of the collection of kitchen waste for composting from B&NES residents. The Liberal Democrats intended to introduce kitchen waste collections this year, but now the Conservatives are dithering over when to introduce the service to residents.”

Councillor Gilchrist said:

 “The Liberal Democrats introduced this Council’s Zero Waste policy which implies continual progress towards reducing waste. We believe kitchen waste collections should be introduced sooner rather than later.”

We will also be having a go at reducing our waste and we hope that all of you reading this blog will also have a go.

We have two planning applications this week in our area.

The fist one is a retrospective application for the Display of an internally illuminated double-sided pole-mounted display unit at Woodlands Autos Lansdown Mazda Lower Bristol Road.

The application was first registered on 22nd September 2008 and has a decision date of 17th November 2008. The application reference number is 08/03494/AR and if you want to view the application then follow the link on the application number.

The Second application is for the Display of internally illuminated external ATM Collar at 23 Moorland Road.

The application was first registered on 22nd September 2008 and has a decision date of 17th November 2008. The application reference number is 08/02752/AR and if you want to view the application the follow the link on the application number.

Any representations on these applications should be made in writing to Development Control, Trimbridge House, Trim Street, Bath BA1 2DP.  Alternatively representations can be made using the Planning Service pages of the Council’s website www.bathnes.gov.uk.  All representation must arrive no later than the 25th October 2008.

I welcome the news that the Government is to finally to give Councils the tools to tackle the issue of high concentrations of student houses or ‘Houses in Multiple Occupation” (HMOs) in specific areas of their authority areas.

My colleagues and I have been campaigning for this for a long time and I would give particular thanks to Councillor Shaun McGall who has spearheaded this campaign.

On hearing the news He commented:
 
“I’m really pleased that the Government has finally responded to the combined pressure from local residents, Councillors and MPs from across the Country who have been lobbying for action to tackle ‘studentification’. Oldfield Park, like many parts of other University towns and cities, has been affected by the growth of large clusters of HMOs.
 
“When I first set up the SLC within the Council to work with the universities and the student unions to improve town and gown relations I always knew that changes to planning laws would be the ultimate aim.”

Bath MP Don Foster added:

“I would like to thank those local residents and residents’ associations from Bath who have worked with us and have responded to the Government’s review on privately rented housing. Without their persistent help over the years we wouldn’t have been able to persuade the government to propose changing planning laws.

“We look forward to seeing the green paper in due course.”

The unveiling of the design for ID cards is another step towards the Government’s creation of a ‘laminated poll tax’, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne, said today.

The Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed ID cards, which are being introduced by the Labour Party and were initially supported by the Conservatives.

Nick Clegg has already said that he will break the law and refuse to provide his details to the ID Card database rather than sign up for the scheme.

Commenting on the new design revealed today, Chris Huhne said:

"It does not matter how fancy the design of ID cards is, they remain a grotesque intrusion on the liberty of the British people.

"The Government is using vulnerable members of our society, like foreign nationals who do not have the vote, as guinea pigs for a deeply unpopular and unworkable policy.

"When voting adults are forced to carry ID cards, this scheme will prove to be a laminated Poll Tax."

Following today’s Safer & Stronger Communities Overview & Scrutiny Panel which discussed the Bath Package, including the controversial BRT route, Bath MP Don Foster has criticised the resolution passed by the panel, which was forced through by the four Conservative Councillors.  Don spoke at the meeting, calling for further research to be conducted into alternative routes.

Don said, “At the meeting we heard from numerous residents who will be directly affected by this route.  They all felt that the consultation on this issue has been appalling, and that this decision is being forced upon them.

“Things have been done the wrong way round.  The Council consultation leaflet starts with the phrase ‘The Council has decided’ – what kind of consultation is this when the decision has already been made?!

“We had an officer admit that they had done ‘A very quick piece of work…’ on alternatives routes.  Another officer has said that he doesn’t have the resources to look properly into any alternative routes.  Indeed, we got only a single slide of the officer presentation on a sole alternative route. 

“Today’s panel had a chance to send a message to the Cabinet Member that this wasn’t good enough, that the resources should be made available to have proper analysis into alternative routes, and that there should be thorough consultation with residents.

“Instead, Conservative Councillors are running scared of having real consultation.  They have proposed a resolution calling for the Cabinet Member to “take note” of representations made to this panel.  They are clearly determined to force this route through without any meaningful consultation, and without public support.  They are letting the Cabinet off the hook.  There was no real debate at cabinet or Council, and it was officers who have had to take the flak from residents, rather than elected representatives having to justify their decisions. 

