Nicholas Coombes

Thank you Bath University Students’ Union for the invite to the Annual Reception. The councillor’s never ending round of pothole maintenance is always enlivened by a  good drinks and nibbles reception. Rest assured that I was hard at work between the sausage rolls and odd chicken bites, though.

The evening was very well attended, which started auspiciously when I got off the 18 bus and spotted my colleague, Cllr David Bellotti, in the Council Chair’s car. Apparently the slightly tatty BathNES flag which caught my attention is due to be replaced soon with the new logo. I have been to ‘Elements’ (the Union bar) countless times, but walking up with the Chair of the Council was the first time that I have been escorted by SU staff!

Deputy Mayor of Bath, Cllr Paul Crossley, was also in a attendance - he lives in Sham Castle Lane, so it wasn’t far to come. With the two Oldfield councillors there too it made a total of 5 Lib Dems to an event that the Conservatives had ignored. I am always reassured to be at an event that the Tories don’t care for.

Around the formal speeches the rest of the evenign was a flurry of networking with the Vice Chancellor and University management, Student Union sabbatical officers and staff and the local residents’ associations with plenty to discuss. I am getting better at working a reception after a year’s experince of drinks and nibbles but there is still much room for improvement. I have never bettered my first function, at the launch of the Bath Music Festival last year, when expert hosts passed me effortlessly from the Mayor to Vice Chancellor to Joanna MacGregor, pianist and Festival director.

A historic marker post, unearthed during the scub clearance at Sham Castle has now been identified and is soon to be reinstated. The National Trust moved the stone out of harm’s way to prepare the field to be sown as a native meadow. The local history society, concerned for the stone’s archeaological significance, contacted me for its preservation.

Since I put them in contact, the experts from the Bathwick and Bathampton Local History Societies and BathNES council met at the Sham Castle with the National Trust manager to relocate the stone. The marker was put up by the Bath Corporation to mark springs which watered the city in the 1700s, one of a series on the hillside. Using a map from the 1840s they were able to agree an exact location for the stone, to which the National Trust will return it and reinstate the stone upright.

Like the rest of the Sham Castle project, this is another example of local people using their own skills and knowledge to improve their environment, without relying on the local council. I am not an archaeologist (more an architectural historian!) and I didn’t need to be; we have the expertise in our comminuty, it just needs to be linked up.

The loading bay for Tesco has been put to public consultation. You are welcome to write to the Highways team with your views (click on the picture to read the notice and address).

This needs to have public consultation because it changes the legal parking status of that patch of road on Bathwick Hill. The pedestrian refuge and other pavement works did not need public consultation as they were modifications to council/public property.

A loading bay is needed here (just below the canal bridge) to allow delivery lorries to unload safely to the Tesco Express which was given planning permission by an appeal inspector last year. Effectively the government inspector instructed the BathNES highway department to install the loading bay and upgrade the pedestrian crossing, regardless of their own professional views. I have spoken to a member of the highways team about this apparent contradiction and he told me about another authority he has worked for. Following a similar appeal the highway department was ordered to make safe a junction which they claimed couldn’t be done. The legal battle went to the House of Lords and cost the council millions in fees when Tesco finally won.

I am of the opinion that our highway safety department have done a good job in difficult circumstances with the pedestrian refuge, road markings and loading bay. Their solution isn’t perfect, but this is hardly surprising given their professional judgement against Tesco’s planning permission.

Representations must be made in writing to the council by 5th June. If there are objections, which we expect there will be, a report must be written for the cabinet member to decide. Cllr Gerrish (Con, Keynsham North) shall make the final decision mid-June, for the loading bay to be rejected or painted on soon after. There is no truth in the rumour that Tesco have successfully sued for damages against the council. The process has indeed taken a long time but no legal action has yet been taken by Tesco.

Unfortunately the zebra crossing we all want may take even longer. As Tesco did not provide enough money for providing a zebra crossing, the central refuge has been widened and given tactile paving, while the pavement has also been widened. As well as giving more room to wheelchair users and those pushing bikes or buggies, this pavement widening improves the view down Bathwick Hill from those waiting to cross. This is a vital requirement for a zebra crossing, that visibility is good. With these improvements, it will be possible to paint on the zebra stripes later, from council tax money. However, I was angry to discover that this scheme has not been listed for funding in the next financial year and have chased this up with the Conservative cabinet member responsible.

Recently I seem to have been chasing unnecessarily difficult problems, graffiti, litter and potholes which have been a lot harder to fix than they ought.

