Twerton Bath

Local Campaigners have been very busy and claim that 705 objections have been sent in so far if this is the case then it will be one of the largest amount of objections that the planning department has ever received for a single application.

The consultation period for the planning application to build on the Hollow below Cotswold View has been extended until April 3^rd so we have extended the online petition by the same amount of time to give people a few more days to register their objections.

If you want to still object you can use these three methods go online to the online petition at the following link.  Save our Hillside.

For a more full story go to www.readmyday.co.uk/timball

Many items are listed on the latest road reports for the Twerton area some of these may now have been completed but others may cause disruption particularly those on the Lower Bristol Road.

If you want to see what is happening close to your home or what delays you may expect then please follow the link Twerton Road reports.

The on line petition has now reached 143 with 99 formal objections also being registered.

The petition will be submitted to Bath & North East Somerset Council on Monday 31^st March so if you have not signed the petition and would like to do so then please follow the link save our Hillside and also register your comments before Monday as we will close the on line Petition at 4pm on that day.

Please make sure that you tell others as well.

The water has sopped running down the steps by 13 Freeview Road after the matter was tackled by Bath & North East Somerset Council workmen this afternoon. After much debate this afternoon Wessex have finnaly admitted that it is their problem after all.

Wessex Water will be sending in specialist machinery on Monday to remove roots that have grown in the drains.

We have contacted the Police and Sarsen Housing association concerning the vandalism at the Former Elderly persons in Twerton High Street and have expressed our concern about the broken down fences and the smashed windows that never seem to get repaired.

Sarsen Housing bought the former EPH from Bath & North East Somerset Council several months ago and have done nothing with the building since then.

We have asked that the broken fencing is repaired and the windows that are broken are either repaired or secured.

In a separate letter to the housing association we have asked what they intend to do with the building and to confirm if they intend to pull down the building and put social housing on the site as we have previously been told.

We have today been in touch with Wessex water who has admitted that the water running at Freeview road is their responsibility and they have agreed to call out tonight to resolve the matter.

The water as far as we can tell is clear water and has no smell coming from it, the issue is that the council have inspected the drain and said as they found sewage in it has led to the cause for concern.

We would hope that by the time that many of you read this item that Wessex would have resolved this matter.  

There seems to be quite a bit of work planned for our local roads over the next few weeks that may cause disruption for our local area.

Work on Pennyquick Hill and the Lower Bristol road may be a cause for delays and there are also other roads that are affected by planned works, Check out the following link Road works Twerton to see how you are affected.

After repeated requests for action both the Bath & North East Somerset council and Somer Housing have failed to deal with the water that has been running down the steps at the side of 13 Freeview Road.

After further calls to the council on Thursday last week we have learnt that the council has had a look at a drain on the land and has concluded that as there is sewage in the bottom of the drain that the problem is one for Wessex water to deal with.

On Tuesday Wessex will be contacted and asked to investigate this matter. We will also be asking the council to also investigate why it has taken over three weeks for them to conclude that it is not their problem.

Bath & North East Somerset Council has released the following information which relates to Dimond Travel Card Holders if you are one of these then the information below should be of interest to you.

New passes are now being issued extending the entitlement to free off-peak bus travel to cover the whole of England and these will be issued to all Diamond Travelcard holders living in Bath and North East Somerset

Existing card holders should receive a new bus pass in the post by the end of March. If you have a Diamond Travelcard at the moment and there have been no changes in your personal circumstances, you should receive a new bus pass automatically from Bath & North East Somerset Council.

 If you haven't received it by early April, please call Council Connect on 394041 or if you live outside of Bath & North East Somerset Council then you will need to conatct your local council.

From 1 April, holders of the new passes will be able to travel free on local buses anywhere in England between 9.30am and 11pm Mondays to Fridays and all day Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. However, in the local area (Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire) the current earlier start time will continue and passes will be valid at all times except before 9am Mondays to Fridays.

Over the last two days campaigners trying to stop the proposed development at the Hollow have stepped up their campaign.

Tuesday residents along with Councillors Tim Ball & Gerry Curran met with a highways officer and took measurements of the road from the Hollow to the proposed access to the site. The measurements were 22 meters to the access point when the clear guidelines for highway access are 30meters. The Plans from Somer do not even show that the proposed access that they want takes 3 meters of some ones garden.

Wednesday displays were put up at the White Horse Public House from 2pm till 10pm for visitors to be able to view the application and residents from the Hollow and Cotswold view were on hand to show them the plans and what they are doing to oppose the application Councillor Tim Ball attended for a short period in the afternoon and described the amount of visitors in the short time he was there to be brisk.

If you want to sign the on line petition then please click on the link on previous pages in this blog.

This will be of interest to many of our elderly residents If you know of an elderly person with a bus pass please let them know what is happening.

From 1st April 2008, a new National Bus Concession is being introduced that will allow eligible people to travel for free after 9.30am Mondays to Fridays, and anytime on Saturdays, Sundays & Public Holidays, on all local bus services in England.  The Council will be issuing new Diamond Travelcards to existing holders during March, ready for use when the new scheme starts in April.

Details of the new scheme as applicable to Bath & NE Somerset pass holders are now available from the Bath & NE Somerset Council website at http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/transportandstreets/travel/buses/buspasses

Remember the half Marathon takes place tomorrow and Cars will not be able to enter the Lower Bristol Road for several hours in the morning and the Number 5 Bus will not be running properly from 10am to 2pm.

So if you need to go out or come back make sure that you avoid these hours.

Also any one that lives on the route of the Marathon will need to watch out for parking restrictions that will be rigidly enforced.

A new story and photographs has been published on www.readmyday.co.uk/timball

The Bath Half Marathon takes place on Sunday 16th March 2008 and many loacl road will be affected.

The lower Bristol Road will be closed for a period of time and some local roads will have parking restrictions imposed.

To check out how you may be affected please look at the following website by following th link Bath Half Martathon road restictions don't get caught out with a heavy fine or finding that your car has been towed away.

To find out more about the Half Marathon please check out the following link Bath Half Marathon and please enjoy the day.

The latest road works reports show an increase in disruption in Twerton this week with quite a few works in Twerton High Street, Pennyquick Hill, Lower Bristol Road and St Michaels Road.

Please follow the link Twerton Road Works to see how you may be affected.

Councillors Tim Ball & Gerry Curran met with concerned residents this morning about possible development above Cotswold View at the Hollow.

The residents are now actively campaigning to halt any development on this site and have formed an action group to fight the proposals to build 24 houses and 6 flats on this important Hillside.

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.

We have launched a new picture blog and have posted pictures of the site for all to be able to see please take a look at http://www.readmyday.co.uk/twerton-campaigns

And if you have not already done so please sign our Petition on http://ourcampaign.org.uk/protectourhillside