Council Launches place making consultation

Bath & North East Somerset Council have launched its Place Making Plan consultation document to supplement its Core Strategy workings.

The council wish to hear from residents on detailed ideas on the plan that will run until 2029.

To read more on this please go to Tim Ball's personal website by following this link.

Bathnes Place Making

Twerton Pact meeting

The next Twerton PACT meeting will take place on Thursday 1st August at 7pm a St Michaels Junior School Newton Road,Twerton.

This is your chance to catch up with what the Police are doing locally and to raise any issues that are of concern to you.

Let's have a half decent bus First

We have complained to First Bus about the condition of the buses that they are using on the Number 5 Route.

It is not acceptable in this day and age for them to be running buses on the Number 5 Route with steps on them particularly as they had new low floor buses over 18 years ago paid for with a donation from Avon County Council.

Many elderly and disabled people are no longer able to use some of the buses on this route due to them not having low floors.

The council have had the foresight to put in new bus stops that will enable passengers to be able to get on and off of the bus easily through the Bath Transportation package it is a shame that First have not had the same foresight and provided a decent bus for its passengers on this route.

Do First really believe that it is acceptable for them to be running buses on this Route that in fact are not fit for purpose the Council has invested now its time for First Bus to do the same.

By Councillor Tim Ball

Twerton Police turn to two wheels

Twerton beat Police officer PC Adge Secker has turned to two wheels in order to solve crime.

Adge has been cycling around Twerton for the last few weeks on his police duties speaking to local residents who seem surprised to see him approach without being noticed.

Adge new idea is not proving a hit with the criminal element as he is there before they know it.









By Councillor Tim Ball

Poolemead Road Litter picked

Gerry and I spent about an hour clearing up part of Poolemead Road below the Centurion Public House on Thursday morning.

In the short time we collected several sacks of rubbish, another team cleared Connection Hill and the rear of the bus depot removing 3 sacks of rubbish in a short time.

Thanks to all of those who helped.

By Councillor Tim Ball

C J Wheeler Charity Football Match

C J Wheeler Charity Football Match

Bath City Football Club 

 Saturday 27th July 

gates open 4pm with Kick off at 5pm.

adults £5 under Children (u12) Free

Please go along and support a worthwhile day and help raise money for C J Wheeler Tulip fund and help Dorothy House Hospice care in the process.

There will be fun to be had for all with 

Kids  

Bouncy Castle ,Face Painting, Sweets & Drinks, Cake Sale

 Penalty Shoot out,

There will also be

a raffle 

Disco

DJ & Barbecue

Live Bands

All proceeds go to C J Wheeler Tulip Fund

more information available

Bath City FC Charity football match BBC Radio Bristol & Somerset XI Vs Curo Housing XI

Mayday Trust Park – gates open from 12 noon

Sunday 21^st July 2013

KO 1pm

 

Cost: Donation on the day at the ground

Bath City Football Club has teamed up with BBC Radio Bristol & Somerset to raise money for CLIC Sargent with a charity football match on Sunday 21^st July.

The main event is a football match between BBC Radio Bristol & Somerset XI vs Curo Housing XI, kicking off at 1pm followed by an auction. The BBC’s team is made up of sports presenters Geoff Twentyman and Richard Hoskin, with a helping hand from former Bristol Rovers striker David Mehew, and Bristol’s television chef Dean Edwards.

The Curo football team play matches against other Social Landlords and Curo Suppliers such as Touchstone Property, Taylor Wimpey and Merlin Housing Society as a Social event mainly. However when Darren Scadding's 3 year old son, George, was Diagnosed with Cancer in June 2012 they looked at raising funds for CLIC Sargent who have provided a support network for the family and worked closely with Bristol Children’s Hospital. After a long battle George passed away on the 15th January 2013 and so a fund was set up in his name, where they have currently £6.5k and their target of £10k.

The money raised will go to charity very close to the staff at Curo. CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families. They provide clinical, practical and emotional support to help them cope with cancer and get the most out of life. Kiren Fernandes, Fundraising Manger said “Since setting up Georgie’s Fund Darren and his family have raised almost £6,000 – which is absolutely fantastic! The money raised to date could fund a CLIC Sargent social worker for 8 weeks for families based in Bristol and Somerset. Our CLIC Sargent social workers are there from the moment of diagnosis, and help families understand and cope with the emotional, practical and financial effects of cancer, through treatment and even in the case of bereavement”. Darren commented on the work CLIC Sargent do, “everybody at Curo and CLIC Sargent have been supportive to me”. For those who can’t attend the day but want to donate to this great cause can do so online at www.justgiving.com/georgescadding just remember to include gift aid to help raise even more money.

Gates will open at 12 noon with a large car park at the ground, with food and drink available in the Charlies (main bar) with a burger outlet inside the ground. After the game in Charlies there will be chance to mix with the players and representatives of the charities followed by an auction.

