Follow link to see details of this class and the links to allow you to book.

There is a lot going on in Sydney Gardens including free tours.Follow the link to see the newsletter which has embedded links to allow you to book a place on one of the free tours.

Tea and cake available at Cedar Lodge between 2.30pm and 4.30pm. Cedar Lodge is on the left as your walk up Bathwick Hill just before North Lane and opposite Woodland Place.

Woodland walks leave from the grassy area behind Woodland Place at 2.45pm and at 3.30pm. Paths could be muddy. Access to the grassy area is via the lane opposite Cedar Lodge. There will be activities for families on the grass area.

Fingers crossed for the weather!

Full details of the locations (all at the top of the hill) will be posted nearer the date.

A garden social is planned on the afternoon of Saturday 11th September. Families are welcome and a woodland walk and activities for children are planned followed by tea and cakes in a lovely garden. Full details to follow.

A few places have become available for this tour. If you are interested please email andreahaywood@hotmail.co.uk

Sydney Gardens Tour

Keith Rowe – the project manager of the Sydney Gardens construction project – is offering a guided tour of the works on the 10th of August. There are only 12 places for all the local residents associations so please book quickly using the link at the top of this post.
The tour is thoroughly recommend – very informative and interesting even for those that know the gardens well. The tour is free but we would like to take a donation of £5 a head towards a piece of work proposed by the FoSG. This will be explained on the tour.

Please be aware that this consultation is reaching its deadline. Because the impact of the changes will differ in different parts of the city FOBRA are not submitting a central response. The details of this consultation are on the NEWS tab on the website – just follow the link https://bathwickhill.info

In a four-week consultation, which runs UNTIL May 24, we are asking what people think about proposals to base residents’ parking permit charges on vehicle emissions and changes to move long stay visitor parking to off-street car parks. These proposals have been developed by Bath and North East Somerset Council and are designed to improve air quality ensuring a safer environment for pedestrians.

To view the proposals and take part in the consultation visit: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/travel-and-transport-consultations

Full details for the proposals and the background report can be viewed here:
https://democracy.bathnes.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=31781&PlanId=770&RPID=31357153

 

Bathwick Hill Residents’ Association

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on

Thursday 15^TH April 2021 on Zoom

Attendees

Committee

Sarah Trimmer – retiring Chair

Claire Jackson – new Chair

Andrea Haywood – Treasurer and acting secretary

David Martin – FOBRA rep

Helen Green

Colin Clark

Members

Christine Clark

Bill and Veronica Otley

Sheila Stewart

Dorothea Cuerdon

Paul Jackson

Graham and Jill Brown

Julie Hayward

Mike Barron

Linda and Mark Snelus

Suzanne and Simon Campbell-Jones

Christopher Bell

Guests

Cllr Yuktesher Kumar

Cllr Manda Rigby

 

The retiring Chair, Sarah Trimmer welcomed all to the meeting. Apologies received by email from P’noo Stanley-Smith.

 

Agreement of Minutes of the last AGM

The last AGM was not held due to Covid restrictions.

 

Chairperson’s Report

As new Chair, Claire Jackson thanked Sarah for her long service on the BHRA committee in various roles and as Chair. She will remain on the committee.

 

Treasurer’s report

The treasurer reported on the accounts for the year ended 28^th February 2021. An effort to collect cash subs has been successful so that subscription income is now on track. Members that pay in cash had found it difficult to pay because no face to face gatherings could be held during Covid restrictions. The accounts were approved and are posted on the website.

 

Federation of Bath Residents’ Associations Report

The FOBRA rep updated the meeting on issues that FOBRA is dealing with and these are issues that are seen as Bath wide. These issues, which are influenced by the council through the planning process, included issues around the environment and response to climate change as well as other issues:-

• The Clean Air Zone
• Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
• Cleveland Bridge repairs and diversions
• Active Travel Scheme
• Closure of central Bath with “Ring of Steel” security
• Purpose built student accommodation and HMOs
• Proposals for the old Homebase site

All reports and meeting notes are available on the FOBRA website.

http://www.bathresidents.org.uk

 

Mike Barron asked – if the closure of Cleveland Bridge to heavy traffic is made permanent, has the reaction of the Wiltshire areas that the diverted traffic will then drive through, been considered? This was not answered.

