New reusable red recycling bag trial launched

Five hundred households across Bath and North East Somerset are set to receive a new reusable red bag to trial a simpler way to sort plastics and metal for recycling.

Residents chosen to take part in the 12-week trial will have the bags delivered to their homes in the week beginning February 24 and can begin to use it to recycle:

• household plastic bottles, pots, tubs, and trays
• metal packaging such as tins, cans, foil, and aerosols

The aim of the trial by Bath & North East Somerset Council is to make it easier for residents to sort materials and store containers, which in turn will help streets stay cleaner. Bags take up less space than boxes and will benefit households with limited storage space.

The trial areas have been chosen to reflect the diverse types of properties and housing density within B&NES. A full list of the areas and roads which will receive the red bags can be found on the red recycling bag trial webpage. 

Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “It’s due to the fantastic commitment of our residents that we recycle more than 60% of our household waste and send just 3% to landfill, but we appreciate that sorting it can be time consuming. The red bag trial aims to make it easier for residents and collection crews to sort the plastics and metals, as well as reduce litter and spillage on collection day as the bags are sealable. 

“Other local authorities have found bags to be a good solution for recycling storage and collection as they are cheaper and take up less space than boxes. Well-sorted recycling can also be sold for more money, which helps to cover collection costs and fund vital local services.”

The trial will run from February 24 until May 23. Residents who are taking part will be asked to fill in an online or paper survey to give their feedback. During the trial, the council will also monitor the quality of recycling from trial roads, levels of litter before and during the trial, assess the ease of use and storage and gather feedback from collection crews.

The results of the survey will be presented to Cabinet later in the summer together with a recommendation report on the outcomes of the trial.

Residents taking part in the trial who need any additional help can email council_connect@bathnes.gov.uk or call on 01225 39 40 41.

Find out more about recycling in B&NES 

B&NES commitment to Housing set out in new plan

An ambitious Housing Plan, which sets out Bath & North East Somerset Council’s commitment, over the next five years, to provide affordable, safe, suitable and high-quality homes, was presented to Councillors at last night's Cabinet meeting.

The Housing Plan for Bath and North East Somerset 2025-2030, as along with a detailed strategy for Domestic Abuse accommodation and a Housing Services Charging Policy, was outlined at cabinet when it meets on Thursday 13 February.

Bath & North East Somerset Council’s housing responsibilities are wide-ranging, encompassing not only the development of new homes in the right places but also ensuring that existing homes are safe and meet residents’ needs. Additionally, the council allocates social housing, provides housing advice, and works to prevent homelessness. 

The report before cabinet says the B&NES Housing Plan’s aim is to provide focus and visibility across five key areas: 

• releasing land for to deliver sustainable housing
• delivering affordable housing through B&NES Homes
• developing housing that is accessible and attractive to all 
• reducing homelessness
• ensuring people have access to housing which is safe, warm and accessible.

Councillor Matt McCabe, cabinet member for Built Environment, Housing and Sustainable Development, said: “I whole-heartedly welcome this ambitious plan which is clear about the council’s commitment to see a mix of housing which diversifies the housing supply locally, including open-market, affordable and social housing right across Bath and North East Somerset. It also sets out our aims and actions to tackle empty properties, to reduce homelessness, support victims of Domestic Abuse, as well as our ongoing work on housing standards – ensuring residents have access to safe and warm homes.” 

Bath & North East Somerset faces several housing-related challenges. It is one of the least affordable places to live in the UK, with house prices around 13.4 times the annual earnings. 

This unaffordability creates significant issues, including a high number of households on the social housing waiting list, the highest number of households in temporary accommodation in 20 years, and negative pressure on economic growth. The housing stock in the area is older than the national average, resulting in lower home energy efficiency, higher heating costs, and poorer housing conditions.   

The plan says the council has set an ambitious goal to accelerate its general needs council housing programme over the next 10 years. Its focus is on improving the availability of affordable housing which is accessible to local jobs and services, to meet the council’s overarching purpose: to improve people’s lives. 

