Another developer-driven option? - 8th Dec '09

Liberal Democrats, worried about B&NES proposals to build in the AONB in South Stoke, invited MEP Graham Watson to visit Bath and North East Somerset constituencies.

While he was in South Stoke he was keen to sign the petition alongside Cllr Butters, Gail Coleshill and Louise Bray.

Gail Coleshill, who will be standing against Labour and Conservative at the next Election, say this is another example of a developer driven housing option:

“I recently learnt that the landowner has invited Councillors to view the land he is offering in the AONB for house building in an attempt to persuade them to include it in the Core Strategy.

We believe as do the residents that housing development in Bath should be restricted to the known brown-field sites within the city and that the special landscape setting outside the city should be left alone.

And there are better alternatives to the south of the District.”

Printed (hosted) by Google UK Ltd, 76 Buckingham Palace RoadLondon SW1W 9TQ. Published and promoted by Louise Bray on behalf of Gail Coleshill (Liberal Democrats) at 17 Waldegrave Terrace, Radstock, Bath, BA3 3EY, 01225 834673

Local Pressure leads to extension of Core Strategy Consultation - 3rd Dec '09

Local Lib Dem Gail Coleshill is pleased by the Council’s decision to extend the deadline for submissions to the Core Strategy Consultation to the 15th of January.

“I have been supporting residents in Newton St Loe, South Stoke, and Whitchurch who are fighting Developer led plans to build massive new housing estates on Green belt land.”

“Conversely local business leaders in the Norton Radstock area would like to see more land allocated for businesses and housing with the appropriate infrastructure. Their ideas are backed by officers to some extent but always qualified by lack of Government money for infrastructure and transport routes."

Local campaigners in Newton St Loe say that a massive housing estate between them and Twerton would lead to massive increases in traffic on the A4, massive infrastructure problems, and a massive intrusion into the setting of the Newton Park and World Heritage city, Bath. They say:

“NO TO NEW TOWN ST LOE”

Photo showing Newton St Loe campaigners with local Lib Dem supporters.
Front left to right Cllr Neil Butters, Louise Bray, Cllr Sarah Bevan, Gail Coleshill, Cllr Nathan Hartley and local campaigner Jo Tinworth
Keynsham Town Cllrs Roger Clark, far left, and Tony Crouch right of Jo Tinworth, also joined the protest.

Neil at Conference!

Cllr Neil Butters at Lib Dem Conference in Bournemouth, September 2009, with Parliamentary Spokesperson Gail Coleshill and campaigner Louise Bray.

Mobile Library petition handed to deputy Chairman of Council

Gail Coleshill and Louise Bray, representing Mobile Library users across the district, handed in some of the petitions they have collected requesting that the Council retains the rural routes.

Seen here presenting the petition to acting Chair of Council Sarah Bevan, Gail and Louise are concerned many residents who use the mobile library are elderly, not car users, have young children or mobility problems.

In her statement Gail said these are the people about whom the Council should be most concerned in maintaining services in rural areas.

Gail presented the petition to the acting Chairman of Council at a Full Council meeting last night saying that she had received signatures from villagers in Wellow, Bathford, Priston, Hunstrete, Compton Martin, and Hinton Charterhouse and had had messages from people including teachers in Shoscombe, Wellow, Combe Hay and Midford.

Gail said in reply to a question from a Councillor about numbers of users:

“The numbers of users at present may be below in some villages but that is no reason to exclude those villages from the service. More use could be made of the Mobile Library to provide other Council services and to make residents more aware of the visits by the mobile library.”

Louise Bray, who relied on the mobile library service during a recent serious illness, was pleased that the Cabinet member was now proposing to consult other options.

She said:

“I am sure that many residents are relieved to know that the consultation on the Mobile Library route review will now include more options than just scrapping the village routes. I hope the Council will make efforts to consult residents and parish councils in all the villages presently visited by the library.”

Village Phone Boxes Under Threat Again

Under threat: Cllr Neil Butters, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate Gail Coleshill, and residents in Monkton Combe next to the threatened village phone box.


Telephone boxes in 6 villages just outside Bath are once again under threat of removal by BT. Notices have been posted in the traditional, red boxes offering local communities the opportunity to ‘adopt’ the boxes without the telephone service so as to preserve them as a heritage feature. However if the box is adopted, the telephone service will be withdrawn. And if it is not adopted, they will press for closure anyway.

