Paul Crossley

The Open Homes Weekend, organised by Bath & North East Somerset Council, Transition Bath and the Bath Preservation Trust, returns for its second year on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April. The weekend, which is one of the main events on the Bath Green Homes calendar, will showcase local homes across the Bath area that are warm, green and cheap to run, in order to show people how they can reduce their energy bills.

The event will cover a wide area, from Twerton to Bathford, including Batheaston, Larkhall, Bear Flat, Combe Down and Widcombe. The number of homes opening their doors to the public has increased to 19 this year and properties range from heritage to new build. There will be a variety of low cost and high tech homes, which include features such as draught proofing, low energy lighting, advanced insulation, renewable energy technologies and green roofs.

The event is free to all but some of the homes do require visitors to book ahead. Download the Open Homes Weekend leaflet, which includes a map with all the featured properties on here. The Hub at The Building of Bath Collection will also be hosting a number of free attractions, including the Bath Green Homes information point, the RIBA 21st Century Living Exhibition, the LED Leading Lights demonstration and a free renewable energy clinic from Future Supply.

Councillor Paul Crossley (Lib-Dem, Southdown), Leader of the Council, said, “The Council strives to encourage residents to adapt to changes in our climate by being energy efficient. The Open Homes Weekend offers people the chance to see this in action, from low cost things anyone can do, right through to high-tech and more complex solutions and see the benefits.”

Bath Green Homes 2013 continues throughout April and upcoming events include a DIY Draught Proofing workshop and talks on ‘Improving the Energy Efficiency of my home – what can I do and how can I pay for it?’ and ‘Low Energy Lighting For Your Home’. Further details on these events can be found here.

The Open Homes Weekend is kindly sponsored by Curo, Future Supply and Darren Evans Assessments. For more information, visit www.bathgreenhomes.co.uk, email admin@bathgreenhomes.co.uk or phone 01225 477528. You can also follow @BathGreenHomes on Twitter.

People can get help to trace their family history with a free event at Midsomer Norton Library on Tuesday 19 March (7-8pm), as part of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s “After Hours” campaign to promote the wider use of libraries.

“Family History – how do you get started?” will be hosted by the Council’s Local Studies Librarian Anne Buchanan. The event is aimed at anyone who is just starting their search or anyone who is interested in having a go but doesn’t know where to begin.

Anne, who is an expert in tracing family history, will give a presentation outlining the first steps in tracing your family tree and attendees will also have the opportunity to ask her questions about the best way to find information. In addition, once people have got started on their own family trees Anne can offer one-to-one advice and guidance at a later date if anyone reaches a barrier in their research.

The ‘After Hours’ events give people the chance to get even more benefit from Bath & North East Somerset Council’s libraries outside of their normal opening times. Our library staff are keen to hear from anyone who may have an idea for a future event. We also welcome any volunteers who can help them make cups of tea and clear away at the end of the evenings.

The “Family History” event is free but spaces are limited so tickets must be booked by calling Council Connect on 01225 394041or popping into Midsomer Norton Library on the High Street, next to the Holly Court Arcade.

Library event highlights adventures of “Life in the Bus Lane”

The tales of a local author, whose cross-country travels by bus inspired an eco-friendly internet campaign, can be heard at Saltford Library as part of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s “After Hours” campaign to promote the wider use of libraries.

Pat Lunt, of Odd Down, Bath, took a month-long trip around England on public service buses as a way of doing something unusual and enjoyable.

On Friday 1 March, from 10.15am to 12noon, he will talk about the book he subsequently published – “Life in the Bus Lane: An English Odyssey by Bus” – and the fascinating direction his life then took.

What started out as just a slightly whacky idea for a holiday has developed in scope for Pat. He now also has his own website (Click Here) and a continuing project that encourages people to hop on a bus for a day out (or longer), leaving their cars at home.

Come and join Pat Lunt  for an intriguing insight into one man’s intrepid travels by bus to the four corners of the country, visiting destinations ranging from the Scottish borders to the wilds of Cornwall and most places in between! The event is free and people are welcome to turn up to Saltford Library for 10.15am on Friday 1 March.

Wellsway School hosts launch of Council’s Active Travel Project

The Active Travel Project, organised by Sustrans in partnership with the Council. Children and staff at Wellsway School took part in the launch of the Active Travel Project, run by Bath & North East Somerset Council, at lunchtime on Thursday February 21 Feb. The project aims to provide children with the skills and information to allow them to travel to school actively and sustainably by bike, foot or public transport on a regular basis.

As Leader of the Council I am keen to encourage young people to walk and cycle more.  Active Travel to school is a great way for pupils to enjoy staying fit and healthy and research shows it allows them to become better students in the classroom. Bath & North East Somerset Council wants to encourage people of all ages to think about how they take their journeys, taking sustainable transport, like bus or bike, when they can.

