Bath landlord fined £1,000 for failing to licence a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

A Bath landlord has been ordered to pay a total of £2,600 for illegally operating a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) following a successful prosecution by Bath & North East Somerset Council.

The landlord pleaded guilty to failing to licence a licensable HMO under the Council’s Additional Licensing scheme, which is enforced by the Housing Act 2004, and was ordered to pay a £1,000 fine, £1,500 costs and a £100 victim surcharge by Bath Magistrates Court on Monday, April 26.

The Council brought forward the prosecution after inspectors discovered that the HMO property was operating without a licence and had fire safety issues, including a defective fire alarm system and a dangerous layout with key locks on bedroom doors which could prevent a quick escape during a fire. The property is now licenced and remedial works have been carried out to bring the property up to current safety standards.

The Additional Licensing Scheme was brought in to improve the condition and management of HMOs and protect tenants by making homes safe and healthy places to live and we will not take any non-compliance lightly. The Council will always try to work in partnership with landlords and agents to improve housing standards and in the majority of cases landlords work hard to comply, but where there are clear breaches of legislation the Council will take strong enforcement action in order to safeguard tenants. We want to ensure that those living in HMOs, as well as those living in the local neighbourhood, can enjoy a good quality of life.”

Since the Council introduced the Additional Licensing scheme in Bath and North East Somerset in January 2014, 15 cautions have also been issued to landlords for failing to licence properties, including five since January 2016. 

The Council’s Additional Licensing Scheme under the Housing Act 2004 specifies that landlords within the designated HMO area must apply for a licence if they want to operate an HMO, which helps to ensure that occupants are living in safe and well managed properties. The designated area covers the Council’s electoral Wards of Oldfield and Westmoreland, a large part of Widcombe and small sections of the adjoining Wards of Bathwick, Lyncombe, Southdown and Twerton. 

A review is to be undertaken this year by the Council to look at the standard and condition of HMOs in the area and how the Council can better manage the growth of HMOs. As part of the review, the Council will be encouraging people to have their say and come forward with their views. Further details of how you can get involved will be announced in due course.

For more information on HMOs in the area, visit: www.bathnes.gov.uk/hmos.

Placemaking plan and metro Mayor

Bath & North East Somerset Council has submitted its placemaking plan for examination by a government inspector.

The placemaking plan is the addition to the councils core strategy and when adopted finalises it into a full local plan that gives clear guidance to developers and housing numbers that the council agrees are needed for the next 15 years.

The link to the plan can be found here http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/placemakingplan

The plan should be robust and be of comfort to many local residents, however the council has a duty to co-operate  with other local councils and this means the development of a spacial strategy with the other four former councils that used to be Avon means additional housing may be needed to meet Bristol's failure to deliver.

The above is another reason that we do not need a Metro Mayor imposed on our area that could dictate where housing that this area does not need would be built just to meet Bristol'sneeds.

The creation of dormitory towns is not an acceptable solution to meet Bristol's failures. Four years of an elected Mayor in Bristol have seen woeful delivery of affordable housing in that area, whereas Bath & North East Somerset under the Liberal Democrats until 2015 saw 4 years of record breaking delivery.

Bath museums to host science and Easter events

A variety of family fun activities are taking place at the Roman Baths, Fashion Museum and Victoria Art Gallery in Bath this month and during Easter.

The attractions are hosting Easter themed activities in the first week of April, and the Roman Baths is also celebrating British Science Week with special events in March.

All activities are included in the admission price, which is free for residents in Bath and North East Somerset with a Discovery Card.

Children must be accompanied by an adult for all events.

British Science Week events at the Roman Baths:

Science Busking at the Roman Baths

Find out more about the science behind the Roman Baths, including how the water is heated, aqueducts, hypocaust heating systems, bones, coins and ancient perceptions of the benefits of water.

Saturday 12 March 2016

2pm - 5pm

Hands on Science

There will be handling tables by the Roman Baths with a different topic each day:

Monday, 14 March – human bones found

Tuesday, 15 March – coins found

Wednesday, 16 March – aqueducts

Thursday, 17 March – hypocaust heating systems

Friday, 18 March – glass

10am - 1pm & 2pm - 4pm each day

Easter events:

Romans – Healthy and Happy?

Find out what the Romans did to keep well.

Roman Baths
Monday, 4 April

10am-1pm and 2pm-4pm

Fruity Fun

Invent an enlarged fruit design, for example for a hat, dress, jacket or shirt.

