Leaf Clearance and Disposal

Following issues in previous years, Tim and Sarah have been working closely with the Council to ensure leaves that are collected this year are not dumped in our local park areas.

They have had assurances that there is now a clear process in place that the leaves will be disposed of in non public areas.

Sarah and Tim have also arranged for public areas of Twerton that experience large deposits of leaves on the footpaths, for example, Watery Lane and Newton Road to be cleared more regularly, making these areas safer for all to use.

Tree planting in Bath & North East Somerset to slow Climate Change

Below is the latest news from BANES on our proposals to plant more trees:

The number of trees in Bath & North East Somerset could be doubled as part of the council’s commitment to tackle the climate emergency with an early ambition of planting 100,000 trees, with partners and communities, by May 2023.

The council aims to deliver on ambitions published by the West of England Nature Partnership to double woodland across the district by 2060 and is currently carrying out surveys on current canopy coverage.

Councillor Dave Wood, joint cabinet member for Climate Emergency and Neighbourhood Services, said: “These are ambitious plans to tackle the climate emergency that shows Bath and North East Somerset Council is leading the way nationally on tree planting.  Following the local elections we said we would show real leadership on tackling the Climate Emergency and this is just one example of what we are doing.

“Knowing the positive contribution that trees make to reducing pollution, mental health, averting flooding, producing vital oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide, I am committed to increased tree planting. However, reforestation and re-wilding needs to be considered properly alongside the diversity of habitats.

“Our Parks team replants up to eight trees for every one felled by development and is already investing £65,000 in tree planting in parks over the next five to 10 years. The Bathscape project is working with landowners on better managed woodlands, grasslands and planting trees in the right places to prevent loss of wildlife-rich habitats.”

A detailed Tree and Woodland Plan will be produced showing where the trees could go and how the planting will be resourced in partnership with communities, volunteers and landowners.

Ross Kennerley, South West Regional Director at Woodland Trust, said: “The Woodland Trust fully supports this leadership by Bath & North East Somerset Council in response to the climate emergency. Not only are trees excellent at capturing carbon, they are vital to healthy, resilient and wildlife-rich places – both in our cities and the countryside. We look forward to working with the council and the wider West of England area through the West of England Nature Partnership to get the right trees in the right place, for people and wildlife.”

More than 2,000 trees have already been planted in Bath & North East Somerset this year through the council working with community groups and partners and funded by contributions from new developments within the district.

The plans lead up to the Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback in November which aims to get more than a million people to pledge to plant a tree during a special day of mass tree planting on 30 November.

In Bath & North East Somerset, the Woodland Trust will be planting 5,000 trees this winter. For more information and to pledge to plant a tree visit: www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/bigclimatefightback<http://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?d=HrB2B5U4VhMCAF1cCvfeWgTmuMETAMXOVADKuwj32_P4Y1YCoiKVcmdCJ9PfQuLrjsU2WwNyB9BK90EgEkuH58oU3Y4wvIL7Jqt7-U64plNBVq3x_RfH42SuasE5tdI3lmfNJ7kZUKO09dhwsn9iIzW-E0UeF0s8bdQnPWO9LJ3f0>

A West of England Tree and Woodland Strategy will be developed with the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, Forestry Commission, Woodland Trust, National Trust and other unitary authorities. More information about the West of England Nature Partnership plans can be found at http://www.wenp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Towards-a-Nature-Recovery-Network-for-the-West-of-England-A-Methodology.pdf<http://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?d=JK_XLonjqwcwFv0re7GuYC3Ef7xV_oKvKiDqa2ovYJrkPUl8hwLvJxVirG-D0GqoAfKlgcjgoV9vYDlUUQctMOFmIO9_xzQPw1-YN3qTXTucbM4EpsPnSsAIPUtZ-48or4sfG3JrNC-1ztlmKkhSKGNafZnlfUPnuXaRBJywdSC-2mqTaDOGZUz3jbUgT2aB-m4_J4A0zE34njvBqBj6jWOY5aCX3eOHyqT3SLbogw1UxsrBht5vQh6nnIWmyq7PqA2

Tim Ball and Sarah Moore joined local residents in April to plant trees in Innox Park and are looking forward to putting more across the ward.

Twerton - Summer Highlights

Whilst we have been very quiet with the blog, both Tim and Sarah have been out across the ward talking with residents and taking action on issues and improvements.

The initial updating phase of Innox Park has been completed, with new seating and play equipment being installed.  Dates in September where residents can come along and help creating wild flower meadows in conjunction with Bathscape, National Trust and Avon Wildlife Trust, have been confirmed, please do come along if you can, these are:

Thursday 12th September 10.30am - 2.30pm

Tuesday 17th September 10.30am - 2.30pm

Tuesday 24th September 10.30am - 2.30pm

A number of our roads have now seen large sections resurfaced ensuring they are safer for all road users.

Meetings with Curo have enabled us to highlight a number of frustrations local residents have with the services they provide and try to get a resolution to long term issues, for example, they are investigating solutions to the flytipping in the bin stores that too many residents are having to put up with.

There are also a number of updates coming forward from Council including details of the old Culverhay/BCA site on Rush Hill and latest information on the CAZ proposals.

We will be posting more specific updates on Twerton and Whiteway activities over the next few days.

However, if you have an issue in your area that you think we can help with, please do get in touch. 

Bath City Football application - information workshops by Councillors

RE Bath City Football Club Planning application ref 19/02276/FUL

This planning application can be viewed and commented on the BANES planning web page here.

It is in the best public interest that residents are able to view the planning application and be able to make their own independent comments on the application which will make a significant change to Twerton High Street, and in that light your Twerton Councillors have enable a paper copy of the plans is available for residents to view at Rose Cottage on Twerton High Street.

