Tim Ball

A photo call will take place for residents concerned about developments on the Hollow with local Councillors Tim Ball & Gerry Curran on Saturday 1^st March at 11.15am.

On Monday 3^rd March a press photo call with the Bath Chronicle will take place at 9.30am.

The meeting place for both will be on the corner of Cotswold View.  

Somer Housing has submitted a planning application to build 24 houses and 6 flats on the piece of land, although it does not currently own it. The Councillors have requested that the scheme should be considered by the Council's planning committee should planning officers recommend approval of the application.

Local residents in Twerton are outraged at the proposal to develop a small piece of land between Cotswold View, the Hollow and Bath City Farm.

Twerton Councillors Tim Ball and Gerry Curran have launched a web petition to allow local people to register their objections.

Councillor Ball said:

"This hillside is visible from all over Bath and any development on this site would be very unwelcome to residents all over the city. I believe it would be a blot on the landscape.

"We can't allow development to creep onto our open spaces."

Councillor Curran added:

"There are other causes for concern about this planning application - 30 housing units is a lot for this small area of land, and the proposal includes access via Cotswold View, rather than directly onto The Hollow, which will change the nature of what is currently a quiet cul-de-sac.

"We would encourage all residents who object to this proposal to visit the petition site and register their opposition. We will be submitting the petition responses to the committee as official objections."

Text of the web petition and link:

"We the Undersigned do not want to see any more building on the important hillside at The Hollow in Bath. The land above Cotswold View and adjacent to Bath City Farm should be protected and preserved for future generations. The hillside is visible from all over the Bath area; any further building on this site would be a blot on the landscape. We call on Bath & North East Somerset Council to reject any planning applications to build on the land above Cotswold View and adjacent to Bath City Farm and to take steps to ensure that the land is protected for the pleasure and enjoyment of all Bath residents, now and in the future."

http://ourcampaign.org.uk/protectourhillside

Whilst we received a reprieve in Twerton where both our post offices at Wedgewood Road & Twerton High Street survived the swinging closure programme of this Labour Government other areas were not so lucky.

Post offices that the Government wants to consult about closing are Bathford Post Office, Bear Flat, Claremont, and Lower Weston.

I am  concerned about the ever creeping nature of the Post office Closure Programme and feel that it will be only time before Twerton Post offices will face the chop as well. This is why locally the Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign to keep all Post offices open as we feel that they play an essential Part in our communities.

If you have not already signed our petition opposing Post office closures then please do so at ourcampaign.org.uk/savebathspostoffices.

Bath & North East Somerset council have responded to The Liberal Democrat motion to save our Post offices at the Council meeting on 19^th February and have organised the following items that were part of The Liberal Democrat motion that was approved by Council.

A public meeting and online questionnaire, being organised by Bath & North East Somerset Council's Enterprise and Economic Development Overview and Scrutiny Panel, will provide the opportunity for people to share their views over the proposed plans that will determine the future of the Post Office network.

Bath & North East Somerset Council's Enterprise and Economic Development (EED) Overview and Scrutiny Panel will hold the public meeting at 10 am on Tuesday, 18 March in the Banqueting room, Bath, Guildhall. 

The Panel is inviting representatives from Post Office Ltd and Post Watch to discuss the impact of the plans on Bath and North East Somerset residents, followed by contributions from Council Officers.

 Members of the public are invited to express their concerns to the Panel in writing or during one of the time-limited slots at the meeting.

Anyone wishing to make a representation to the Council should contact Mark Durnford, Bath & North East Somerset Council, Democratic Services Officer, on 01225 394458.

The online questionnaire will go live from the 29 February for two weeks, until 14 March, so that an update can be provided to the panel at the public session on 18 March.

At the end of the public consultation, the Panel will then gather all of the responses and write a letter on behalf of residents and the Council highlighting all the points of concern with the proposed plans before any implementation can be made.

Written representations should be titled "Post Office Changes", and sent to: Mark Durnford, Democratic Services, 2nd Floor, Guildhall, Bath, BA1 5AW, by fax to 01225 477314, or by email to  mark_durnford@bathnes.gov.uk

All representations should be received by the 7 March 08.

To give your views online, the following options are available:

By Email to postoffice@consultations.bathnes.gov.uk Or  fill in the online pro-forma by following the link.

I have heard reports over the last few weeks that our Digital Audio broadcasting network is in financial trouble with several stations about to go off air.

