Street Issues - Twerton & Whiteway

Over the past 12 months, Tim Ball and Sarah Moore have visited every street in the area numerous times and have created a list of issues in each street that they have either observed themselves or have been raised directly by the local residents, eg lack of parking, poorly maintained footpaths/roads, overgrown hedges, poor street lighting, regular flytipping, abandoned vehicles and many others.

Tim and Sarah are working hard to get all these issues resolved, however, some of these have a financial cost, which needs revenue to be put into a budget to deliver or may not be the responsibility of the Council and so other companies need to be involved.

Please email sssomoore@gmail.com or tim_ball@bathnes.gov.uk if you have issues in your street that have not been addressed as they may already be on their list or can be added to the list. 

You can also report minor issues, eg blocked drains, Flytipping, excessive litter etc via the FixMyStreet app yourself.

By working together we will make Twerton and Whiteway the best it can be for all residents.

BANES Councillors - What are they responsible for?

Many parts of England have 2 tiers of Local Government:

• County Council
• District, Borough or City Councils

In some parts of the country, there’s just 1 (unitary) tier of local government providing all the local services. The 3 main types are:

• Unitary authorities in shire areas
• London Boroughs
• Metropolitan Boroughs

Bath & North East Somerset Council is a Unitary Authority and therefore are responsible for services across the whole area, which include:

Education

Transport

Planning

Fire and Public Safety
Social Care
Libraries
Waste Management
Trading Standards
Rubbish Collection
Recycling
Council Tax collections
Housing - although a lot of this was sold off to Housing Associations many years ago
Planning Applications
This is not an exhaustive list of responsibilities, but is an example of areas that Local Councillors have input and responsibility for as opposed to the MP (Member of Parliament) for the area, who represents the areas view on National issues eg NHS, Central Government Policies that Local Authorities have to follow to effectively manage local issues and other issues that affect the country as a whole.

More information about what Local Councillors can do for you can be found on the BANES website.

It's good to talk

We have been out talking with residents in Landseer Road recently and have picked up on various issues in the area including anti-social behaviour, broken, dangerous drain covers and street lights that do not work at night, all of which have been reported for repair.

The residents in Landseer Road have also taken ownership of their street by clearing up the streets, planting flowers and shrubs and even installing a seat so they can sit out talking with each other.

We are out in Twerton all year round talking with residents to ensure their voices are heard.

Residents often say they do not know who to talk to about issues  in their community, especially if their landlord, housing association or council are not listening to them and we are keen to make sure everyone across Twerton know we are here all year around, but also make it clear what local Councillors can actually do for them.

A lot of issues raised are things that are down to central government and locally elected individuals have very limited capacity to help, but without being asked we cannot direct people to the correct people that could help.

We also find with the rapid cuts and constant changes in services, residents feel they no longer get value for money from their taxes.

Please do look out for us in your street and don't be afraid to stop us and have a chat, we are keen to make Twerton the best community it can be.