Further information about the event please contact:

Mark Tanner

07870810861

marktanner87@gmail.com

Ends

More litter Cleared

Gerry Clearing up Highland Road

We continued our litter picking on Friday this week Councillor Gerry Curran and I cleared the footpath that runs from Freeview Road to Dominion Road in the morning and also cleared several bags of rubbish from the bottom of Hanna Close.

In all we collected three bags of rubbish from just this small area.

On Friday afternoon Councillor Gerry Curran also litter picked Highland Road and Landseer Road returning them to a clean state after being in a poor condition.

Gerry with help collected a further two bags of litter from this area, It would be helpful if residents would take a little more respect for their area.

We had a good clear up in Redland Park and Linley Close Garages yesterday 18th,

In Redland Park there are still many areas that need attention and we will return to these over the coming weeks.

In addition to this we are planning a good community Clear up of Redland Park followed buy a fun day sponsored by Curo later in the day we will post more details later.

Councillor Gerry Curran (pictured opposite) & Councillor Tim Ball carry out litter picks on a regular basis and if you want to join us just let us know and we will tell you where we are going.

 At Linley Close Garages we removed all of the litter that had been accumulating for quite a few months an also cleared the park area down to Shaws Way.

We hope that when we get the new recycling Centre relocated that a lot of this mess will stop happening.

We will also be approaching the local public house as many of their glasses were found in the car park area.

It is important that we all do our bit to help keep the community clean including the public houses in the area.










By Councillor Tim Ball & Councillor Gerry Curran

Woodhouse Road Clear Up

 We have been working with the council and Curo to have some of the issues in and around wood House Road resolved, The picture to the left is trees that have been cut down by a local resident that Curo have agreed to remove.

On the right is an area of land that Curo have not been cutting that they have now agreed to resolve, and have cleared up

The Final Picture below shows a stretch of grass that the council are responsible that will soon be cut and restored to a condition that we would all expect.

By Councillor Tim Ball

Resurfacing works Whiteway Road,

Bath & North East Somerset council are carrying out Carriageway Resurfacing  on Whiteway Road / Rush Hill during the week commencing 29^th July. 

It is anticipated that the works will be completed in 5 nights during the hours of 1900 and 0700. The road will be closed to through traffic during the works hours commencing 1900 each evening, however should the scheduled works be completed earlier than 0700 then the road will be reopened for normal use each morning as soon as possible.

Please avoid this area between these hours and dates shown.

More Room for Childrens Play

old disused path at Hinton Close

We have been campaigning for additional Children's play space for a number of years now and we may have come up with a solution that helps resolve the problem for some of the younger children in the area.

We have approached Curo about a patch of land that they still own at Hinton Close suggesting that they may wish to release this land to Bath area Play project who run the Hut at Hinton Close.

The Hut provides Nursery provision and supervised play for many of the younger children in our area and the extra space would enhance the quality of play for the children.

Cllr Curran in discussion with Curo officers

Another Bonus would be is that it also clears up a litter trap.

Curo are now considering this suggestion and we are hopeful to get a decent response from them.

The land can be clearly seen as an old footpath that is no longer used as the new development at Bond Court has rendered this old path redundant.


By Cllr Tim Ball & Cllr Gerry Curran

Bus stop issues

We are dealing with several issues with regards to the installation of Bus Stops in the Twerton area.

At Kelston View we are investigating why the bus stop makings have extended 4 meteres over the front of the Bus Stop build out and we have asked for this to be reduced by 2 to 3 meteres to allow parking which is limited in this area.

We were given as a reason for this extension of the Bus Stop markings was the need for a bus to be able to pull out particularly if cars we parked on the opposite side of the road. ( we have never seen cars parked there )

We have suggested that white lines are painted to avoid this problem on the opposite side of  the Road  that will ensure that no parking can take place there and allow buses to pull out, that we hope will do away with the need for the 4 metere extension.

We are pleased however that the broken bollard has now been replaced and hope that it will now be left alone.

If any one has problems with the new Bus stop installations then please let us know.

Parking restriction review Shaws Way

We have asked that the restriction on parking at the bottom end of Shaws way, 51 to 56 is reviewed due to complaints from residents and observing bus movements in this area.

We believe that these should be looked at again in order to get improvements in this area that benefit both residents and the movement of vehicles in the area.

By Councillor Tim Ball

Newton Road improvements

We have asked for the road sign at the rear of Newton Road on the Junction of Shaws Way to be repainted or replaced.

We have reached agreement with Curo Housing association to look into the poor kerbing along Newton road and to replace it as soon as possible.

We have also asked for one of the two litter bins that are located outside of the cost cutter shop to be relocated to the bus stop outside of St Michael's School as we believe that this will lesson the litter problem on this part of Newton Road.

We are also pleased to see that the broken sign pictured outside of First Steps Nursery has been replaced with a new sign.

We would hope that whoever vandalised the old sign would leave the new one alone.