I personally enjoy listening to The Arrow as it plays much of the seventies music that I like to listen to. I am not sure what they are up to today as all morning they have been broadcasting Saturday's news programme I do hope that this is a blip on their part as I would miss the station.

I am relieved however to find that it is Sunday and I did not dream the fantastic England Rugby Win in France last night, what a performance from the Bath contingent of players and Michael Lipman  must be in for a regular place now.

Come on The Arrow if England can turn it around then you can and please do not cause me any more distress in thinking that the game did not take place.

Many thank to the residents and helpers we had a good clear up of the Redland Park Estate and Carr's woodland today. Special thanks go to Joe and Richard for giving up their valuable time to give us a hand.

The Pictures below show just some of the Rubbish that was hauled out of Carr's Woodland and the litter that was picked up in Redland Park.

We hope that this area will stay clean for a whole lot longer but for those of you keen for more there is a tree planting session and further clean up in Carr's Woodland on Sunday 24^th meeting at 1pm by the entrance to the Woodland in Redland Park.

I am off out shortly to go and help clear up one of our local estates of its litter problem and yes I will be there until about 4pm this afternoon. We will also be clearing rubbish from the very important Carr's woodland where a tree planting day will take place tomorrow more details will be posted here later about that event.

Those of you lucky people sat in front of the rugby this afternoon will no doubt spare us a passing thought, but if you have any guilty pangs then it will not be too late to come and join us in what could be a fun day out.

We are meeting at Hinton Close Twerton at 10am but if you are late coming then please call my mobile on 07970461674 and I will come and find you.

By the way as an extra incentive the Mayor of Bath & our local MP Don Foster are turning out so a bit of a chance for some lobbying as well as lending a hand.

At Budget council meeting on February 19^th I asked the following questions of the executive member for customer services about parking charges in Bath & North East Somerset. These questions followed on from my comments at the previous week's cabinet meeting when he refuted my allegations about Bath bearing the brunt of any increases in parking charges.

Well excuse me for being cynical but are the replies below not saying that Bath motorists are being clobbered the most by parking charge increases. I look forward with bated breath to seeing the weekly list.

• Questions from Councillor Tim Ball

(1) What increases in on-street parking charges for 2008/9 does the Cabinet Member plan to apply in areas outside the city of Bath? How much income will be generated by these increases?

(2) How much extra income does the Cabinet Member expect will be generated from introducing charges for "some disabled bays" in Bath and how much in North East Somerset in 2008/9?

(3) How much extra income in total does the Cabinet Member expect will be generated from the increases in charges for parking permits, parking charges rationalisation, on-street parking and disabled parking in 2008/9? How much of this extra income will come from charges within the city of Bath and how much from North East Somerset?

Answer from Cabinet Member for Customer Services

(1) There are only 30-40 permits purchased outside of Bath, to which an increase of 20% applies, which approximately equates to £200.

 (2)  This information will form part of a report shortly to be published on the weekly list, that will follow the Budget decision.

(3) This information will form part of a report shortly to be published on the weekly list, that will follow the Budget decision.

Bath and North East Somerset Council has voted to oppose Post Office closures in the district. A Liberal Democrat motion calling for the Council to speak out in the consultation process, which begins on Monday, and recruit the support of local MPs, was overwhelmingly adopted.

 "Post Offices are of intrinsic value to communities and are one of the things which help define a ‘community' - their closure affects the community in many ways and particularly affects older people, disabled people and those without easy access to transport.

"Post Office closures can lead to the decline of local shopping areas, isolation of older people and increased traffic congestion as people have to travel to reach Post Office services.

A Labour amendment - which sought to water down the motion by replacing the wording: "Council resolves to oppose the Post Office closure programme" with "Council resolves to support the continuation of Post Offices where they have public support" - was overwhelmingly rejected by the Council.

The motion was supported by all Councillors present except the 5 Labour members who abstained in the final vote.

"7.56% is the real tax increase Bath & North East Somerset Council residents are facing this year", this is because a Conservative budget was approved by full council on 19^th February 2008 despite Liberal Democrats voting against after failing to get other opposition parties to agree to amendments that would have softened the blow.

Directly, residents are going to be charged a 3.95% Council tax increase. However, with all of the hikes in other fees and charges and the introduction of new fees planned by the Conservative Cabinet, the real figure is 7.56%.