Fashion Museum
Tuesday, 5 April

10.30am – 12.30pm & 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Spring Sunshine

Create some spring flowers and make a spring flower collage. Suitable for 3 - 6 year olds.

Victoria Art Gallery
Wednesday, 6 April

10am - 11am & 11.30am - 12.30pm

Poster Points

Create artistic posters using images and words. Suitable for 5 - 11 year olds.

Victoria Art Gallery
Friday, 8 April 10am - 11am & 11.30am - 12.30pm

For more information visit the attractions’ websites:

www.romanbaths.co.uk

www.fashionmuseum.co.uk

www.victoriagal.org.uk

It's nearly time to say NO to a MAYOR for BANES

It is nearly decision time about how we want BathNES Council to be run. The Mayoral Referendum will be held on the 10^th March. If you are a postal voter you will have already received your ballot papers.

Lib Dems, Labour, Tories and Greens have all campaigned against having an elected Mayor. First and foremost we think it concentrates too much power in the hands of one person. Elected ward councillors will have very little say, pet projects of the mayor will get priority, vulnerable groups will be neglected and important local issues might be ignored. It also costs a lot more money.

However the outcome of the referendum is not a foregone conclusion. So please make sure you use your vote in the referendum on 10^th March to throw out this pointless and costly proposal to change our current system.

Bath Magistrates Court to be retained as a result of Public Response

It is good news that Bath Magistrates court is to remain open and that the government has agreed that the public are right n the massive response that they gave to the public consultation.

The Lord Chancellor has agreed to retain the Courts after weighing up evidence received during a public consultation.

Evidence was submitted to the Ministry of Justice by Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Community Transport and Environmental Panel, following a Scrutiny Inquiry last September. 

The Inquiry heard evidence from members of the community and many professionals on the key issues and concerns raised by the proposal 

to close Bath Magistrates, County Court and Family Court or North Avon (Yate) Magistrates Court, with the transfer of the workload to Bristol Magistrates Court.  Both the positive and negative impacts were then reported back to the Lord Chancellor’s Office.

Having reviewed all the responses received during the consultation process,

the Lord Chancellor has recently agreed to close 10 courts and tribunals in the South West region, with Bath being the only site to be retained.

Though there was an acceptance that alternative provision might be possible, the responses confirmed the facilities currently available in Bath are of an excellent standard and could in fact be used to better effect by taking work from other courts that may close following this consultation.

Join the drive and register to vote today

Bath & North East Somerset Council wants to encourage anyone not yet registered to vote, to take advantage of National Voter Registration Drive next week (1 to 7 February 2016) and go online now to register. The good news is that it only takes a few minutes to register online atwww.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

On Thursday 10 March 2016 voters in Bath and North East Somerset will go to the polls to vote on a referendum to decide whether Bath & North East Somerset Council should have a directly elected Mayor and Cabinet or whether it should keep the current system of Leader and Cabinet.

Later in the year, on Thursday 5 May 2016, voters will go to the polls to elect a Police and Crime Commissioner for the Avon and Somerset Police Area. 

Anyone who isn’t registered to vote won’t be able to take part and have their say. National Voter Registration Drive exists because it’s important that anyone who’s eligible, but has not yet registered to vote, does so. It’s a chance to join the thousands of people across the UK being encouraged to register next week.

Dr Jo Farrar, Chief Executive and Electoral Registration Officer, for Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “Anyone not yet registered to vote should do so as soon as possible so they can have their say on issues that affect their day-to-day lives. I’d urge people living in Bath and North East Somerset to use National Voter Registration Drive to spread the message amongst family and friends that it only takes a few minutes to register online.”

Going online is the quickest and easiest way to ensure that you’re registered to vote, but you can also request a form  to be posted to you by calling 01225 477333.

Bathnes Council Tax rise cause for concern

Residents are to be hit with a financial double whammy in the coming financial year, according to Lib Dems in B&NES. The Conservative-run Council has today confirmed that local Council Tax will be raised by a total of 3.25%. However Lib Dems are warning that this will not meet the budget gap and that cuts to public services and increases in fees and charges are to be expected.

Lib Dem Group Leader Dine Romero (Southdown) said:

“This budget announcement is short on detail and long on passing the buck. What is particularly concerning is that the Cabinet appears to be looking at only the next financial year. The next four years will see over £40 million of cuts to Council budgets and the Conservatives have been very secretive about where these will fall. Residents will have to expect cuts and changes to public services plus increases in fees and charges, on top of an annual Council Tax hike.” 