We will be holding information workshops to assist residents in understanding the application and to be able to make comments, dates and places below.

Stall on Twerton High Street

Saturday 15^th and 22nd, June 10am till 12 noon

Bradburys Caff, Mount Road

29^th June 11am till 12 noon

Other times available by phoning Sarah

New Pop-up creative space for Twerton High Street

A former vacant shop unit in Twerton High Street, Bath has been transformed into a community-led pop-up creative space and workshop for Bath’s Carnival team.

The team will use the space over the next few weeks to work with volunteers and professional artists to make carnival costumes for the July carnival.

The project has been delivered with support from Bath & North East Somerset Council and funded by the West of England Combined Authority as part of the regional ‘Love our High Streets’ pilot which seeks to re-vitalise and re-think the way we use local High Streets.

Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Housing, Planning & Economic Development, said: “I am delighted to champion this project which will provide a real boost for Twerton High Street. Our High Streets are changing and we need to come up with new and innovative ways to ensure they thrive. High Streets provide a focal point for communities; contributing to our health and wellbeing, reducing isolation and loneliness, reducing car dependency and promoting active travel. By creatively using vacant premises we can give our High Streets a new lease of life and help support local businesses.”

Councillor Sarah Moore said: "The future of our High Street isn’t just about shops, it’s about our businesses, community activities, services and homes. Bringing communities together is the best way to revitalise Twerton High Street and make it a thriving hub every day.”

As well as using the space to create costumes for the parade, the carnival team will run in collaboration with local charities a series of community workshops on the site to help residents across Bath prepare for the big day.

Stuart Mason, Project Coordinator for Bath Carnival, said “One of the biggest challenges we face each year is securing a safe space for our artists to design create and repair costumes This unit is a real game changer, with enough space for our lead artists to work on some of our largest structures and costumes as well as provided space for us to run sessions with volunteers and workshop participants to upskill them in carnival arts.

“Suitable spaces for the arts are really hard to come by, so we are very grateful to everyone who has helped make this happen. The results will be for everyone to see at the carnival in July, which is shaping up to be a pretty spectacular event!”

Bath Carnival takes place on Saturday 13 July and will involve a free Party in the Park in Sydney Gardens and a stunning two-hour carnival procession around Bath city centre.

Volunteering opportunities are still available.  For more information visit the carnival website:  http://www.bathcarnival.co.uk/

Voluntary sector groups or charities that are interested in using the Twerton High Street unit or other vacant premises in the area should email: environment&design@bathnes.gov.uk

Love our High Streets Pilot

The Love Our High Streets project is funded by the West of England Combined Authority.

The B&NES Love Our High Streets Pilot comprises three parts, which each focus on High Street vitality at different neighbourhood scales; city centre, town centre and neighbourhood/local centre.

The pop-up space is part of the Local High Street initiative which will deliver improvements to Twerton High Street, along with a wider Local High Street vitality health check which will assess the health and vibrancy all local centres across Bath and North East Somerset to identify how they can be supported and improved.

Bath Carnival:

Bath Carnival takes place on Saturday 13 July.

Carnival Parade | 15:00 | City Centre | FREE

Party in the Park | 10:00 – 22:00 | Sydney Gardens | FREE

Fiesta at the Rec | 10:00 – 15:00 | Bath Recreation Ground | FREE

Public donations to the Local Giving page: https://localgiving.org/charity/bathcarnival/

Sponsorship enquiries to enq@bathcarnival.co.uk

For more information about Bath Carnival visit: www.bathcarnival.co.uk or email: enq@bathcarnival.co.uk

Insta: @bathcarnival

Twitter: @bathcarnival

Facebook: /bathcarnival

Bath City Football - Redevelopment

As many of you will now know, the planning application from Greenacre Developments and Bath City Football Club have now been submitted and are open for comments from the public.

The planning application can be found here and the timeline for this application is as follows:

Date Application Received:                       22/05/2019
Date Application Validated:                       29/05/2019
Neighbourhood Consultations sent on:     31/05/2019
Standard Consultations sent on:               31/05/2019
Last advertised on:                                    13/06/2019
Latest Site Notice posted on:                    13/06/2019
Expiry Date for Consultation:                    04/07/2019
Target Decision Date:                                28/08/2019

We are aware that this application has been received well by some residents but not by the majority of others and are keen to ensure as many people put their views forward on this as possible as it will shape how Twerton High Street will look for years to come.

Both Tim Ball and Sarah Moore have great concerns about the application in it's present form including over-development of the site and lack of infrastructure, specifically how the area will deal with the considerable larger quantity of bus issues that would arise from such a large increase in student population in the area. 

We also feel that the lack of residents in the area out of term time and football season will not improve this area for a large period of the year, therefore being of no overall benefit to our area.  The inclusion of community and cafe facilities were apparently borne out of the resident consultations, however, since these were held, both Rose Cottage and the Village Hall have seen a large increase of resident involvement and this could therefore be detrimental to the already established community facilities within the village that local residents use.

As such both Tim Ball and Sarah Moore will be fully reviewing the large quantity of documentation that accompanies this application prior to making any representations to the Council about it and would urge all residents that have an opinion either way to do the same.  This re-development needs to benefit the community of Twerton and not just the developer and Football Club.

Twerton Ward issues

We have been out in every street in Twerton & Whiteway this weekend and have picked up over 50 separate issues.

In our bid to make our area the best it can be, we will be dealing with these over the next couple of weeks, however, if there is something that is specifically affecting you and are not sure if we have picked this up, please do get in touch.

We have a meeting arranged with Curo this week at which we will be raising a large number of issues directly with them and will be insisting residents are put first and our whole area is cleared up urgently.