New and increased charges in this budget include: the introduction of charges for on-street parking for disabled drivers; increases in charges for services for older people; an increase of 56% for residents' parking permits; increases in park and ride fares; extensions to other car park charges; and a 10% increase in garden and bulky waste charges.

 "This Conservative budget appears to have a low Council tax rise, but when all the other charges and fees are taken into account, the real burden on residents is much higher.

"The budget will hit vulnerable people with high charges; it will punish drivers, without improving traffic flows; it will delay, put off or abandon important environmental measures, such as same-day collection and extending recycling; and it will exacerbate problems through cuts to the Council's youth and other services.

"The Liberal Democrats believe this Conservative budget of service cuts and increased charges is fundamentally flawed. We have fought hard for improvements, and will be proposing an amendment which is intended to reduce the burden on older people and the vulnerable, to help protect services for young people and to put environmental protection high on the agenda.

"By trying to claim a low Council tax increase on the one hand and introducing new fees and increased charges on the other, the Conservative Cabinet is driving our authority into the sand, putting its head in after it and blaming everyone else."

There are two planning applications registered this week.

The first is a Conservation area application to demolish Twerton Mill Lower Bristol Road Bath BA2 1EW. At the moment there is no application to build anything else on this site.

This is the last of the old Woollen Mill buildings along this road the application number is 08/00490/CA. and you can view the application by following the link on the application number. A decision must be made on this application by 14^th April.

The Second application is by Somer Housing to Erect 30 dwellings with new access road and associated landscaping on land adjacent to the Hollow on the field Between City Farm and Cotswold View The Hollow.

The field is the one that was not used when bond homes built Cotswold View and has an application registration number of 08/00518/FUL and you can view the application by following the link on the application number. A decision must be made on this application by 7th May.

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 http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/. 

Please also let your councillors know your thoughts.

I have been told that the planning application that we have all been expecting for housing on the Hollow has now been submitted and is about to be registered.

At the moment I do not have details of the application but once these are published I will post them on this site.

The Icy chill is with us and looks likely to stay for a while and it's not just the weather that makes me say that.

Another Icy Chill is about to hit Bath & North East Somerset Council residents in the form of a Tory Budget that is so mean on the needy that Scrooge would be proud of it.

I am sure that you will all remember watching the films of Scrooge and the cold room that he always sat in, Well with the mean way our Conservatives are imposing charges on disabled motorists and hiking the cost of care for some of our most vulnerable residents that cold room cold be what some of our residents can look forward to.

The I'm all right Jack approach by the Conservatives has not changed over the years give them a chance of Power and that exactly what you get and their budget proves it.

If you ask me the question will I vote for it on February 19th, well a cold day in hell has a better chance of being a reality.

A clean up of Redland Park & Carrs woodland organised by Cllrs Tim Ball & Gerry Curran will take place on Saturday February 23^rd.

The Council have agreed to back the clean up and will be providing bags and a lorry to take the rubbish away. Somer Housing have already started a clean up after a meeting with Ward Councillors a few weeks ago and the council have also litter picked several areas.

The Clean up Day will start at 10 am and will finish at 3.30pm when the lorry will take the last load away.

We would like residents and community groups to join us on the clean up and would ask that we meet at Hinton Close at 10am any one needing more information or coming late can ring me on 07970461674.

A further clean up of the Riverbank is being organised by the council and I will print confirmation of the details when they become more available.

I have attached a copy of the replies to supplementary questions that were asked at the cabinet meeting on 6^th February including the reply to my question about the clean up for Twerton.

Cabinet_Suplimentary_questions_6th_Feb_08.rtf

Bath & North East Somerset Councils budget debate on 19^th February will soon pick out if the pact of Conservatives, Labour, and independents still holds together.

The Conservative Cabinet last week voted through a budget increase of 3.95% but with lots of hidden tax increases on our motorists and most vulnerable members of our community to the tune of another £2.5 million but this still has to go through our full Council meeting.

At the Cabinet meeting to give them their due the small labour old guard made a fuss about the Tory Budget.

My Liberal Democrat leader and I also spoke on elements of the Conservative Budget and criticised the way that they were hammering the most vulnerable members of our community.

We have to remember how we come to have a Conservative minority administration and that is because both Labour and independent councillors actually voted them into office at our Annual Council meeting last year for just a few crumbs from their table by way of positions of responsibility.