The kind people at Network Rail are just as helpful on the phone as they were when I first called them in February 2007, but the graffiti still hasn’t been cleaned from their railway bridge. You probably noticed the ‘THiCK’ tag on the bridge over Pulteney Road over a year ago and I been trying to get it removed since then. In the last few months I added graffiti on the arches to my request, so I am now on my third different customer reference number. We’ve already passed a few deadline for the contractors to do the work, so I wait with anticipation.

Unlike Network Rail, the electricity company only work to 9-5 office hours. but the one time I did get through I was assured that their substation would be scrubbed within the week. It hasn’t happened yet, I’ll have to call back Monday to Friday.

I have also experienced nothing but earnest enthusiasm from our own council helpline, but 2 months on I am still waiting for a highways inspector to visit Sydney Buildings to register the potholes for filling. An inspector did visit my street however, the complaint having been misfiled, and was able to locate some potholes which have since been filled in.

I hope that this post hasn’t spoilt the ‘magic’; I have to spend just as long on hold and re-writing emails as anyone else; the difference is that I get paid for it.

Whether it’s in the job decription is another matter.

This week was the Council AGM, marking my first year in office. However, with a full agenda no one was being sentimental; especially with the recent attitude of the Conservative administration.

This was exemplified on the night by the presentation of a new Code of Governance. The Conservative presenting the paper said that it was unnecessary and only included to tick inspection boxes. Had he read the code he would have seen what a good paper it was, and how few of the values of involvement, consultation and scrutiny this administration pay attention to. This is in the wake of the parking charge protests and the increased elderly care charges, both performed with minumal consultation against public will.

In this spirit I seconded a motion for a public position on the Rec Trustees panel to give greater public involvement in decision making so that peole don’t feel shut out of the process. With a subject as contentious as the Rec, not everyone can get their way, but at least they can feel that their opinion is valued. The Conservatives defeated this ammendment.

The Liberal Democrats also tried to reform the scrutiny arrangements within the council, proposing that opposition members chair the scrutiny panels. This is in the best practise of auditing -  the auditor is independant of the auditee. As it is, Conservatives scrutinise their own performance in most areas. Again, our ammendment was defeated.

 For those of you interested in working hours, I started writing my speeches at 4pm and left the Guildhall after the council at 11pm

Finally, Friday 9th was Europe Day, marking the conception of the European Union as body to unite European Nations preventing war between them. The previous time Europe was at peace for 60 years was at the height of the Roman Empire.

What else has Europe done for us? Well, there’s unrestricted travel and access to health care throughout the continent and the freedom to live, work, study and retire in any of the member states. Human rights and equality laws have also sprang from EU legislation, the 2006 anti-age-discrimination law for example. Economic cooperation and competition laws have allowed cheaper travel, broken utility monopolies and will soon reduce the cost of international mobile calls. The environment has also benefitted from the EU’s lead on clean air and water, refuse and recycling and nature protection.

Good reason I though, to join the Chair of the Council for the toast “To Europe and its people”.

I have read that a long running competition amongst national newspaper night editors  for the least exciting headline stalled with no one able to better “small earthquake in peru, not many dead”. However, lamp posts, or the unexpected lack of, are of great concern to those missing illumination.

The lamp post at the end of Sydney Wharf, lighting the final six houses plus the bridge over the railway, was unexpectedly removed at the end of last month. Well meaning BathNES technicians thought that they were helping the developer, who asked for the lamp post to be removed from their land, and complying with best practice by getting the light onto the public highway. This is so that it can be repaired without needing written permission from the landowner.

Unfortunately their efforts to relocate  it were more difficult than expected, runnning into cellars, parking and contested ownership. I was contacted by concerned residents worried about the delay. A flurry of emails and phonecalls followed between five different parties until consensus was reached. The developer even paid for the lamp post to be upgraded to ‘herritage’ style, befitting the fine Georgian history of electric lighting.

The lantern is now in place awaiting only the wiring before the grand switch on. There’s more to these dull headlines than you’d expect.

Do you know the origins of the marker stone found near the Sham Castle? More importantly, where should it go?

In the second stage of the Sham Castle project the National Trust have prepared the ground in front of the castle to be sown as a meadow. The scrub and brambles were cleared by a group of community volunteers led by Armand and I in March. For the ploughing, the National Trust moved a historic marker stone which had been lying amongst the vegetation. When they have finished it will be moved back to a suitable location.