The work is funded through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and being delivered by the West of England Partnership and involves several local Councils, including Bath & North East Somerset, working with the Department for Transport.

Budget 2013: Highly valued services protected – list published by Council

Services for the public protected, Council Tax frozen, and investment in local homes and jobs were the key priorities approved by Bath & North East Somerset Council tonight at its 2013/14 budget setting meeting. A list of just some of the services highly valued by the community that will continue in 2013/14 have been published to increase public awareness of those which are protected.

Councillor Paul Crossley (Lib-Dem, Southdown), Leader of Council, said, “This has been a challenging budget to balance with a combination of the national economic crisis, increases to the numbers of people who are young and old, and rising costs.

“However, as a result of making back office savings of around £25 million over recent years with more to come, living within our means, and taking some difficult decisions, Bath & North East Somerset Council is protecting the vast majority of services to the public. We are publishing this list so that people are more aware of the everyday services that will continue next year.

“There are tens of thousands of people across the area who benefit from these services, whether that is having a continued weekly bin collection or highly specialised package of home care to maintain their independence or use a supported bus service. The services to the public that we are protecting are highly valued by local people and play an important part in their everyday lives and local communities.”

Our priority – Protecting frontline services in 2013/14

To make the budget balance, annual reductions are planned of around £3 million currently planned for each of the next three years, which is equivalent to about 1.3% of our total budget each year – many services to the public continue. This list represents just some of those protected in 2013/14.

Supporting vulnerable people and families

 

We will continue to fund:

 

1.    The existing 2,200 care packages and placements to maintain the independence of older people and disabled;

 

2.    1,100 people to use our Personal Budget programme giving them choice over their care packages;

 

3.    The existing Handyperson home improvement services for around 2,000 people through Care and Repair;

 

4.    Social care for around 750 of the most vulnerable young people in our society;

 

5.    Foster care for 135 children and young people;

 

6.    All eight Children’s Centres kept open;

 

7.    Delivery of around 53,000 community meals to older and vulnerable people;

 

8.    A Community Alarm Service to more than 1,300 people to older and vulnerable to get help quickly;

 

9.    Our award winning Independent Living Service which supports 340 people to maintain their independence;

 

10. The transportation for 150 people to support them to access adult day care services;

 

11. The Virtual School for Children In Care service for around 150 vulnerable children and young people;

 

12. Support for around 100 young people who leave care to give them the opportunity of a positive future.

 

A better quality of life in our communities

 

We will continue to fund:

 

13. Weekly waste and recycling collections for all 72,000 households with a new small electrical item collection service;

 

14. Around 40 lollipop patrols keeping children and parents safe from traffic;

 

15. All 52 street cleaners retained to maintain our high standards;

 

16. All three Recycling Centre’s with existing opening times;

 

17. All eight library branches for people to read and learn;

 

18. All three leisure centres kept open to help people keep fit and healthy;

 

19. The existing four Youth Centre’s kept open for young people to socialise and learn the skills they need for adult life;

 

20. Our network of 103 CCTV cameras operating 24 hours a day supporting a safe and secure environment;

 

21. A network of over 16,000 streetlights that will be turned-on to keep the public and motorists safe during the hours of darkness;

 

22. Existing winter roads maintenance commitments including nine gritting vehicles that salt over 260 miles of our road network, over 400 grit bins, and 16 snow warden pilots;

 

23. Repairs to around 2,000 potholes on our roads – and have the money to do more should severe weather strike;

 

24. A scheme for 78 schools to cut their energy costs and carbon emissions through practical and financial support.

 

The day-to-day funding of schools and teachers is separate from the Council’s spending.

 

Supporting people to live, work, and learn

 

We will continue to fund:

 

25. Over 50 bus services that wouldn’t otherwise operate;

 

26. Support for 60 people who are either care leavers or long-term unemployed to get into a work placement;

 

27. Hundreds more business clinics and workshops for companies looking to start-up;

 

28. Support for the private sector to increase the take-up of apprenticeships by around 5%;

 

29. Transport services for around 1,800 eligible young people every day to get to our local schools;

 

30. Our School Meals Service which, alongside our schools, serves-up 900,000 meals for Primary School children;

 

31. Free entry for all residents to the Fashion Museum, Roman Baths, and most exhibits at the Victoria Art Gallery;

 

32. Places for 900 children and 200 adults on our Bikeability scheme which encourages safe cycling;

 

33.  All three One Stop Shops in Bath, Keynsham, and Midsomer Norton kept open and improved.

 

The pressure from the combination of Government funding reductions, demographic change, and rising costs will continue in the future. This may require further prioritisation of our services.

 

Our Priority – Investing in homes and jobs for local people

 

The Council is also investing in a range of projects to provide new homes, new jobs, and better infrastructure to the area.