Only time will tell but I suspect that we will again see that there is little difference between them when it comes to the crunch on 19^th February.

I have received many comments regarding the planning application for 105 high street application number 07/03748/FUL and all of them so far have been negative.

I would like to thank all of those who have been in touch so far with regards to this application and for their thoughts on this very important matter. I have taken seriously the comments made by residents and have passed these on to council officers.

This application will alter the appearance of our High Street so if you have any comments whether favourable or unfavourable then please let us have them as soon as possible.

If any one has not made comments and would like to then please write 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 http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/. 

I am concerned to be told that there has been little or no consultation by the applicant with the tenants of the buildings that are affected by the application. This does not only mean the two businesses that area affected directly by the proposed demolition but residents living in the flats that will be affected by the proposed parking, so I have also brought this to the attention of the council.

Liberal Democrat Councillors fighting to prevent Post Office closures in Bath and North East Somerset are taking their campaign to the Guildhall.

The list of Post Offices under threat will be published on 26 February, but as the next Council meeting is on 19 February, Councillors have tabled a pre-emptive motion calling for the Council to oppose closures and respond to the consultation accordingly. The motion also calls for the support of local MPs' to be sought and for the Council to look into services it could provide through the Post Office network.

"We believe that our local Post Offices play a vital role in our communities. Any closure affects the vulnerable and the elderly and forces more people into using their cars. Whether you are collecting a pension, applying for a passport or just posting a parcel, our Post Offices are there for us.

"A closed branch doesn't just mean the loss of services to local people, there are also many knock on effects, such as reduced custom at neighbouring shops as customers travel to a different area to use Post Office services.

"Since 1999, twenty Post Offices have been closed in Bath & North East Somerset. The Government's new closure programme will mean the loss of another 2500 local Post Offices across Britain and several are expected to close in our area. Liberal Democrats are already working hard to oppose these closures. We need more Post Offices, not more cuts."

The consultation will run for 6 weeks from 26 February.

The Genesis Trust is a charity which has worked with disadvantaged people in Bath since 1990, providing soup runs and a lunch kitchen, training, life skills and reintegration into employment.

The Trust has been renting the Old Labour Exchange in the city centre from the Council, and has found it an ideal location from which to run its workshop projects and furniture shop, together with the training projects and as an administrative base.

However the Council has confirmed it has plans to put the building on the market in April. As far back as October 2007, The Somer Housing Group, in partnership with The Genesis Trust, had put forward an innovative proposal to develop the premises into affordable housing, together with a ground floor base to accommodate The Genesis Trust. The Council has never formally responded to the proposal, and only revealed their plans last week in answer to a question that my council colleague Cllr Beath tabled.

Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib Dem, Combe Down Bath) said;

"I believe the valuable work, training and care of disadvantaged people in the community undertaken by the Genesis Trust, goes a long way towards fulfilling some of the Council's major priorities and objectives.  We should give them every support.

"The proposal from the Somer Housing Group to purchase and sensitively restore this much loved building is surely one which would gain community support. The provision of low cost / supported housing in the city centre, together with a permanent base for the work of Genesis, is much needed.

"The Genesis Trust does a great job in the city, and their proposal with Somer Housing would be an excellent use of this historic building. I am sure local businesses and residents do not want to see more bar and bistro-type development here, and would welcome a more permanent home for The Genesis Trust. We should be supporting initiatives like theirs."

City MP Don Foster also gave his support to the Genesis Trust proposal after visiting the premises with Councillor Beath this morning (11 February) and hearing all about the work of the Trust.

I spent Friday morning walking around Twerton with two you lady reporters from our local newspaper. The visit was on the spur of the moment and they were both surprised that Twerton was not the place that they had imagined from the recent bad press that it had received.

They seemed to be amazed that Twerton spread outside of a small confined village area and had areas of Parks and leafy green open spaces between the houses.

During our walk around we visited the Alzheimer's Day Centre at Cleeve Court that they did not know even existed.

We met many people who said that they were happy to live in Twerton and saw no reason to live any where else, one lady even said it was that quiet that you could even hear a pin drop. Of course we also met one or two that had a grumble to get off of their chests but that is just part of life.

Well I feel that my point over many years has now been proven when you look behind the headlines and talk to ordinary people you get a different picture of what Twerton is really like in its outer areas.

