Cardboard Collections Missed

Well we though that we might see an improvement in cardboard and green waste collection in Walcot with new routes and collection day. Apparently not!

The Conservative run Council have once again punished Walcot residents for putting out too much cardboard and green waste and have failed to supply enough vehicles to collect waste and many roads in Walcot have been missed today:

Seymour Road, Belgrave Crescent, Perfect View, Frankley Buildings, Chilton Road, Brunswick Street, Hanover Place, Kensington Place, Beaufort Terrace, Eastville Terrace and Upper East Hayes.

The line is that this will be collected tomorrow (Friday) however is has rained and I am sure that it will end up being brought back in or mashed into the ground.

Please call Cllr David Dixon on 07900 974975 if your waste has not been collected on Friday!

Tories Plan to Cut Mobile Library Services

The mobile library service for Walcot will be cut if new proposals from the Conservative administration are approved.

A Consultation period is now about to start on the proposals.

We would ask that anybody who has an opinion on the mobile library service responds whether you are a current user or not.

The mobile library currently visits:
Morrisons (Weekly on a Tuesday one week and Thursday the next)
Grosvenor Bridge Road (Fortnightly)

Let us know your views by emailing david_dixon@bathnes.gov.uk and we will make sure that they are shared. You can read the decision paper at http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/committee_papers/Executive/WL/2009/090717/02E2015MobileLibrariesRoutesReview.htm if you want to see the report in full.

To help keep residents up to date with local issues, your local ward Councillors have monthly e-newsletters, with information about some of the hot topics throughout the Walcot Ward.

If you are interested in receiving this please email Cllr Dixon on ddixon.bathnes@blueyonder.co.uk and ask to sign up.

All emails will be treated confidentially and you are able to unsubscribe at any time.

Beetroot Bread

Cllr David Dixon writes,

Thank you to The Thoughtful Bread Co for the idea of beetroot bread, we were wondering what to do with all the beetroot we have had growing in the garden so this was the perfect recipe.

Delicious.

Problems turning right?

Local residents have told us how difficult it can be to turn right out of Forester Road.

We have visited with a highways engineer who will look at how this might be made easier. The most likely solution is to extend the yellow hatched box across both lanes of the carriageway.

We are still not 100% happy with the whole layout of the traffic system that was put in by the Conservatives, but will continue to work to tweak things to make life easier for those who live locally.

We have also spoken to highways officers to support them in the work that they are doing to improve routes to Bathwick St Mary and King Edward’s School, so that walking to school is a safer option.

Cllr Dixon Responds to Labour's Defence of £1m Bus Lane

Cllr David Dixon writes,

"Always interesting to note which parties are in bed together. The other week Labour Councillor John Bull jumped to the defence of teh Conservative's bus lane in Odd Down, I could resist but to respond.

The 700-yard bus lane on the A367 into Odd Down only serves to allow cars coming to Bath to overtake slower moving buses which does nothing to improve journey times for buses.

He also seems to think that because the £1,300 a yard bus lane is not being paid for by council tax payers in Bath and north east Somerset that it OK to spend so much on it.

Where is the value for money? The bus lane may have been funded by Government but maybe the Labour and Tory parties on the council forget the Government's money is also the money of the taxpayer.

It seems to me that the contractor for the scheme saw the Conservative leader of council, Cllr Francine Haeberling (Con, Saltford) coming, knew how much was available to spend on it and thought, "We'll have it all, thank you".

Are the Labour and Conservative groups on Bath and North East Somerset Council going to continue with this blatant misuse of taxpayers' money?

With their only line of defence being that it's not council tax money being spent, moving on to the controversial BRT Middle Bristol Road and the expansion of the park and rides, if these schemes are going to go ahead, we want to see value for money, not squandering of it.

Considering the rest of the Bath Package, such as a rapid transit link along the London Road, a new park and ride site at Mill Lane in Batheaston we should all watch out for the way our money is spent."

Longacre Tavern for Sale

An offer has been accepted for The Longacre Tavern on London Road after its owner, the Wadworths brewery, decided the pub no longer fitted with its portfolio of properties.

It had been run by landlord Mervyn Thomas for more than 30 years until his recent retirement.
Wadworths conducted a review of the premises and decided a sale was the best commercial option.

Pub, hotel and restaurant specialist Fleurets is marketing the pub and a spokesman for the agent confirmed the buyer was a small business but had not yet stated if the intention was to keep the premises as a pub.

The property was on the market for around a month and attracted strong interest before the deal was struck in the last week.

Alex Schlesinger, chairman of the London Road and Snow Hill Partnership, said the pub had become a focal point for the community for many years.

He said: "I have got no objection to it being a pub. I certainly object to what has become attached to it in recent years. A lot of the community have been unhappy with the ambience of it and we look forward to some change. You can't blame the pub or the licensee, it is the people who are using or abusing it that are the problem."

Local councillor David Dixon (Lib Dem, Walcot) said he hoped the building would remain as a pub.

He said: "I know the area has had its issues in the past but I would not like to see it turn into anything but a pub. A strong community is one that keeps talking to each other. The Snow Hill area has had its issues but this is a community that knows each other."