 

Councillor David Bellotti (Lib-Dem, Lyncombe), Cabinet Member for Resources, said, “Whilst protecting frontline services and freezing Council Tax, we must also make sensible investments into the fabric of our communities so that once the national economic slowdown is over our district is in the best possible position to advantage of the recovery through providing new homes, more jobs, and better transport.”

 

The projects include:

 

• Progressing the Bath ‘City of Ideas’ Enterprise Area through a combined total of over £27 million to regenerate key sites along the River Avon with employment space and places to live, including affordable homes;

 

• Completing a £34 million revamp of Keynsham town centre that will encourage private sector investment into the community;

 

• Regenerating communities, including Radstock where an upgrade of the road network will support new homes and jobs, and London Road, Bath;

 

• Continuing the £27 million upgrade of Bath’s transport network to tackle congestion, improve air quality, and encourage economic growth;

 

• £4 million on school improvement and expansion projects.

 

Find out more

 

Detailed information about the budget, including how the Council is making back office savings and the full medium term financial plans for each service in the Council is available at www.bathnes.gov.uk/budget2013

A signs only 20 mph speed limit in Abbey/Kingsmead(part) and Widcombe(part) areas of central Bath is being proposed by the Liberal Democrat administration that I lead to improve road safety.  Local people are being given the chance to have their say about the idea in a consultation that runs until 15th March 2013. A leaflet to households in the proposed restriction area will be distributed shortly.  The Council is investing £500,000 into safer speed limits across the district. Abbey, Kingsmead and Widcombe are the next communities being given the opportunity to give their view. Many roads in the immediate city centre are already covered by a 20 mph limit. The main circuit around the city centre – the A4 Upper Bristol Road, A36 Lower Bristol Road, and A36 Pulteney Road – are largely excluded. Most roads within them are part of the consultation.

Bath city centre is the busiest location for traffic in our area. My cabinet is proposing to take action on making many of the streets safer for people on foot and who use bicycles. This will create a more pleasant, attractive environment for people to live, work, and visit. We hope people will have their say on our proposal.  The statistics are on our side. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents estimates that a pedestrian has a ninety per cent chance of surviving being hit by a car at twenty mph, falling to a fifty per cent chance at 30 mph and to ten per cent at 40 mph.

There is further information about the timetable and proposed order for introducing the limits on the Council’s website on www.bathnes.gov.uk/20mphspeedlimit or email transportation@bathnes.gov.uk or call 01225 39 40 41.

Bristol Channel Has Massive Renewable Energy Potential

The proposal for a large scale barrage across the Severn estuary would be an economic and environmental disaster. A recent report shows how a combination of innovative technologies could generate significant low carbon energy, and economic benefits from the Bristol Channel, without the need for a large scale barrage. The report has been issued by renewable energy experts Regen SW and consultancy firm Marine Energy Matters.

The discussion document, “Bristol Channel Energy: A Balanced Technology Approach”, proposes a new strategy to harness the massive energy potential of the Bristol Channel in a way which balances the imperative to generate low carbon energy with the protection of the environment and communities on both the Welsh and English sides of the channel.  The multi technology strategy outlined in the report would utilise new concepts such as tidal lagoons and tidal fences, deployed in conjunction with tidal stream technology, wave and wind power. The report authors highlight that the key advantage of the multi-technology approach is to enable the incremental roll-out of a series of large scale energy schemes as technologies are proven and their environmental impacts can be properly managed. Ultimately this lower risk strategy could provide up to 14 GW of low carbon energy capacity, more than the barrage proposals, and would enhance the UK’s position as a hotbed for new technology development.  The balanced technology approach, which has strong backing from industry groups including the Bristol Tidal Energy Forum, West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and South West Marine Energy Park, builds on the strength of the marine energy technology sector in the UK, and could provide a more sustainable route to economic growth and job creation.

The new approach is welcomed by environmental groups including Friends of the Earth and the RSPB. It is also what I have been advocating for many years now.

We must find ways to take the energy of the Severn that are

# clean

# renewable

# help and enhance the local environment

# create employment for the long term

# help our area become a world leader in innovative design and technology for harnessing energy from tidal power

a large barrier fails every single one of these challenges and destorys Bristol Port, increases flood area, does great damage to the ecology and fails to create any new renewable industry.

