Bad parking

We have asked the police and the council to look at the problems of cars parking on the corners between South Ave and West Ave.

This practice causes many problems with car sight lines and is very dangerous.

Letter to Councillors from Chief Superintendent Gary Davies March 2011

The crime year is coming to an end and next month I will give you an overview of the levels of crime that we have suffered in our community. It is generally good news with crime down overall compared to the previous year. I am also pleased that our detection rates are continuing to improve. It is very pleasing to see house burglaries down by a significant amount.

Some smart police work and invaluable local knowledge helped us catch a man who tried to entice two young women into his car on the same night in Combe Down, Bath in April 2010. We identified a suspect from CCTV pictures at the local petrol station and then one of our PCSO’s recognised the man as someone he’d been to school with – but couldn’t remember his name. After some discreet inquiries we quickly found out and detectives arrested him at home in Radstock. At Bristol Crown Court, Shaun Watts admitted attempted kidnap and was jailed for four years. The judge told him that he was danger to the public and young women in particular.

We’ve been out on patrol with a specially-trained police dog giving pubs and clubs in the City Centre a health and safety check-up. Last Friday night we were joined by the Avon Fire and Rescue Service and BANES Council’s Licensing Officer, for a monthly operation to ensure that premises comply with licensing laws and to check that fire exits were not obstructed or premises overcrowded. The dog provides the facility to search the premises for signs of drugs which helps us understand where some of our problem premises might be. It’s a regular high-profile exercise that sends the message that the authorities are vigilant about keeping people safe – and shows again how we won’t tolerate drug-taking.

Often at this time of the year we see an increase in the theft of tools and equipment from garden sheds. So we will be circulating crime prevention messages to try to alert people to the heightened risk.

Our Community Safety Team and Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator have been reminding householders, particularly the elderly, not to be taken in by companies making ‘cold calls’ over the telephone and on the doorstep. It follows a number of complaints in the past week to Police about the practice in Bath, Priston and Midsomer Norton.

Our advice, always, is that you should never buy goods or services on the doorstep or over the phone from someone who you don't know or is not recommended to you. You should never give personal details over the phone to anyone you don't know - and definitely never give your bank details.

Crack Down on Pavement Parking

Sharon with Transport Minister Norman Baker

Cllr Sharon Ball reports that she had a chance to chat with Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker on Tuesday afternoon and mentioned to him that she was pleased that he had passed powers to local councils to crack down on parking on the pavements and hoped that this would help her ward of Westmoreland.

She was pleased to hear that he felt that councils now had No excuse but to take action as they now had the powers to deal with the problems.

The problems in parts of Westmoreland are very bad and Sharon has already asked the Conservative executive member on Bath & North East Somerset Council to take note of the new powers that he has to act.

Community Grants

Sharon with on Board members

Cllr Sharon Ball is pleased to be able to report back that the first of the small community grants has been approved in favor of On Board who work tirelessly in the local community of East Twerton & Oldfield Park.

A Sum of £1,100 has been awarded and the group plan to spend the money on,
1)   Street Party Event
2)   Bi-annual On-Board Newsletter
3)   All of Bath Litter Pick Day
4)   Knitted artwork for railings/lamp-posts using recycled and weatherproof materials through group 'Its Cool to Knit' -
5)  Shrub section at Station - a must from point of view of On-Board's entry in It's Your Neighbourhood as it is a part of the criteria for Bath which is being judged in this year's Britain In Bloom Competition
6)  Art materials for local disabled artist to paint Roman Scenes and/or Nature scenes to be fixed on to railings at Oldfield Park Station
7)  topping up plants in Name, Pig and Train Sections

Letter to Councillors from Chief Superintendent Gary Davies Feb 2011

 I have always held the view that drug dealers are parasites feeding on our young and some recent examples have done nothing to deter that view. We are working hard behind the scenes to stop drug dealers from taking a foot hold in our City and towns. This is important work and I am determined to commit as much resource as I can afford to enable us to have the greatest impact, whether that is in catching people in possession of drugs, dealing or removing the assets they have gained from their previous endeavours.

An excellent example emerged last week following a police operation when a raid on a house resulted in the recovery of a significant amount of very pure cocaine, together with chemicals to be used to dilute the existing batch. Clearly this was destined for our streets. As this person has significant assets we will now look to recovery as much as we can from him, including his large house. Our work will continue with pace!

I was delighted to see two of my officers, Jon Bevan and Clive Summerhill receiving bravery awards at our Headquarters for their spontaneous actions in diving into the river in Bath to save a drowning man. Much is talked about in these circumstances about Health and Safety, but that was far from their minds. Their instinctive duty to save life by putting themselves at risk brings great credit upon them. It was a pleasure to be present at the award ceremony and meet their families who must have been very proud.

We have taken the decision to change our arrangements at Keynsham Police station in respect of the front office. We have had a member of staff sitting in the front office to deal with customers. Over the years the number of people using the facility has dropped off considerably to the point that on some days only five or six people come in throughout the whole day. Clearly this is not sustainable and so at the beginning of March we will adopt a new system of appointments only.

We have discussed the issue with a range of key people in the community and there appears to be a sensible and mature understanding of the situation. There is no change to the levels of policing at Keynsham or the numbers of police based there.

The Roman Baths Museum has been long-listed for a Major Award

The Roman Baths Museum has been long-listed for the Art Fund Prize for Museums and Galleries 2011. The winning museum or gallery receives £100,000, as well as the prestige and profile that comes from winning the UKs leading prize from museums.

The Prize is sponsored by the Art Fund, the national fundraising charity for art. They provide money to museums and galleries to buy and show art, and offer many ways of enjoying it through their membership scheme and events. They are independent of government and funded by their 80,000 members.

Four of the 10 in the long-list will go through to the next round, announced on 19 May. The winner will be revealed at a ceremony at Tate Britain on 15 June. Michael Portillo is chairing the independent panel of judges.

The public can now vote for their favourite long-listed institution here: http://www.artfundprize.org.uk/  Please do vote for your museum

‘Hello’

‘Hello’

Hello, the 2011 national year of communication, is a campaign to increase understanding of how important it is for children and young people to develop good communication skills.

 Local Schools in our area are working together to support the campaign.

In the 21st century, the ability to communicate - to say what you want to say and to understand what other people are saying - is fundamental.

Speech, language and communication underpins everything we do in life. Babbling babies do not become talkative toddlers by chance. Communication is a skill that we learn and develop and is something we can all improve.

But did you know that in the UK today over 1 million children and young people have some form of speech, language and communication need? This is at least 2 or 3 children in every classroom – and that’s the children we know about.

Want to know more http://www.hello.org.uk/