To support this aim, the council has established B&NES Homes, a Registered Provider, secured Investment Partner status with Homes England and established Aequus a wholly owned housing development company. 

The Housing Plan further outlines how the council will utilise surplus council land assets, new land acquisition opportunities and partnering arrangements to unlock and deliver these homes to meet local housing needs and priorities. It also sets out the need for B&NES Homes new build homes to meet or exceed the council’s Net Zero Planning Policy Requirements as part of its commitment to tackling the Climate and Nature emergency.

Currently the construction of 18 new affordable homes for social rent that will be owned directly by Bath & North East Somerset Council is under way.

The properties at the Argyle Works (pictured) site on the Lower Bristol Road, Bath and Danes Lane, Keynsham, are being delivered in partnership with Aequus Construction Limited (ACL) the council’s wholly owned development company

The Argyle Works site, formerly a Highways Maintenance Depot, is being developed to provide eight affordable, energy efficient apartments, three of which will be set aside for young people. The site in Danes Lane, that was previously used for informal parking, is being developed to provide six one-bed properties and four two-bed properties. 

Councillor McCabe added: “We are not pursuing our Housing Plan alone - it will be delivered with support from anchor institutions across Bath and North East Somerset. A Housing Mission Board has also been established to unite organisations from across the housing sector, including representatives from local planning authorities, regional authorities, registered providers, housebuilders, and designers. I am very much looking forward to working with the Board to see what we can achieve together.”

The Housing Plan responds to the council’s adopted Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Economic Strategy 2024-2034 to set council aims to provide more affordable homes and tackle the impact poor housing has on people’s health.

The cabinet report and B&NES Housing Plan 2024-2030 is available on the council  website. You can watch the cabinet when it meets on YouTube

Twerton and Whiteway Ward Planning Applications w/c 17.02.2025

This week we have no planning application for Twerton and Whiteway. 

Twerton and Whiteway Ward Councillor weekly update 15.02.2025

Here is this weeks update on what your Councillors Tim Ball and Sarah Moore have actioned in the area.

*    Fly-tipping in Whiteway Green  

     We asked Curo to attend and remove the fly-tipping in the hedges and trees around                the edge of the park.

*    Poolemead Road

     We met with residents to discussing the on-going issue of cars parking on the grassed             area. This is now being discussed with Highways officers again, despite previous requests      we are still trying to get a resolution to this on-going problem.

*    Kelston View

     The new tactile paving that we requested around the are is being added to the dropped         curbs at the junction with The Hollow.

The Cabinet met on Thursday evening, where the following reports were agreed: 

• Budget and Council Tax 2025/26 and Financial Outlook Report - The report presented the revenue and capital budgets together with proposals for increases in Council Tax and the Adult Social Care Precept for 2025/26. 
• Revenue and Capitol Budget Monitoring, Cash Limits and Virements - April - December 2024 - The report presented the financial monitoring information for the authority as a whole for the financial year 2024/25, using information available as at the end of December 2024. 
• Bath & North East Somerset Housing Plan - The Housing Plan for 2025-2030 outlines the Council’s commitment to providing affordable, safe, suitable and high-quality homes for residents. The Cabinet is asked to approve the attached documents for publication and implementation. 
• Active Travel Masterplan - The Cabinet was asked to formally adopt the Active Travel Masterplan. 
• Creating Sustainable Communities in North East Somerset: The Journey to Net Zero - The Cabinet was asked to formally adopt the Creating Sustainable Communities in North East Somerset: The Journey to Net Zero. 
• Treasury Management Performance Report to 31st December 2024 - The report gives details of performance against the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for the first nine months of 2024/25. 
• Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2025 

They also completed over 20 pieces of resident specific casework.

Update on old Culverhay Site at Rush Hill

As Liberal Democrat's we have fought consistently to ensure that Education remains a key priority on the old Culverhay Rush Hill site.

We previously told you that there was approval for a new 120 place free school and an alternative provision school for the site which means the total area has to be demolished and levelled. 

The new labour government has put that decision on hold whilst they look at their national priorities, but our officer's view is that this funding will be provided. As a direct result this will put back the commitment by at least twelve months.