“This clearly shows the difference between the coalition government, which protected residents from Council Tax rises, and an unfettered Conservative government which has the knives out for local government.”

Councillor Andy Furse (Kingsmead, Lib Dem) is Lib Dem spokesperson on the budget. Andy commented:

“The 2% so-called ‘precept’ for social care is a Council Tax increase in disguise. When added to the 1.25% general Council Tax increase announced today, the total is a 3.25% rise in the coming financial year. This will come as a nasty surprise to local residents – many of whom will not be receiving any pay increase – after rates were frozen for 4 years under the Liberal Democrats. ”

“Liberal Democrats in B&NES recognise that our social care system is under a lot of pressure and that the added flexibility to draw in more funding is hard for Councils to refuse. Nevertheless, it cannot be left solely to local taxpayers to fix our chronically underfunded care system. This is a government sleight of hand to offload an expensive responsibility.”

Concerns about fracking raised

The Liberal Democrats on Bath & North East Somerset Council have raised concerns about fracking licences and fast tracked planning applications..

The former Liberal Democrat led council on Bath & North East Somerset previously raised concerns to any hydraulic fracking in the Mendip Hills over concerns about how this may affect the hot spa water that flows in Bath. The council were also successful in getting amendments to Somerset County Council mineral workings plan.

The concerns about hydraulic fracking were at the time supported by all political groups on the council.

The Government have announced that the will be encouraging hydraulic fracking across the country whilst at the same time putting restrictions on renewable energy.

This backward approach by the Conservative Government has led us to take action and we have written to both local Conservative MPs expressing our concern.

I would suggest that if you also have concerns that you also write to them expressing any concerns that you may have.

A letter sent by Bathnes Liberal Democrat leader to our 2 local Conservative MPs is below.

Dear Jacob and Ben,

I am very saddened to hear on the news this morning that your Governement is planning to fast track fracking planning applications.

Whilst we do not have any licences or applications at present it seems to me to be fundamentally flawed for central Government to be interfering in local affairs so dramatically. Any fracking application will generate a substantial amount of public interest and the the volume of work involved makes it very difficult to process such an application within 13 weeks.

I hope you will both be speaking out against your governments interference into local planning matters. 

It is indeed a pity that whilst you are persecuting benign forms of renewable energy such as land based wind you seem to be working hard to get fracking as quickly as possible.

Yours

Dine Romero
Leader B&NES LD

Rail electrification update

Network rail have issued an update today on the progress of their work in preparation for electrification of  rail network through Bath.

The update is reproduced below.

We had a busy week with several key guests visiting our sites to see the progress of the work which is progressing well to hand back the line on time at 05:15 am on Tuesday, 1 September.
Guests on site

We had the privilege of hosting the visit of Claire Perry, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport (pictured below with Andy Haynes, Network Rail’s West of England project director) this Wednesday at our track lowering sites. Our project team showed her the work completed at Box Tunnel and the current works at Sydney Gardens. She was very impressed with the scale of the programme, the amount of planning and our progress over the last five weeks. 

On the same day we hosted the One Show who came along for a second day to film a piece on Box Tunnel, its history and the challenges of track lowering. Also in attendance was the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s great-great-grandson visiting the tunnel for the very first time. The piece will be aired early in September. Please keep an eye on our Twitter account, @networkrailgwrm, where we will let you know the date as soon as it is confirmed.

Work's progress

We're happy to report that the track lowering work at Box Tunnel is finished, with just some snagging work to complete by the weekend. We will be starting tamping on the up road at Middle Hill Tunnel tonight, to finish work on this site this weekend as well.

We have finished stressing and tamping yesterday at Bathampton Junction. We will carry out signal testing work over the next few days to confirm that all systems communicate properly in order to open the line as planned on Tuesday morning.

We started track lowering work at Sydney Gardens this Monday and work is progressing well. It is of course the jewel in the crown of Brunel’s railway and as part of a World Heritage Site, it deserves a lot of care and attention to be given to it as we undertake such a large piece of work. Those of you who have been able to go to the gardens and view the work will appreciate just how constrained a site this is, with lots of men and big pieces of kit required, all contained between the high retaining wall, the low balustrade wall and 4 listed bridges!

