6/7 Bus Service Demonstration Saturday 4th December

This is a crunch time for an important campaign in Bath.  It's about
supporting residents in the front line defending public transport here. If
the abysmal 40 minute frequency is allowed to stand in densely populated
Larkhall/Fairfield Park/Camden, no bus route is safe.  Without an adequate
bus service, local economy will suffer, as well as elderly, young and
disabled people, and others who do not drive, but are unable to walk or
cycle.  So it is also about people power, democracy, in the face of
commercial and political intransigence.

Residents in north east Bath in the Save Our 6-7 Buses campaign are calling
for action over cuts in their bus service after waiting 6 months through
repeated delays by First Group and B&NES Council.  They are urging others to
join them in a peaceful, half-hour protest demonstration at Bath Bus Station
on Sat Dec 4th at 10:30am.

I know it is a busy time.  Even if you can't yourself go, please can you
spread this to all in your Bath network, tell all your friends, and try to
be there if you can!

The Future of the Longacre Buildings

The three council own buildings on the London Road have been an embarrassment for Bath and North East Somerset Council for far too long.


The Council are now working with the charity Re:Generate, who have been working with local residents in the London Road and Snow Hill area and others to look at who these buildings might come back into use as part of a larger regeneration project for this part of the London Road.


Local campaigner Lisa Brett has been speaking to Cllr Colin Darracott about buildings and said, "I am so please that both Cllr Colin Darracott and David Dixon have pushed for this project to happen, this area of the London Road really needs some help to get moving."

Firm plans for these buildings should be ready early next year.

London Road Trees

At the beginning of 2009 Somer Community Housing felled a number of trees in the Snow Hill Estate.

The have agreed to replant a number of trees along the central reservation of the London Road outside of Snow Hill.

Cllr David Dixon said, "I am really please that Somer have kept to their promise to replant trees in the local area. It is hoped that these trees will be planted over the winter."

Somer Community Housing have also agreed to pay for the maintenance of these trees.

JAM BUSTING - the great commuter challenge! - Jam Busting

JAM BUSTING - the great commuter challenge! - Jam Busting

First's first offer on 6&7 Bus routes.

Local Councillors David Dixon, Bryan Chalker and Cabinet Member in Charge of Transport Cllr Charles Gerrish met with Local Campaigners, First and Passenger Focus to discuss the cut to the 6&7 Bus Services.

Simon Cursio, Commercial Director at First has offered to reinstate the Circular Service, however only with the same number of buses that this service was cut back to, this offers a 40 minute service in each direction. There would also be a wait for this to happen - not until September.

Clearly the offer to reinstate the circular route is great, but there is still lots more to do.

It is quite clear that the 40 minute service is still a greatly reduced service from the 20 minutes previously, plus we do not accept that we should wait until September.

Cllr David Dixon said, "The offer from First is broadly what I expected and I will treat this as an opening offer for our negotiations. The service has still been dramatically cut. First and the Council have gone away to look at improving this offer and are due to report back to us next week.

As it stands we are still a little way from where we need to be, and First do need to ensure that they deliver a service which the community will continue to value. The locally run campaign has been well run and I congratulate all local residents that have been involved, it has certainly convinced First to do a U-Turn on the routes, we just need to speed up the implementation and improve the frequency, I am confident that First will better their offer."

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!

Resident's Parking Update

OK so resident's parking for Camden Road area has been agreed to go ahead, the one way system is scrapped and the Thomas Street area is going back out with some alterations, including allowing permits for Walcot Parade residents, for more consultation.

Following feedback from residents, the operating hours have been reduce from 8am to 7pm.

The Council received 122 responses on the Camden Road scheme, 127 responses on the One Way scheme and 44 responses for the Thomas Street scheme. All can be viewed by using the links you will also see responses from Council officers to each comment.

For the full decision report on this please follow this link!

Kensington Meadows - Play Area Opening!

The opening event for the Play Pathfinder equipment at Kensington Meadows is on Sunday 16 May at 2 pm. It is hoped that the weather will be kind and that we will all have a very enjoyable time. Exact activities not yet decided - however I am sure that The Friends of Kensington Meadows will motivate people into action!