Our business case for the new schools is absolutely realistic so we hope the government will agree to it when they carry out their comprehensive spending review in the spring.

Our Liberal Democrat Council is so committed we are going to carry out our own feasibility study to reduce the timescale risks and carry on with the site clearance and levelling. Levelling the site as soon as possible will save the authority significant amounts of money in holding costs. 

The existing Alternative Provision school on site will be relocated to Abbot Alphage school in Ensleigh. This will help some of the most vulnerable children receive local education and support in a modern, purpose built school. 
 
This is a commitment we are making in the order of £4M because the DFE do not pay for the demolition and preparation of this site and if we wait for a decision we will incur significant extra costs. We are therefore proceeding at some risk because we want to deliver our commitment of maintaining this site for education.

We know and value local history and commitment to the site and will organise an open day for any one to look around before any demolition starts. 

If you are interested in having a final look around the site, please do get in touch so that we can ensure you are notified of any dates when they are arranged.

B&NES Local Plan reset

 Bath & North East Somerset Council is re-launching conversations with key stakeholders on the resetting of the local plan and call for sites for future housing and employment development. 

The ‘Resetting of the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan and District Wide Spatial Strategy’, which was published online last week, explains why the Local Plan needs to be reset and what that means, and outlines some broad approaches to accommodating new housing, employment development and supporting infrastructure across the district. It also marks the re-launch of conversations and working with key stakeholders, particularly those representing local communities.

Councillor Matt McCabe, Cabinet Member for Built Environment, Housing and Sustainable Development, gave the go ahead for publication of the document in a single member decision.

Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Local Plan Options document, which was consulted on last year, was based on planning for around 14,500 homes by 2042. Under the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) the government’s revised housing figures increase the B&NES housing requirement by 105% from 717 per annum to 1,471 (or around 29,000 over a twenty-year period). We also need to assess what this means for economic growth and providing space for new jobs.

The resetting document outlines district-wide approaches that could function as a focus in considering locations for additional development to help meet those new housing targets and need for employment space.

Alongside the update document the council is running another call for sites, asking people to suggest potential sites that could be considered for development for housing and economic uses.

Councillor Matt McCabe said: “We are pleased to be able to move forward with the reset of the Local Plan and will be working closely with parish and town councils and local stakeholders to look at how the places in which they live could change and for potential new development sites to accommodate the significant uplift in the housing numbers that we need to deliver. It is important to consider carefully where best to put development like new homes, businesses, schools, health facilities and green spaces to make sure places continue to work for the people who live there as well as protecting the environment and lowering carbon emissions.”

A full public consultation on additional options will take place later this year.

The amended programme for preparing the reset Local Plan is, as required by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, set out in the council’s Local Development Scheme which was published and came into effect in December 2024.

Visit the council website for the latest information on the Local Plan or watch a video on our YouTube channel that explains how the proposed revisions will impact the Local Plan. 

Sign up to the council’s planning policy mailing list to receive updates on the Local Plan and other planning policy news as it happens. 

Twerton and Whiteway Ward Planning Applications w/c 10.02.2025

This week we have 1 planning application for Twerton and Whiteway, please see the details below and if you want to comment, please follow the relevant link. 

Ward:               Twerton                                    App Ref:            25/00409/FUL

Parish:             N/A

Registered:      30th January 2025                                 Expiry Date:            27th March 2025

Location:         41 Freeview Road Twerton Bath Bath And North East Somerset BA2 1DS 

Grid Ref:          (E)372431 - (N)164485                          LB Grade:            N/A

Proposal:         Change of use from a 3 bedroom dwellinghouse (Use Class C3) to a 6 bedroom House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) (Use Class C4) with rear extension and provision of bike store.

Officer:            Paige Moseley

Applicant:        Rivers Birtwell	Agent:    Lewis And Co Planning SE Ltd
Care of Lewis & Co Planning 2 Port Hall Road Brighton BN1 5PD United Kingdom	C/O Mr Toby Deacon 2 Port Hall Road Brighton BN1 5PD United Kingdom

To view the case click on the link here.