For more information about Regen SW click on this link 

For more information about Marine Energy Matters  click on this link 

For more information about the South West Marine Energy Park click on this link

The UK Government has promoted the creation of the Marine Energy Park (MEP) as part of its strategy to support the development of the UK marine energy sector. The South West MEP was designated as the UK’s first Marine Energy Park in January 2012 and covers the geographic area from the Severn Estuary and around the coast of Cornwall to the Isle of Wight. The designation recognises the fantastic energy resources that the south west offers. This includes wave, wind, tidal stream and tidal range resources – as well as the clusters of research, industry and supply chain around the hub areas of Bristol, Plymouth and Cornwall. The aim of the South West MEP is to create a business environment that will accelerate the commercial development of the marine energy sector.  To do this the South West MEP has established a powerful partnership which now consists of over 80 organisations from the private sector, research organisations, universities and public bodies.

 

Last night the Liberal Democrats won support from Council for their budget proposals for 2013/14

The Liberal Democrat budget shows that we listen to residents and have prioritised the services which matter most to them, from youth services to weekly bin collections.

We recognise that the current economic climate is tough which is why we have frozen Council tax for a further year. In fact, there have been no increases in Council tax since the Liberal Democrats took control of the Council in 2011.

I am proud that this Liberal Democrat administration is making sensible investments to secure new homes and jobs for local people.

It is disappointing that the Conservative Councillors preferred to play political games rather than supporting this budget which delivers so much for local communities. In the end the vote was won by 38 vote for (28 Liberal Democrats supported by 5 Independent and 5 Labour votes with 1 Conservative abstention and 24 Conservative votes against.

The budget has much good news for our environment and cannot afford to ignore the environment even in this time of austerity. Capital spending on energy efficiency improvements in schools, a fund for biomass projects, resources to start delivering the Retrofit and Green Deal partnership, together with further work to reduce the Council’s own carbon footprint show that we are really committed to investing in the future of the environment. These measures will also give economic benefits, delivering financial cost savings and employment opportunities, and social benefits, enhancing community cohesion and improving the quality of life for our residents. The budget also brings £500,000 investment into improving cycle paths, cycle lanes and routes across B&NES. This will be an enormous boost to cycling locally and will help enable many people to choose more sustainable means of transport. The Liberal Democrats are prioritising investment to sustainability leading to fewer cars on the road and reduced congestion. This is a highlight of an exciting week for cycling; a week which has seen the opening of the Millmead Road bridge section of the Two Tunnels route and work starting on the cycle route from Lower Bristol Road to Bath Spa University funded by the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

 

·         Please visit http://www.bathlibdems.org.uk/budget for more budget stories from B&NES Liberal Democrats.

·         “Everything you need to know about the budget” on bathnes.gov.uk – LINK

·         Follow the hashtag #listeningbudget2013 on Twitter for more on the budget process.

 

The Liberal Democrat budget presented this week continues our committment to improving cycle and pedestrian routes in the authority. The Conservatives voted against our proposals but already work has started to widen the path along the northern footway of the A4 dual carriageway, for the use of pedestrians and cyclists.  The route is on the north side of the A4 Bristol Road between the Globe roundabout and the junction of the A4 Bristol Road / A36 Lower Bristol Road. The project will take approximately 3-4 weeks.  This is one of a number of schemes by the Council to provide improved cycle routes between Bath centre and Bath Spa University, with the cycle/pedestrian route between the A4 and the entrance of the university currently under construction.

Increasing the number of people cycling and walking is good for the environment; is good for health and wellbeing; improves the safety for walkers and cyclists and allows better use of the road network for those car drivers who need to make the journey by car.

 

The Council will meet on Tuesday night (19 February) to vote on next year’s budget proposals from the Liberal Democrat administration.

The Lib Dems are proposing a listening budget which prioritises the frontline services that are most important to residents and protects services for the most vulnerable, whilst still achieving a further year of frozen Council tax.

Key services, which residents value most, are being protected. Collections of rubbish and recycling will remain weekly. Funding for bus services will continue. No funding cuts for the youth service are proposed. All library branches will remain open. No parking charges will be introduced in car parks which are currently free to use. The street cleaning budget has been protected.

Council tax in B&NES has been frozen since the Liberal Democrats took control of the Council from the Conservatives in 2011. Unlike many neighbouring Councils, who are proposing a hike next year, the Lib Dem administration is proposing a further year of frozen Council tax, in recognition of the continuing difficult economic times.

The Liberal Democrats are also prioritising sensible capital investment which will help to support the local economy and provide the conditions for more growth and, ultimately, more jobs for local people.

Local projects to encourage growth include infrastructure developments to open up new sites for housing and workplaces, such as flood alleviation for the Avon in Bath and regeneration schemes, such as the London Road project and Radstock regeneration fund.

 

To find out more about the budget:

·         Visit our website: http://www.bathlibdems.org.uk/budget

·         Follow our Twitter hashtag: #listeningbudget2013

·         Watch the Cabinet meeting at which the budget was approved to go forward to the Council: http://tinyurl.com/a83jbjl (the budget discussion starts at 58:32)

·         Read the full proposals on the Council’s website: http://tinyurl.com/ba7outc