Community gardening project in Kensington Gardens

In 1902 the Hill family presented the City of Bath with a small park area in Kensington Gardens, Walcot. The family wanted to preserve an area of peace and tranquility for future local residence and to provide a habitat for flora and fauna.

The gardens have been well utilized over the last century, with local residents making the most of the wonderful views of Bath the park provides. However, these gardens wouldn’t be a pleasant place for residents and visitors to enjoy if it wasn't for the dedication of local volunteers.

I joined the gardening project for the first time on a rainy Sunday morning in May, when several volunteers showed up to plant, perform maintenance, and conduct a survey of work to be done. It was cold and wet, but the sprit of the event was light and warm. There was a wide variety of work to be undertaken, some lighter and some heavy, but everyone got stuck in and genuinely appreciated the contribution made by co-workers. Partially welcomed was the appearance of Cllr. David Dixon, who got down and dirty with his spade and weeded a good sized plot.

Signifying the general good nature of community volunteers, when our mornings work was completed everyone was invited for coffee and biscuits at a neighboring house – some volunteers even stayed on for lunch!

The gardening team meets monthly, and all donations of plants, materials or time are warmly welcomed. Please join us at 10am on; 6 June, 4 July, 1 August or 5 Sept.

Lisa Brett

Bus Cuts - Key Dates!

Help reverse the cuts to Nos 6/7 Bus Services

****************************************************
From 23rd May
No. 6 will only serve FAIRFIELD PARK
& No. 7 will only serve LARKHALL
****************************************************

There will be NO DIRECT LINK

between

LARKHALL & LONDON RD

and

CLAREMONT, FAIRFIELD PARK,

CAMDEN & LANSDOWN

****************************************************

It will also be CUT from every 20mins to every 30mins.

****************************************************

Sign the petition! http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/save-our-6-7-buses.html

Write to Sarah Bell, Western Traffic Commissioner,
2 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6EH

Write to First Group
First, Freepost 3782, BATH BA1 1SS Email – bath.csc@firstgroup.com

Contact us the campaign organisers

Email – saveour6.7buses@gmail.com Tel – 01225 311163

Watch your local bus stop for latest news

Join us to support the campaign

Thurs 20th May – 9.30am – Guildhall
B&NES Council meeting at which we will be speaking

Fri 21st May – 7.00pm – St Marks School
Open Meeting to Save Our Buses

Sat 22nd May – 10.30am – Bath Bus Station
Demonstration for press & media

Sat 22nd May – 6.59pm – Larkhall Square
“Ride the Last No 7 Bus to the Bus Station”

Kensington Meadows - Play Area Open!

Officially opened this afternoon, the play equipment at Kensington Meadow has already been a big hit with all ages! See Susan Traill from the Friends of Kensington Meadows getting to grips with the climbing equipment here!

A huge well done has to go to the Friends of Kensington Meadows and the PlayPathfinder team at the Council, and to all the people who were involved in this scheme.

Cllr David Dixon said, "I am so pleased that after 18 months of planning and discussions, this scheme is finally open. Today has shown what a big hit it is with well over 50 people attending during the afternoon."

More pics of the event are avaible on Cllr David Dixon's Facebook Page which can be accessed here!

Save our 6/7 Buses Petition

Save our 6/7 Buses Petition

Demo over 6 and 7 Bus Cuts

This morning we attended a demonstration run by local residents opposing cuts to the number 6 and 7 Bus Services, we managed to speak to the Operations Manager at First who is willing to meet with us, with the Managing Director and Operations Director from First Bus.

Our very own local campaigner Lisa Brett who lives on the London Road alerted us to the demonstration and I do hope that we can find a positive way forward.

Lisa said, "I am glad that our local councillor, David Dixon has been able to secure a way forward with First, a demonstration is one thing but getting a way forward on this issue is something else."

Cllr David Dixon said, "I am so impressed with the turnout and commitment shown by local residents and would urge people to sign the petition."

The petition can be found here Online petition - Save our 6/7 Buses
You can view more photos by following this link!

Bus Service Cuts!

First Bus are looking to cut the number 6 service which is a circular route which covers Camden, Larkhall and Fairfield Park.

Passengers are currently able to bus it from Larkhall up along Camden every 20 minutes. This service is being reduced to every 30 minutes and split into 2 services.

This would now mean that someone wanting to go to the post office in Larkhall who lives in Camden would need to take one bus into town, change and take another bus back out to Larkhall. Furthermore the service is proposed to run every 30 minutes which would mean that (provided the buses run on time) could take up to 2 hours and cost twice as much.

One of the reasons that the post office on Camden was suht was because there is a post office in Larkhall served by a good bus route. This will no longer be the case.

We are trying to set up a meeting with First about this. I do not see this as improvements to the service at all, more like a much poorer service to me. So I will be interested to hear what they have to say on this.

We may also set up a meeting with another bus company such as Wessex Connect who have recently been filling in the gaps left by First on a number of services across the city.

Secondary School Shake Up

The dates for the public meetings, which form part of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Secondary school consultation, have now been set.

The meetings form part of the wider consultation where parents, teachers and pupils have the chance to have their say on proposals outlined in Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Secondary Review.

Dates for public meetings are as follows:
Keynsham
Tuesday 11 May, Wellsway School, 7pm
Tuesday 18 May, Broadlands School, 7pm
Wednesday 26 May, St Keyna Primary School, 7pm

Bath
Tuesday 12 May, St Mark's C of E School, 7pm
Wednesday 19 May, Oldfield School, 7pm
Thursday 20 May, Culverhay School, 7pm
Tuesday 25 May Guildhall, Brunswick Room, 7pm

Timescale
Consultation – began on 31 March 2010 and will end 28 May 2010.
Decision on proposals – Cabinet will make a decision on the proposal on 21st July 2010.

How to give feedback on the proposals
Consultation booklets which give details of the proposals have been distributed to all schools and also to wider stakeholders in Bath and Keynsham and are available online. Everyone with an interest in the education of our young people can comment on the proposals by email, letter or online. For more information visit www.bathnes.gov.uk and navigate to the School Consultation documents through the ‘have your say’ section on the homepage.

Resident's Parking - AGAIN

It has come to our attention that the Council have sent out application letters to residents for permits for the Camden Scheme, but have omitted a covering letter stating when the scheme will come into place. A new covering letter should go out next week to say that the scheme will come into force from 1st July!