At a meeting of Monkton Combe Parish Council on 25th August 2009 several Parish Councillors expressed concerns about the move and pointed to the facts that there are 400 young people in the village, and that mobile phone coverage is in effect restricted to Vodaphone.

Councillor Neil Butters (Liberal Democrat, Bathavon South) said:

“Six out of seven telephone boxes in this area are now under threat – another local service at risk. This follows BT’s threatened removal of the service in Midford and Shoscombe last year which residents successfully saw off.

“I believe that there is a good case for retaining the telephone service to these kiosks given the poor mobile phone signal in the area and the fact that not everyone has access to a mobile phone. The geographical separation of the villages also means the service can be vital in an emergency situation.”

Twenty is Plenty - support the Lib Dem campaign

RSS - countryside under threat?

Gail overlooking the Newton Park campus at Newton St Loe - where thousands of houses could be built if the government gets its way.

News that Baker Associates have put in a planning application for over 9,000 new homes south of Bristol before the RSS has been ratified have worried local residents in the three areas of search in B&NES.

They are the south of Whitchurch, Newton St Loe and South Stoke. The Government Regional Spatial Strategy has been put on hold while there is a legal wrangle but developers are already in discussion about building new homes.

Council officers are hoping to consult residents in the autumn about proposed new areas for development. Residents are advised to look out for this or for any planning applications so that they can put forward objections or design suggestions. These might include energy efficiency measures, allotment provision, pay areas, community halls or landscape.

Contact campaign group Save our Green Spaces for more information: www.saveourgreenspaces.org

Gail Coleshill spearheads campaign to save the village mobile library service

Gail Coleshill, Louise Bray, and Cllr Neil Butters with school children in Wellow next to the mobile library service that could be axed.

Local campaigners including a parish councillor attended Thursday’s Safer Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel at the Guildhall in Bath, in order to express their concerns about the proposed review of the mobile library route.

Gail Coleshill representing the views of people living in the rural areas, said:

“I have been speaking to residents in the villages where there is shock and dismay at the proposals. Many users are elderly or have mobility problems and some parents with young children may not get the opportunity to take them to a library any other way.”

Local resident and campaigner Louise Bray told the committee how much she depended on the mobile library when she was unable to drive.

She told the panel:

“It is no good relying on public transport to get you to the main library from Wellow village because there isn’t any. When I had an operation in my eye I could not drive and the mobile library was a Godsend for me. Staff were so helpful and were able to get me talking books.

There is an old English proverb that says a good book is the best of friends. For the people in the villages the mobile library is a friend, and a good friend is someone you might not see for a while, but is always there when you need them."

Gail has launched an online petition against the proposal to cut the service. To sign visit: www.ourcampaign.org.uk/saveourlibraries

By signing, you will also be kept updated on the progress of the consultation and the campaign.

For a paper copy of the petition download one from the website, or contact Gail Coleshill on 01761 432923.

Road surface ‘like Mexico’ says Councillor

Cllr Butters, Gail Coleshill and Elizabeth James inspect the B3110.

Councillor Neil Butters (Lib Dem, Bathavon South), who represents the villages south of Bath, has called for the B3110 between Hinton Charterhouse and the Somerset County Council Border to be resurfaced as a matter of priority. The road is currently in very poor condition with bald patches and loose gravel.

“I recently met some visiting cyclists who were also complaining about the road surface and said it was the worst they had encountered on their travels.”

Councillor Butters said:

“There really is an amazing contrast in road surface quality once you get to the Somerset border. Travelling on the B3110 from Hinton Charterhouse towards Norton St Philip is like going from Mexico into the U.S.!

“I reported this issue to the Cabinet member for Customer Services, who is responsible for Transport at the start of the month. Coincidentally, he will be adopting the programme of road maintenance works in the near future. However despite admitting that he himself had recently reported the problem to Council Connect, there are no plans to resurface the road this year.

“I have written to the Cabinet Member asking him to change priorities and get this stretch of road some attention. However as yet, I have not received a response.”