“As I said at the meeting, we do need solutions to Bath’s transport issues, and we do need a rapid transit link of some description, but the Council has gone about this totally the wrong way.”

More people than ever feel alienated by the political process in Britain today. To many it doesn't seem to matter who runs the country - nothing ever changes. Gordon Brown has been a disaster. There is little enthusiasm for a return to Conservative rule.

The best way to engage with people is to go and talk to them. That's why Nick Clegg is setting his party the challenge of knocking on a million people between October and June.

Nick Clegg says, "I'm passionate about connecting with people. Talking with them, listening to them, and learning from them. That is why since I became Leader I've been holding Town Hall meetings in constituencies across the country. And that is why at our conference in Bournemouth I will be challenging our party to knock on at least a million doors between the end of conference and Polling Day for the Local and European elections. It is a tough challenge, but one which I am confident that we are more than capable of meeting.

"For Liberal Democrats calling on people to talk to them isn't just about elections and votes. It is about understanding what matters to residents in our communities. Our opponents often deride us for listening to the very real concerns of voters about local issues. But it is something to be proud of that we take seriously such concerns and, more importantly, work to act on them. This is what community politics is all about; and this is what makes us different from the other parties. Community politics rightly lies at the heart of our party and the way in which we do politics.

"But we shouldn't be afraid to talk about national and international issues either. I want Liberal Democrats across the country to be talking about how we are going to cut taxes for ordinary families and how we are offering real solutions to every day problems like fuel poverty. We are the only party with a viable economic recovery plan, and the only party that understands the pressures being put on people up and down the country by the current economic situation.

"At the same we are the only mainstream party which continues to put the environment at the front and centre of our political massage. David Cameron's Tories are rapidly losing any environmental credentials they may ever have enjoyed; they can't be trusted to protect our planet. Our green tax switch, pledge to promote renewal energy, and support for public transport are all firm commitments to tackling the environmental challenge we face.

"I'll be doing my bit. Up in Sheffield plans are already under way to build on our fantastic success in last year's local council elections by knocking on doors to hear back from local residents about how they think we are doing running the council. And when I'm visiting local parties across the countries over the coming months I'll be joining with them to listen to the concerns of voters.

"So let's get out and knock on some doors and tell people about we will make a difference to our communities, our country and our planet."

In the lead up to next Tuesday’s public meeting on the Regional Spatial Strategy, Bath MP Don Foster has stressed how important it is that purpose built student housing should count towards the Government imposed target.

Don said, “I have been informed that there are at least 1500 properties within the Bath constituency that are exempt from Council Tax because they are lived in by students.  This is the same number as the Bath urban expansion that was agreed by the Council, although the Government has since put this up to 2000.

“If we could free up these properties by moving students into purpose built blocks, then we could almost negate the need to build an urban extension to Bath.  Of course, it isn’t that simple, but these figures clearly illustrate the point that Liberal Democrats in Bath have been making.”

The public meeting next Tuesday 30^th September, 7.30pm, Brunswick Room, Guildhall, will be a chance for residents to air their views on all aspects of the RSS.

Commenting, Don said, “Residents need a chance to have their say on all aspects of the RSS – from where they feel houses should or shouldn’t be built, to what added infrastructure they think will be needed, to what they believe a realistic target actually is.  After all, we do need new affordable homes in Bath.

 “I will take the views of all residents forward to my meeting with Regional Minister Ben Bradshaw MP at the beginning of October.”

I fully agree with my Liberal Democrat Council colleagues in Bath who gate-crashed a Council photo opportunity on Friday morning saying that the Conservative-run administration of the Council is too focussed on central Bath, to the detriment of the rest of the city. Below is the comments made by my Colleagues who successfully gatecrashed the cynically organised press call by our conservative administration praising themselves for failing to even clean up our City Centre I am only sorry that I was unable to join them.

“Bath is not just the city centre,” commented Councillor Will Sandry (Oldfield).

“The Conservatives have forgotten about the rest of Bath while residents in my ward, and other wards outside the centre, have to put up with excessive litter on our streets.

“Over 95% of Bath residents don’t live in the city centre and the majority don’t go to the centre often, the areas in which most of us live and work are being neglected. Many of my residents tell me the litter problem has certainly got worse over the past 12 months.”

Councillor Roger Symonds (Combe Down) added:

“The suburban areas of Bath are being neglected by this Tory administration. It took Councillor Cherry Beath and I only a few minutes to fill a bag of rubbish each in Combe Down. We want an equivalent level of service as the city centre.”

Councillor Ian Gilchrist (Widcombe) said:

• Egg oiling;
• replacing gull eggs with plastic eggs;
• Hawk flown over rooftops twice per week during the three months prior to the breeding season.