Nicholas Coombes

As I have written before, the old school on Lime Grove has been considered by the Conservative council as a site for a wet-house.

For all the time that the site was the leading contender for a homeless hostel, suitable for alcohol consumption, the plans were kept secret and only leaked out when the cabinet member accidentally referred to them in a council meeting. Currently, the planned location is by Kingsmead Square - although this is also hotly contested.

My ward colleague in Kingsmead has asked for the documentation about the decision and was only able to force access using the Freedom of Information act. This shows that Lime Grove was considered by the experts as the best site, although the cabinet eventually chose Kingsmead because they thought that there would be less public resistance.

Given that the Kingsmead site is also controversial, I asked the Conservative in charge about the Lime Grove proposals. The written quetion and answer are here - scroll to question 6 on page 6. He says that the Kingsmead site decision will not be re-visited and that he has no hold on the Lime Grove site. However, he did not answer my points about the secrecy and lack of consultation surrounding the process.

I have checked with the council’s property team and they are preparing to re-market the site for commercial purchase (you may remember the aborted student housing bid of last year). All indications are that the Lime Grove site will not be used for a wet-house.

The only question remaining - can you trust a Tory?!

This evening’s snow made Bathwick Hill impassible for many drivers including the 18 bus.

The road is normally gritted but the afternoon snowfall resulted in a wet and slippery surface, worst uphill of Cleveland Walk. Many drivers parked where they could and walked home as fellow motorists slid in the slush.

First were also compelled to leave their bus parked on the hill as it could not drive up safely. Passengers had to walk the rest of the journey as the snow continued falling. The bus was rescued an hour later, being gently slid backwards down the hill to turn around at Cleveland Walk.

The ‘Big Freeze Update’ from the council is abridged below for public information purposes. Whether the ‘big’ refers to the length of the update or the severity of the freeze is not made clear.

• it is cold and will remain such for some considerable time; it has and will snow, road and pavement conditions are described as extremely hazardous
• grit was delivered to the council on Friday; it will be used sparingly on major routes and in grit bins, not on residential roads or pavements as per this map
• most schools will be open on Monday, though Bathwick St Mary’s is currently unsure; updates on the council website
• there will be no waste collections on Monday; none was collected on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday so this should be brought back indoors. The Christmas trees left in the street are quite festive though

Quarry Rock Gardens has been in the news a little lately, first in the Chronicle and then on BBC Points West.

The static home caravan site houses 90 residents aged 50+ at the top of Widcombe Hill. Being a privately run site it is not eligible for council gritting (not that many other residential roads have been gritted either!), but the owner of the site has not made any provision for snow and ice. Consequently many residents are housebound and have been for the past week.

I went up to Quarry Rock this morning to check that residents were alright and was pleased to see that most were able to drive out or walk to the bus stop - carefully - and that neighbours were looking out for each other.

However, I was not alone - the fire brigade had also come up to help! With few fire to attend in the cold and wet, Bath Blue Watch drove two of their rescue tenders up to Quarry Rock to dig the residents out. I explained some of the problems to the crew then picked up a broom to help out.

Suitably inspired, my flatmate and I spend another hour that afternoon clearing the pavement outside our home on Bathwick Hill.

As the cold snap continues, here’s a public service announcement relayed from BathNES council:

• schools are closed
• main routes (Bathwick Hill, Claverton Down and North Road) will be gritted, roads not gritted now will not be in future
• there are NO rubbish or recycling today; please take the waste (and christmas trees) back in

information and updates are at http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/bathnes, but this has crashed a few times.

Happy New Year

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, is in Bath this week for a free public meeting. The town hall style event is open to anyone to turn up and ask a question.

Having seen Nick at conference, I know that he is a very impressive public speaker. What’s more, having done almost one hundred town hall meetings since becoming leader, he’s pretty good at them.

The meeting is at St Michael’s, Broad Street (by Waitrose) starting at 6:30pm this Thursday 7th Jan. You can turn up on the night, but seats are being booked fast; you can reserve for you and your friends at http://www.nickclegg.com/2009/12/meets-bath/ for free.

Whether you are an instinctive liberal democrat or a floating voter, he’s well worth a listen.

Continuing my occassional series of cheery photos, I present the moon, rising above Widcombe.

This one is taken from my flat, as this week I have been at home with mumps.

A government inspector today announced an additional investigation into the Claverton Down to Combe Down footpath.

Earlier this year a public enquiry was held to determine the legal width of footpath AQ78. The contested section is the fenced part by Quarry Farm at the Widcombe Hill end. Then the Inspector that the footpath was 5m, in some cases 7m wide. This was even more than the case made by the council; the difference was advertised for renewed consultation.

In a letter, the Planning Inspectorate announced that objections have again been recieved, which an inspector wil need to consider and then re-rule. Another public enquiry may be needed, but an exchange of letters is more likely.

Bathwick’s beat police officers hold a PaCT meeting every six months to “give you the opportunity to influence what happens in your neighbourhood”. A panel of police and council staff, plus me, is chaired by Rev Prothero of Bathwick St Mary’s. This month we were out of his parish in the Claverton Down Community Hall.

The three priorities of the previous meeting were reviewed, the first two mostly pertaining to the police. Their patrols in Sydney Gardens have been regular and productive. Noise complaints are down and, after one successful confrontation, graffitti attacks are also much reduced. However, it is acknowledged that all uses of the park reduce seasonally due to the cold weather and dark nights. Regarding speeding, the police run an hour or so of speed checks from their van at different points around the ward every month.

The final priority, to install a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill near Tesco, was a council issue. Unfortunately no member of council staff was at the meeting, but I was able to report the success of our petition with the crossing allocated funding for this financial year (ie before April next year).

Following discussion, the three new priorities are (also shown on the police website):

1. to investigate road safety on Sham Castle Lane, looking at speeding, signage and closure
2. to continue to enforce speed limits on Claverton Down Road and to accelerate the provision on double yellow lines
3. to provide a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill, monitored by the police for its first few days.

I hope that in future BathNES council staff will also be able to attaned these meetings. I am a representative to the council, not of the council; I am as unable to understand or explain the many failings of the organisation as any other member of the public!

The latest Police and Communities Together meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday 8th December) at 6:30pm in the Clavteron Down Community Hall.

This is the first time that the PaCT meeting will be held on Claverton Down, so a new audience is welcomed. Residents are invited to the open meeting to share their views about policing, council services and local issues. To close the meeting, a public vote of the issues raised will decide the top priorities.

Cllr Nicholas Coombes will be sitting on the panel, as ever, joined by representatives from the police and council.