The Bathwick and Bathampton local history societies both have ideas about the stone and are working with the city archaeologist to agree its correct location. If you have any thoughts or information to contribute please email me and I will put you in touch with the groups. The stone is likely a marker erected by the city water board to denote a spring on the hill.

The long term management of the land in front of the Sham Castle has now been agreed between the National Trust and the Golf Course. Both have contributed towards sowing it as a wild meadow and shall be mowing it a few times per year when the grass is established.

Dr Vince Cable MP, Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor and professional economist, was at the BRSLI yesterday to talk on financial policy and his time as acting Liberal Democrat leader.

Treating his audience as educated adults, Vince’s speech was occasionally technical, but well delivered and thoroughly explained the reasons for the current ‘credit crisis’ and the dangers of personal debt in Britain, which he first raised in parliament five years ago. His expertise was well received and he answered a number of questions about the global and British economy, plus the handling of the 10% tax rate rise and Northern Rock (on which his recommendations were eventually followed, six months later).

It was very good to meet other members of the public audience in the reception afterwards, including senior finance managers and economists from BathNES council and Bath university. Bath Liberal Democrats intend to hold more public lectures at the BRSLI in the future.

The second call in against Conservative cabinet decisions in recent weeks has been upheld. Cllr Pritchard (Con, Chew Valley S) had sought to increase care charges for elderly and vulnerable people by 74%.

However, Cllr Pritchard has already said that he will ignore the panel’s recommendations, just as he ignored the concerns raised previously by the Overview and Scrutiny panel and the Full Council. Unfortunately the nature of our governmental system means that the minority Conservative cabinet is able to act exeactly as it wants without listening to the justified concerns of residents and opposition councillors. The upheld call in requires Cllr Pritchard to reconsider and justify his position, though it does not lead to a different decision.

I signed this ‘call in’ petition as I believe that it is unfair to raise so much revenue from the most vulnerable people. While the state pension has risen by 50p per day this year, meals on wheels in BathNES are now set to rise by over £1/day. However, I was disgusted to read Pritchards statement in the Chronicle, that he intended to ignore the call in process. The Conservative cabinet have lately taken to complaining about the cost of the ‘call in’ system.  However, I argue that it is not used frivolously, this is the last chance that councillors have to oppose decisions which they feel will harm the community. Further, councillors are irresponsible if they DO NOT fight bad decisions at every chance. Pritchard states that he has already heard the opposition from two Overview & Scrutiny reports and Full Council, so the call in was unnecessary. The call in would have been unnecessary if he hadn’t simply ignored the previous recommendations. Faced with an arrogant and uncaring executive though, councillors must do all that they can to protect the people they represent.

Since the first Conservative budget last month, there have been a flurry of cabinet decisions implementing the increased charges for Residents’ Parking and Home Care. Opposed to these increases, the Liberal Democrats have lead ‘Call-ins’ against these, asking the cabinet member to reconsider. First was the proposal to raise Residents’ Parkign charges by 60%:

The panel voted, by four votes to three, to dismiss the call-in, with Conservative Councillors from outside of Bath backing the original decision taken by their Conservative Cabinet colleague. The Cabinet member will now be free to go ahead and implement the decision to apply increases of up to 60% to residents’ permit costs across the city, as well as a number of other changes to parking costs and arrangements.

The call-in panel raised a number of issues around poor consultation and excessive increases to permit costs. Although all Councillors agreed that consultation on this decision had been inadequate, Conservative Councillors appeared more concerned with the state of the Council’s finances than the issue of engaging with those who will be affected.

Councillor Ian Gilchrist (Widcombe), who led the call-in signatories commented: “I am disappointed that the Conservative and Independent members of the panel did not recognise the merits of the case made to uphold the call-in.

“I thought that the arguments outlining the damaging effects of extending charged times in the city centre to 8pm were pretty compelling, and if they don’t listen to Nod Knowles (Director of Bath Festivals) who will they listen to?

“I am slightly mollified by the apparent concession that Cllr Gerrish has made in the direction of Sunday evening parking, but this still has to be confirmed. If we have achieved even this small bit of good then that is a good thing. Residents will not be pleased at a 60% increase in their annual charges, but I do draw comfort from the thought that we at least did our best to oppose this.”

Meanwhile I have signed the Call In against the increased charges for personal care and the meals on wheels service, which will hurt the most vulnerable. This has lead to some comment on the Chron website… http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=20354849