 

Election of the Committee

The following were offered for re election to the Committee:

Chair-person                                        Claire Jackson

Secretary                                               Temporarily Andrea Haywood

Treasurer                                              Andrea Haywood

FOBRA representative                        David Martin

 

Committee members

Sarah Trimmer, Colin Clark, Helen Green and Wendy Stockley.

 

Jill Brown nominated the motion to re-elect the committee and Veronica Otley seconded.

Some potential new committee members have come forward and hopefully will be elected.

 

Annual Programme of Events

The Chair thanked all who had opened their gardens for the Open Gardens event in September which was the only event we managed this year due to the lockdown restrictions. An open garden event is planned in July this year.

The members were asked for suggestions for any events that might be planned. Manda said that Sydney Gardens were running a lot of family friendly events over the summer and it might be possible to have a BHRA event there.

 

Any Other Business

Suggestions for nominated local charity are welcomed. Trussell trust, the food bank charity, was suggested by Helen Green to help those affected by Covid.

 

Guest Speakers

Cllrs Yuktesher Kumar and Manda Rigby updated us on local issues and answered questions.

A brief round-up of the issues and questions follows:-

• Pollution from traffic is a reoccurring issue and well over 3,000 responses to the Active travel consultation are being considered with a decision made at the end of May. The proposed closure of North Road as part of the Active travel scheme was not considered by the councillors as a solution to pollution and traffic management and would divert traffic to Bathwick Hill rather than increasing cycle traffic.
• The most polluted area in Bathwick Hill vicinity is the roundabout at the bottom of the hill.
• The CAZ currently in force doesn’t include private cars. The success of the CAZ as it stands will be judged by how much cleaner the air becomes. The point was made that the test should be done in October when travel is at full capacity. The councillors said the pollution monitoring will be continuous.
• It was confirmed by Manda that the funding for active travel can be used for any of 7 active travel schemes only one of which is the closure of North Road to motorised traffic.
• Cleveland Bridge closure for repairs starts May 4^th with closure of one lane to erect scaffolding. After that the bridge will be closed to all traffic except pedestrians, bikes and the emergency services until the beginning of October. The council is working with Sat Nav providers to create dynamic diversions to mitigate the problems the closure of the bridge will cause.
• The Rec is still a big planning issue – there has been a planning application not to take down the temporary stand this year and a council decision on this is due next week
• There is a lot of opposition to the proposals to create a lot of parking under the Rec as this is against all the initiatives to reduce pollution in Bath.
• The security lockdown or “ring of steel” was initiated in response to police view that Bath city centre was a potential terrorist target being small and enclosed and a major tourist attraction. It is recognised that it has been overly strict and keeping Bath as a city in which people live centrally means that such restricted access is not possible. In particular the reduction of blue badge parking is under review. The consultation period on this has finished and the council is now working with the police to adjust these measures to keep central Bath workable for residents.
• Jill Brown raised the issue of a broken bench at the bus stop at the bottom of the hill. This bench has a plaque to Ken Smith who used to run the newsagents and corner shop on the hill. We need to investigate who paid for the bench and how the dedication can be preserved. New benches have been installed elsewhere on the hill and the canal side.
• Farmers market at Green Park is looking for a new home because the roof has become unstable. Council officers are looking for a permanent site – this was the first Farmer’s market in the UK.
• The overflowing bins at the exit to the fields at Cleveland Walk – The NT will not have bins as they do not have the resource to empty them. Likewise the council only have 3 vans to service all of the litter bins in Bath. The number of times the bins are emptied has increased however but residents who live close to the bins are still not content. The idea of removing the bins for 6 months was discussed to see if this increased the amount of litter taken home rather than left piled up at the side of the full bin. There was some support for this as an experiment.