Local resident Elizabeth James, who drew Neil’s attention to the problem, said:

"The present road surface is bad enough in a car or a bus but absolutely diabolical on a bike where the rough, uneven surface takes away momentum as well. Between Hinton & Norton St Philip it looks and feels as though the road has been scarified and on the way into Midford from Hinton riding over the yellow ‘go slow’ strips is like crossing a cattle grid!

“I recently met some visiting cyclists who were also complaining about the road surface and said it was the worst they had encountered on their travels.”

Lib Dems plea to Council “Leave the mobile library service alone”

News that the mobile library service is proposed for cuts in the very rural areas has caused consternation to villagers who rely on the library van’s regular visits.

Gail Coleshill, Parliamentary spokesperson, representing views from villages like Combe Hay, Priston and Wellow, said:

“I cannot believe that the Council is proposing to take away the mobile library from villages where it is already difficult to explain what they get for their council tax.

Surely rather than a consultation on cuts to the service we should be consulting on how to get more residents interested in using the mobile service and what they want and need from such a service.”

Local Lib Dem Louise Bray is very concerned that it will be young mums and the elderly who will suffer. She said:

“However short, the visit from the library in villages like Combe Hay and Priston is very important for people with young children and the elderly who cannot easily get to places like Timsbury or the main libraries.”

Cllr Neil Butters, Bathavon South ward, is annoyed that this is a cut too far.
He said:

“I am trying hard to get better transport for villages in my ward to save trips by car and then the Council Cabinet seems to do nothing but make it more and more necessary to make car journeys. Villagers in places like Wellow are fed up with being sidelined by the Council.

Creating sustainable communities will increasingly mean getting services to people and communities and not asking them to make lots of individual journeys to centralised locations.”

Gail and Louise will be attending the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Stronger Communities), at the Guildhall on Thursday 23at 10am to represent the views of people who want to keep the mobile library service. Cllr Neil Butters would be pleased to hear views from any residents.

The B3110 - "It's like going from hell to heaven"

Last week, local Councillor Neil Butters met with Elizabeth James and Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Gail Coleshill on the BANES border with Somerset County Council.

The B1330 is a great example if how Tory-run BANES have lacked any investment in road infrustructure over the last two years. Click here to watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hww-0YtlbCU

Community Compost Club celebrates sieve

The Community Composting Club in Wellow has taken delivery of a giant sieve for removing sticks, large lumps and aerating the compost (thereby removing the need to shred before the material goes in), which has been paid for using the new “Ward Councillor Initiative Fund” from B&NES Council.

The Composting Club built three giant compost bins in the centre of Wellow for residents’ use. The volunteers running the Club hope to allow recycling to happen locally – avoiding bonfires and unnecessary car journeys – and to create a communal resource in the form of homemade compost out of a ‘waste product’.

Local Councillor Neil Butters was one of the first recipients of the “Ward Councillor Initiative Fund” from B&NES Council. This fund allocates £4,000 for each Councillor to be spent on projects in his or her ward.

The rest of the money was spent on replacing children’s play area fencing at Hinton Charterhouse, and helping create a Pre-School in Freshford. Joanne MacInnes from the Community Composting Club commented:

“The grant from our councillor has thrown us a life line and ensured that we have a safety net with which to confidently carry on. We have insurance costs and planning fees next year and equipment costs, such as our new and wonderful sieve, tool sheds etc and all of this is made possible by the money we were given by the Council. Unlike other sites in other Counties we do not get waste credits back from waste we divert from landfill, so we must rely on grants instead”

Councillor Neil Butters (Lib Dem, Bathavon South), added:

“I was delighted to help such an imaginative project – the first such in the whole of Bath & North East Somerset. It is a show-piece, which has won over many locally who were at first sceptical.”

Welcome

Welcome to the new online blog, exclusively for the Bathavon South area.

Covering the villages of Freshford, Monkton Combe, Hinton Charterhouse, Wellow, Shoscombe and South Stoke, Bathavon South is one of the District Council wards in Bath and North East Somerset

Served by Liberal Democrat Councillor Neil Butters, the parishes that make-up Bathavon South can be found to the south of the beautiful World Heritage City of Bath.

We hope you find this website helpful in finding out more about life and news in Bathavon West.For past news visit: www.nes-libdems.org.uk