In pouring rain, Liberal Democrat councillors got on their bikes to support national cycle week this morning. Cllrs Nicholas Coombes, Paul Crossley, Roger Symmonds, Ian Gilchrist, Cherry Beath and Mayor Tim Ball came to BathNES council’s cycle breakfast in the Abbey Courtyard. Conservative Vice-Chair of the council, Bryan Chalker, drove his notoriously toxic trabant to the event, effectively cancelling out the carbon savings of the other participants!

Neither Bathwick councillor, Nicholas or Armand, have a car; both walk, cycle or bus around the city. With a little practice, even Bathwick Hill is possible for a keen cyclist! Unfortunately Nicholas’ pledge to cycle to all meetings this week went awry when a last minute puncture forced him to walk to the BRSLI yesterday, but now the bike is ready for an event at Bath Spa University later today.

Ziggy the Zebra joined fifty protesters for a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill. The stunt was organised by Cllr Nicholas Coombes to raise the priority of the scheme within the council.

Tesco have paid for come improvements to the crossing, now complete. If their loading bay gets approval, which is expected next week, then they will be able to open their store when the bay is marked on. It is now down to BathNES council to fund extra work needed for the zebra crossing requested by local residents.

Your Bathwick councillors insisted that the changes to the crossing (paid for by Tesco) should be a first step towards a zebra crossing. However, Cllr Coombes has now discovered that the Conservative Cabinet have not allocated any funds to do this work in the next financial year. The Cabinet member in charge (Cllr Charles Gerrish, Con, Keynsham North) will not make any commitment and his department appear to be backtracking.

Today’s demonstration, attended by fifty local people, three dogs and a zebra, has shown the strength of feeling in the area and the huge local demand for a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill. This will make a diference to the priority of the scheme and will provide Cllrs Coombes and Edwards vital support in their campaign with the traffic department.

If you weren’t able to sign the petition on the day, please add your name to www.ourcampaign.org.uk/bathwickcrossing. Thanks.

Join us for a publicity stunt to get our zebra crossing! Meet 4:30pm on Monday 16th outside Tesco, with Ziggy the Zebra.

BathNES council are becoming increasingly evasive about a zebra crossing for Bathwick Hill. The half finished works were designed to be completed as a zebra crossing when council funding became available, but now the Conservatives are questioning whether one is necessary at all. We need to show the public demand for a completed crossing.

We are holding a photo stunt on Monday to grab the attention of the media, the council and possibly Tesco; we will be aided by Ziggy, our life-size ‘zebra’ to make a photogenic image. Please join in to give us a big crowd of people for the cameras!

Please remember to sign the petition too at www.ourcampaign.org.uk/bathwickcrossing

I always walk (or cycle or bus) around Bathwick with a critical eye; a lot of the time I am satisfied, it is a very beautiful area. However, today I spotted a few bits to be fixed, after our surgery.

The cul-de-sac sign to Darlington Place has been knocked by an unfortunate motorist (or momentous pedestrian) so that it leaning quite jauntily. However, jaunty is never good for traffic signs, so I have reported it to be fixed.

 In Sydney Buildings many potholes have now been filled in along the length of the road. I reported these almost three months ago, so I am glad that they have finally got through the system. A few holes are still unfilled though and on first glace I couldn’t work out why. I’ve sent a reminder to the BathNES highways team to check up, it’s a shame to have persued it this far and not yet finished.

In good news, a yellow patch of road on Bathwick Hill just uphill of the canal has been laid. This was described to me as looking like a French market place; it is actually non-skid surface for drivers approaching the crossing to make that corner just a bit safer. I’ll give a full zebra update separately when I have a clearer situation to report.

Liberal Democrats who fought Conservative parking charge increases have been backed by the Bath Chronicle
The Tories had planned to make millions from higher residents’ parking fees, extra fees for disabled badge holders and longer hours at the city centre car parks. The Bath Chronicle have joined the campaign to get this policy, car park fees until 8pm not 7pm, put back.

“The decision to extend the hours of charging was completely crazy.” says Don Foster, Bath MP “It shows how out of touch our Conservative Council leaders are. The decision has hit hundreds of people, from charity volunteers to restaurant owners. Everyone who travels into the city centre for an evening event or to enjoy the nightlife has been adversely affected. Even our Special Constables whose shift begins at 7 pm now have to pay to park their cars in the car park next to the Police Station. Even those who help keep our city safe are now out-of-pocket.

“I’ve been amazed by the lack of consultation by the Conservative-run Council. Until the protests began, the people of Bath have had no say about a decision made by Council leaders most of whom don’t live in the city.”

The Council Liberal Democrats ‘called in’ the price rises, citing insufficient consultation and a failure to consider the wider implications. The Conservative dominated panel threw out the call in, allowing the decision to stand. However, the public outcry has now prompted the Tories to review their policy, which they were so keen to defend last month. “If they’d have listened in the first place, the council needn’t have wasted so much time and energy” said Cllr Edwards.

Bath University have now appointed their contractor for the replacement of the footbridge over Quarry Road. The old bridge was removed a few years ago to local concern when the structure was deemed unsafe.

An application to re-route the footpath was rejected by BathNES’s footpath committee; in the last year Cllr Nicholas Coombes has had the committee chair write to the University Vice-Chancellor asking for its speedy replacement, while Cllr Coombes himself has raised the matter with the Director of Estates, Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor on many occasions.

Now that the contractor has been appointed and the bridge ordered, the works should be on time for completion by late August, to re-open the footpath in September before the Autumn term. Quarry Road is due to be closed for 20th-27th August on the current timetable.

There is only one potential problem remaining now; the recent discovery of a nearby badger set…

The enlarged pedestrian refuge over the canal bridge has run into some problems. The wider refuge,was designed to force drivers to slow down around it. Unfortunately they are not slowing down but driving into the kerb instead. There have now been four instances of kerb stones on the pavement and central refuge being knocked out of place.

While one accident may have been unfortunate, four is recognisably more serious. Today the BathNES traffic and safety team are inspecting the damage and will try to coem up with improvements. I shall update post this with ‘highlights’ of their report when I receive it.

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After the site visit, the initial proposals are thus:

•  the pedestrian refuge needs to be altered to make it smaller and stronger
• the white lines on the road should be adjusted
• visibility from uphill should be checked.

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.

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

Bathwick councillors Nicholas Coombes and Armand Edwards have launched a petition for the speedy installation of a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill.

Planners recently backed local residents and councillors to prevent Tesco from opening before minimal work has been undertaken to make the surrounding roads safer. However, this will not include a zebra crossing which is what most locals want. 

Tesco were ordered to pay BathNES council £20,000 towards the work, but this will only cover the first phase which is due to start within weeks. Throughout the design process Cllr Coombes has been working with the Highways department to ensure that a zebra crossing can be installed later.

This next phase must be funded by the council, but already the Conservatives have scrapped or delayed road projects across the city. The Liberal Democrat petition will show the strong level of demand locally, increasing the chances of a swift resolution.

Already one pedestrian has been killed at this location and Armand and Nicholas know that it is the main concern of most nearby residents. However, in a time of budget cuts they need this petition to put a strong argument when they lobby for funding.

For a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill please visit www.ourcampaign.org.uk/bathwickcrossing to register your support.