HMO Garden rubbish

We are determined to ensure that all of the rubbish left behind in Student household gardens is cleared away as quickly as possible.

A response from the council tells us that although they have no powers to enforce people to immediately clean up their own land unless there is a risk to public health.

The council approach is firstly to knock on doors and speak to people. This brings about some success but many properties are now empty so this is not very effective.

The next step is contact the landlords (obtaining details from colleagues in HMO Licensing) and give them a set period of time in which to remove rubbish. "Of course it will be much easier to have all the details of properties when the council makes licensing of HMO's a requirement".


If that fails then the council will look to issue Litter Clearance Notices under s.92A EPA 1990.

Shopping Trollies

I have reported the dumped shopping Trollies on Lyndhurst Road to Sainsbury's who have agreed to remove them as soon as possible.

The quickest way to get trollies removed is contact the store direct and they will be pleased to collect what is a rather expensive item for them.

The Big four stores contact details are:

Sainsbury               01225 444737

Co-Operative          01225 429123
Morrisons               01225 789 617
Waitrose                 01225 442550

by Cllr Sharon Ball

Victoria Bridge

Sarah Moore and Sharon at temporary repair

Bath & North East Somerset Liberal Democrat cabinet have passed financial support for the repairs of Victoria Bridge costing over £2.58 Million.

The repairs are due for completion in late 2014 and will be starting in April 2013 this follows on from the emergency repairs that were put in place in Nov 2011 to stablalise the bridge.

"I am pleased that the council has taken the steps to ensure that this historic structure is brought back to its former glory and will be a treasure for future generations and an important link between the Western Riverside and the Upper Bristol Road".

full report passed by the council

By Cllr Sharon Ball

West Ave Yellow Lines

By Cllr Sharon Ball

Sharon & Sarah Moore on side where lines have been asked for.

The Saga continues after my request over 18 months ago for double yellow lines to be put in on the side of the road from 1 to 111 West Ave.

The matter was discussed at the Cabinet meeting in June where the cabinet member for Highways withdrew the item from consideration so that a late submition over the safety of School Children crossing the road was submitted by Oldfield Infants School.

It is frustrating that this matter that has taken so long to come close to a resolution has again been held up but it is important for all the safety issues to be addressed.

A meeting will be held shortly on site with the Cabinet member to hopefully resolve the matter.

"Sad tree" - Lymore Gardens play area

Great to see that only days after this sad tree was reported to BANES, it has been safely removed.

The climbing frame is free again to be enjoyed by the children and the play area is alot safer and brighter.







by Sarah Moore

Dartmouth ave litter problem

I have asked the council and Somer Housing to ensure that the area by the Pines is cleaned properly. On a recent visit the area was very untidy and I want to ensure that it gets a good old fashioned brush up.

Westmoreland Weekend update

Cllr Sharon Ball and I went around Westmoreland yesterday and found a number of issues.  These have all now been reported to BANES for attention.



We noticed this rather sad looking tree in the play area at Lymore Gardens, which is preventing the children using the climbing equipment in the park.


This has been reported to BANES and will hopefully be cut down soon.



There was a large amount of rubbish in front gardens that have been left out by the students that are leaving for the summer, we have asked if BANES will send an officer around the ward and locate these houses and arrange for the rubbish to be removed, before the birds and other animals decide to "open" them for themselves.

We also had a look around the Western Riverside development, which is also in Westmoreland and these buildings are going up quite quickly now, with a very nice riverside area being created.

If you have an issues in your street that is not being looked at, please contact us.

by
Sarah Moore

New restrctions to help parking problems

I have asked that the council again looks into placing white keep clear lines on the corner of South Ave & West Ave.

I have also asked that they are also placed on the Junctions of Mayfiled Road & South Ave after dangerous parking has been reported and seen on both junctions.

by Sharon Ball

Rubbish in Gardens

The Council have been asked to remove rubbish from the gardens of vacating student households in the Westmoreland area.

The problem was very evident in several roads that we visited over the last few days.