Recycling and waste containment

We have met with Curo and council waste officers at both Linley Close where the bins were recently burnt out and at Walwyn Close that always seems to be in a mess.

At the Linley Close area we have agreed that the Green waste bins should be replaced as soon as possible whilst we investigate another storage area for recycled waste.

At Walwyn Close we have asked for improved signage about what can be left in this area and have asked for some secure fencing around the green plastic waste bins in order to stop,any recycled waste blowing across the area.

By Councillor Tim Ball

Working with Curo and Bathnes

On Monday 8th July both your Twerton Councillors spent the day walking the ward with Curo and Council officers.

We visited Newton Road, Shaws Way, Walwyn Close, Woodhouse road, Watery Lane, Freeview Road, Dominion Road, Camely Green, Cleeve green and Pennard green.

The walk around was very useful and we were able to agree action points on many local issues.

We will be publishing these action points in the coming week for local people to be able to read and engage with us on.

We would like to thank council officers and Curo staff for their helpful contribution, as well as the many residents that stopped and spoke to use in the 5 hours that we were out and around for.

We are planning walk a around  for the whole ward over the coming few months and would encourage residents to engage with us in the process in getting improvements for our area.

Dangerous Wall Cleeve Green

We have asked Curo to urgently deal with the dangerous wall outside of 1 Cleeve Green.

The wall is cracked very badly and leans violently forwards.

It is only time before it falls on some one so we have asked that urgent attention is given to its repair.



by Councillor Tim Ball

Wessex Connect to withdraw Number 5 Service

Wessex Connect have announced that they are withdrawing their number 5 Bus Service on the Twerton route as from 28th July.

Wessex have been running a service on the Twerton Route for the last few years but this service has slowly run down and is only running every 30 minutes at the moment.

Wessex are not the first company to come and go on the Twerton Route and this latest exit leaves First Bus as the only operator on this route.

We have raised recent concerns about the age of the First Bus fleet and will be following this up to ensure passengers have a reliable on time and comfortable bus service.

Good news Mayor Guides to give special walks.

For some good news help with those older children is that the The Mayor’s Corps of Honorary Guides are giving special walking tours from 22 July to 2 August 2013.

So if those teenagers are bored or you want a historic tour so that you can learn more then follow the link.

Walks cover the following topics:

Walcot and the Paragon

Statues, Friezes and Faces of Bath

Daylight Robbery

Fiesty Females

Nelson’s Blood

Inventors, Scientists and Explorers

Jane Austen in Bath

The Map’s Right – Only the Buildings have Changed

Charming Crescents, Pleasing Places

Scandals and Gossip

For more information please see www.bathguides.org.uk

A good day in Twerton today

It has been a good day in Twerton with much of the work that we have been calling for being carried out to leave the area looking much tidier for the weekend.

1) The grass at Kelston view has been cleared up as we requested.

2) Curo have cut back some of the very overgrown gardens on the greens in the area,

3) A good litter pick on Watery Lane Newton Road and How Hill this morning,

4) The council have cleared up the bad area in front of Eleanor Cottages that we have complained about.

By Councillor Tim Ball

Great Friday Litter Pick

It was good to clear the litter off of Watery Lane, Newton Road, & How Hill this morning with Councillor Gerry Curran on his regular Friday morning litter picks.

It was also very good to be joined by three residents who responded to our request for help last week.

If you want to join us on a Friday Morning then please contact Gerry or Tim and we will let you know where we are meeting, we don't put this out in advance as we want to concentrate on areas that are in a poor state and only make the decision where we are visiting on the Thursday morning before the Friday litter pick.

By Councillor Tim Ball

Grass cutting to be done by weekend

Longhay Close this morning

We have received some good news on the grass cutting front and can confirm that Kelston View will be cut before the weekend as we would like to see.

We have also reported Longhay Close today and are pleased that this area will also be cut before the weekend.

Kelston View grass cutting

We have been chasing the council and Curo over the poor grass cutting across the area particularly Kelston view where it looked like the grass had just been hacked around and not properly cut.

We hope that these poor standards will not be repeated and have received assurances that these areas that we have reported at various points in Twerton  will be cut in the fashion that we would expect in the very near future.

Family Fun Friday 5th July

St Michaels Junior School are holding their family fun afternoon on Friday 5th July from 3pm till 5pm.

If yo have got any time to spare pop on down and grab a bargain on one of the many stalls.

Three will be plenty to do for the young ones and for a few of us that are of the maturing generation including from what we have been told an exiting fair.

So for all the fun of the Fair and to support one of your local Schools then go along to St Michaels Junior School on Friday 5th July and enjoy the Fun on a hot and Sunny July afternoon.

Cameley Green

I have asked the council to clear up this area as a large amount of litter has been scattered across the area from 66 to 78.

Residents have told me that there was no obvious sign of split bags or animal activity and believe this is human being caused.

If you know who this was please let us know in the mean time it should be cleaned up shortly.