Post office consultation

A few weeks ago we told you of the possible closures of Post Offices in Twerton and although there is not any good news to report on the Wedgewood Road site we can report that a potential new home has been found for the Twerton High Street site.

A proposal has come forward that the Post office moves from it current home in the Co op to McColl’s a few doors away.

The Post office has launched a consultation on this proposal and it would be helpful if residents could respond via the link below.

Post office consultation.

HMO planning application 69 Newton Road

We have a planning application submitted for a seven bed House of Multiple occupation at 69 Newton Road.

This application seems to be out of character for the area and I simply can't see how they can get 7 beds in this house and be able to have any living space.

The application is here to view or for comments.

Lights on at Landseer Road

We have asked the council to fix the light at Landseer Road that is constantly on. If you are aware of any other lights that are constantly on or not working then please let us know.

Planned Number 5 Bus Route changes

Last year a number of residents across Twerton raised concerns with us about buses unable to pass in both directions on a number of the narrower roads. We met with Firstbus and even went on a ride around the area to highlight these issues. Following our communications, Firstbus carried out a review and consultation and have now confirmed the changes they are proposing for the Number 5 route.

FirstBus are looking to implement these changes from 29th April 2018 on a trial basis, with a view to either reverting back to the old route or adopting the new route on a permanent basis at the end of July 2018.

The new route will see the bus go along Newton Road to the end, turn up Pennyquick, then turn into the Hollow by Haycombe Cemetary and up into Haycombe Drive by the Beehive Surgery, where it will pick up the previous route back into town.  The only additional alteration to this is the bus will not turn into Kelston View from Haycombe Drive, but will continue around Haycombe Drive into Whiteway Circle and then down North Way to join the rest of the route down through Twerton.

A number of issues were raised during the consultation and FirstBus have taken all of these into consideration before proposing this route and will be closely monitoring the Pennyquick area of the route specifically.

Post office closure alarm.

We have been concerned for some time now about the future of the post office in Tweston High Street,  since the Southern Co operative chain decided to close the store the post office was housed in.

 We have been told over the weekend that the post office Wedgewood Road may not be operating as an early March as the store has changed hands.

If we are to lose  both post office  stores it will mean that there is no post office in the south-west of Bath.

 We have today contacted post office counters asked them for a response on the future of the post office at both Twerton High Street and Wedgewood Road.

 We are very concerned about the effects of losing one post office from this area let alone prospect of losing both.

We will update this blog soon as we hear back from the post office counters concerning the issues that we have raised with them.

North Way ( betrayal )

We have been studying the capital highways budget from Conservative run Bath & North East Somerset Council.

Last year when we managed to persuade them to make major road repairs to Kelston View we were assured that NorthWay would be done this year as it was in an appalling and unsafe condition.

One year on and we find that North Way has been withdrawn from the budget after apparently being in the draft budget, so a political decision seems to have been taken to remove North Way.

The issue is that buses use this road on a daily basis and the surface and underlying slabs have all broken up leaving the road not just uncomfortable for divers but down right dangerous.

We will be pushing to get North Way reconsidered and for works also to be put in future budgets for Wedgewood Road, Poolmead Road and the rear of Day Crescent.

Schools funding formula: How this has a detrimental effect on our local Schools

Conservative Councillors in B&NES have rejected calls for a new schools funding formula to be phased in so that schools in deprived areas do not lose out.

The new formula must be introduced across the board in 2020, but the local Cabinet member decided to bring in the formula early. This will benefit some local schools, which will see increased funding earlier. However, some other local schools – particularly those in areas of deprivation – will be disadvantaged, as they will lose out on two years’ of higher funding under the current formula. The consultation papers show that almost a quarter of local schools (21 out of 79) are set to see funding losses, totalling £437,000 a year under the new National Formula compared to the current local system.

A formal challenge (call in) was tabled by opposition Lib Dem and Labour Councillors, calling for alternatives, such as a tapered introduction, to be considered. A joint motion by opposition Councillors called for transitional funding to be provided for schools, with the funds being drawn from Council reserves. These proposals were rejected by the Conservative-majority ‘Children and Young People’ panel.

Twerton Councillor, Tim Ball (Lib Dems), who led the challenge at the call in meeting, commented:

“By bringing in the new funding formula now, the Conservatives are ensuring that schools in the most deprived areas of B&NES miss out on thousands of pounds of vital funding. Even if the new system becomes mandatory in 2020, that extra money over the next two years could have made a make a big difference.

“Schools are facing a funding crisis, due to the government funding squeeze, which compounds the problems of rising costs, population growth and new responsibilities. At the end of the day, inflation means that even the small cash increase most schools will receive under the new formula is a real terms cut.

“Our local area has one of the most extreme gaps between the haves and the have nots. Proper funding for education is vital to set our children on the right path for the future and ensure they can make a success of their lives. As a society we need to prioritise investment in people; it’s clear that the Conservatives don’t understand this.”

Note: the joint motion, referred to above, read: “The panel agrees that the call-in should be upheld and that the Cabinet Member should reconsider the decision having regard to:

-          the absence of equality impact assessments at both consultation and decision stages and;

-          the absence of satisfactory consideration of transitional arrangements.

“In addition the panel further recommends that the Council uses reserves to fund such transitional arrangements to provide certainty in setting schools’ budgets.”