It is important that we keep control of the rubbish that is being put and and we will be chasing the landlords of the properties to recover any costs that the council may incur.

By Sharon Ball

Bellotts Road planning application

I have raised formal objection to the scheme to build six flats on the site of 21 Bellotts Road and have asked that if the planning officer is minded to approve the application that it is referred to the development control committee for determination.

I must stress that this application will only go to committee if a recommendation to approve is put forward if not it may be refused by the case officer without referral to committee.

I have used to following grounds to object.

1) The proposed scheme represents a harmful over development of the site.

2) The intensity of student use in this residential area that would harm the resident character and amenity of the area.

3) The Scheme would be overbearing and damaging to its setting within the world heritage site.

4) The development is contrary to Policies T24 and T26 of the adopted Bath and North East Somerset Local

Plan.

5) The development is on a dangerous corner after a narrow Bridge with a very poor sight line and additional pedestrian movement could prove dangerous at this point.

By Sharon Ball

HMO planning control proposals launched

I promised at the local elections to bring in controls of Houses of Multiple occupation in the Westmoreland area.

 I have kept the promise I made to local residents and the Liberal Democrat council are now delivering on it with the first phase being launched by the council on 31st May.

Measures to better control and manage the growth of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) in Bath are moving ahead as part of proposals put forward by Bath & North East Somerset Council.

An intention to implement an Article 4 Direction to control HMO growth was published on 31st May 2012. This will help deal with concern that some streets in Bath are now being dominated with high numbers of HMO’s and consequently the availability of larger homes for local families is reducing. There are at least 3,000 HMO’s across the district, the majority of which are in Bath, although there could be many more because not all HMO properties require registration with the Council.

The main element of the measures would result in all property owners in Bath having to apply for planning permission to convert a family house into an HMO. It is proposed that the new rules will apply from 1st July 2013 giving a one year notice period – although no property in HMO use before this date will be affected.

"The number of family homes being converted is reaching the level where people are concerned that entire communities will become dominated by HMO’s. Bath & North East Somerset Council wants to ensure a fair mix of larger family homes and HMO’s.

“We must have the policy tools in place to ensure that this happens just like other University cities, such as Bristol, Oxford, and Exeter, that have all agreed additional planning controls over HMO’s.

By starting the consultation now the council are giving people reasonable notice about the new policy should the Council agree to adopt the Article 4 Direction.”

Have your say The consultation on the measures started on 31st May 2012 and continues for 7 weeks. People can give their views at planning_policy@bathnes.gov.uk or write to the Council at: Article 4, Planning Services, PO Box 5006, Bath BA1 1JG.

 Details can also be found at
www.bathnes.gov.uk/hmo  Next Steps The details of the policy that planning applications will be considered upon will be contained in the forthcoming Supplementary Planning Document on HMOs in Bath that will be open to public consultation in October 2012.

The Council will consider whether to confirm, abandon, or amend the Article 4 Direction in February 2013.

 By Sharon Ball

Lidl latest news

There has been progress with the proposed Lidl development that has been held up with the failure of parties to agree legal terms.

It is understood that parties are now close to agreement and that all legal papers may soon be signed leading to full planning permission being granted.

A note of caution here must be applied we have been almost this close before.

By Sharon Ball

Damp Walk in Westmoreland

After a rather wet walk around Westmoreland yesterday, I have reported several incidents of graffiti as well as some rubbish left lying around on Ringwood Road and Roseberry Road.


I am pleased to see that some of the previously reported graffiti in Bellotts Road has been cleared, just need to get the rest sorted now.

I also spoke to a couple of residents in Ivy Grove about their concerns over the broken hand rail, which I have reported to BANES and I have asked for it to be repaired as quickly as possible.  This is causing several residents difficulty in going both up and down a rather steep part of the road.

By Sarah Moore



Further Pot hole update - Millmead Road

I am pleased to see all the potholes have now been repaired on Millmead Road, making it a lot safer for both cars and bikes to travel on.

by Sarah Moore