I for one am still proud to say that I am from Twerton, so come on Twerton residents its time to stand up for our area and prove that Twerton is and can be a nice place to live.

I have received several questions since yesterdays posting about a social enterprise company coming to Twerton as to what is a Social enterprise Company.

I have done some digging around and Thanks to Business West I have attached a word document on frequently asked questions.

I hope that you will find this useful.

Social_Enterprise_FAQs.doc

A very useful hour was spent in the offices of Business West this morning learning about a social enterprise company that they are looking to set up in Twerton over the next few months.

A meeting in order explain what this is all about is planned for next Tuesday 12^th February 11am till 2pm and will be held at Twerton Park.

They have asked if people can let them know by Friday 8^th if they are going but I have been told that this is not prescriptive as people will be welcome on the day. Those registering will get a free lunch if you don't register you may miss out on this.

In the meantime, if you would like to find out more, please do not hesitate to
contact Philippa Kindon 01225 338383 or philippa.kindon@businesswest.co.uk

I have posted the calling notice and Poster detailing the event as an attachment.

 General_05-02-08_e-mail_version.pdf

SE_Poster_e-mail_v2.pdf

I have heard about an exiting new discussion platform called the Better Bath Forum, which sets out to promote public discussion on important local issues.

I have attached a document that I have received that explains a lot more about what this is all about. I would recommend that you take a look at it or follow the link to their Web site at http://www.betterbath.org.uk/

I believe that any platform that promotes and stimulates debate in an impartial atmosphere as this one seems to want to do can only be a good thing.

Better_Bath_Forum.doc

I attended the Bath & North East Somerset Council Conservative cabinet meeting tonight and asked a formal question concerning the standard of cleaning in the City of Bath.

The question I raised is as follows,

With regard to street cleaning: What is the Cabinet member doing to improve the cleansing standards in the City of Bath?

I got a reply that seemed to make no sense at all as to our local area of Twerton as it focused on the City Centre and spoke about CCTV, The City Centre Manager Company, smoking bans, PACTS, etc. The reply totally missed the point that there are areas outside of the City Centre that are far from clean.

I asked in my supplementary question what action he was going to take to clean up the areas that had not been cleaned up for quite some considerable time in other areas that were not part of the City Centre.

I was told that I would receive a reply in 7 days of which I will report on here.

Bath & North East Somerset Councils Conservative administrations budget is unravelling and we are starting to see the extent to which they are punishing the motorist.

But the biggest bomb shell of all is to see that the Tories are looking to close the hole in their budget by raising a whopping £44,000 by charging disabled motorists to park in areas that have until now been free to them.

I feel that this sort of Stealth tax is a real eye opener and utter disgrace in that they are willing to charge those most disadvantaged and least able to pay people to close a hole in the budget that they are arrogantly putting forward.

Why do some people these days drink so much alcohol and so quickly.

I remember when I was a young ( yes I know many years ago ) we would go for a pint after work may be two and then home for a good nights sleep by about 10.30pm before work the next day.

Today many people seem to go out at 10.30pm and drink themselves solid till 2 or 3 in the morning then are fit for nothing until the afternoon the following day. This culture has been building up for a number of years and there seems to be more and more trouble in the middle of the night with fights breaking out in our towns an cities and our Police recourses are now stretched beyond breaking point.

The idea of more liberal drinking hours has not helped the problem in fact I feel that it is now fuelling the problem.

I can remember when the pub opened at 10.30am then shut by 2pm then did not open again till 7pm till 10.30pm at night. I am not advocating that we return to these hours but the current liberal drinking laws are not working and need reviewing. I remember when night Clubs (Yes I have been in them) Closed at 1.30pm there was hardly a policeman in sight as there were very few problems.

The Health issues related to binge drinking have been well researched and we are now at breaking point with regards to drink related health problems.

It is time that we stepped back and took a good look at our licensing laws not only pub and club opening hours but also the supermarkets that sell cheap alcohol all hours of the day and night.

We can not afford to go on in the way that we are either financially with the extra Police recourses or the amount of the cost to our health authorities through drink related disorders.

Is it time to review the sale of Alcohol, I personally think so and also feel that the government should stop pandering to the large drink companies who make massive profits every year and sort out our drinking laws before it is too late.

Many of you make think that I may not drink these days but that is far from the truth, I enjoy a pint or two and enjoy socialising as much as the next person.