We are monitoring the high retaining wall to ensure that our works do not disturb it or to notify us should anything untoward happen. We are very pleased to report that as we type, no movement has been detected. 
The core works are due to finish early Saturday morning but of course the fencing will remain up for a couple of days more and you will continue to see activity, as we complete all the necessary testing we have to do prior to handing the line back to First Great Western.

The last few days of a project are always the most critical and Sydney Gardens is a fairly complex site, but we are confident that we will finish on time and re-open the line as planned on Tuesday, 1 September.

Bath & North East Somerset Carers centre

The August ebriefing from Bath & North East Somerset carers centre is out now and makes some interesting reading.

If you are a carer then this is a must for you or even if you are just interested it makes a good read.

Carers centre  ebreifing 

Rail updates

Network Rail have issued an update on 21st August on the progress that they are making with the track upgrades in The Bath area.

Please see below the update issued.

Progress at Box Tunnel and Bathampton Junction
We’ve completed the lowering and installation of the new track inside Box Tunnel on the up main line and we’re on track to finish tamping and stressing work this weekend.
 We will start lowering the track on the up main line from Box Tunnel to west of Middle Hill Tunnel as well this weekend. This work is due to finish at the end of next week, but more updates on this in our next newsletter. Work at Bathampton Junction is progressing well and we’re on schedule to finish welding and stressing next Wednesday. 

Sydney Gardens – work starts today
The final stage of work starts today in Sydney Gardens. For the next three days we will be working from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm on the drainage. On Monday morning we will be starting the track lower. Please remember we will be working around the clock until Saturday, 29 August.
We will be holding a drop in session in Sydney Gardens next Tuesday, 25 August from 1.30 pm to 4.00 pm. Look for the orange tent (pictured below) between the railway and the Holburne 
Museum. Our team will be happy to answer any of your questions.

The bus replacement service - First Great Western 
The intensive rail replacement operation has settled down to operate smoothly bringing commuters and visitors to and from Bath.
The highly visible bus coordinators and customer service staff brought in to look after the bus operation and the customers have added a welcoming, helpful and informative personal touch.

Confidence and knowledge has grown and the customer service staff in Bath have become adept at helping customers with train and bus information, but also act as information sources for local buses and mini tourist guides to the thousands of tourists enjoying a visit to Bath.

Traffic congestion in Bath remains a challenge, but some mitigations developed in association with BANES City Council, such as an extended bus lane on London Road, phasing of traffic lights at a key junction and re-locating some standby vehicles have helped minimising delays in the evening peak. 
Coordinators and customer service staff at Chippenham, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury and Frome continue to offer excellent support at these key bus/rail or bus/bus interchange locations.

Twerton Summer Focus

I am pleased to be able to produce online the latest Twerton Focus newsletter that will soon be dropping through local doors

Not got yours yet you soon will have.

Electrification of rail Network

Network Rail have been carrying out improvements to the rail tracks in preparation for electrification works. 

Below is a statement issued by Network rail on the work that they are doing.


We’re almost at the end of the fourth week of our project to prepare the Bath railway line for electrification, with one piece of work completed at Dundas and the other sites progressing well.

Dundas Aqueduct - track work completed on time
We have successfully completed the track work at this location last weekend, with approximately one mile of track lowered in one week. This wasn't a project without challenges, as due to the high temperatures recorded last weekend, we had to re-schedule a piece of stressing work on the up main line for next Wednesday, 19 August. There will also be some follow up work in the area during the second half of next week, as originally planned. 
The track lower work at Dundas will allow the line to be used as a diversionary route for freight trains in the future. It also means that we now have the right capacity for the DMUs (diesel shuttle trains) that will be cascaded from the Thames Valley area once the electrification project is complete, which will give an increased passenger capacity on the valley line for local commuters. 
If you’d like to see the scale of the project and the level of the work involved, but also the beautiful scenery at Dundas, please watch the stunning time-lapse video below. We hope you’ll enjoy it.

Network Rail Video

Box Tunnel and Bathampton Junction - work progress
The track lowering work in Box Tunnel is progressing well and we are on schedule. Our team is currently working on the up main line coming from the Corsham end of the tunnel, relaying the ballast and the new tracks.
It has been a challenging week for our team working at Bathampton Junction. On Monday night we had more spoil to remove than expected. However, our national supply chain came up trumps and sent in an additional train at very short notice. This has had a slight impact on the programme but nothing to worry about. Our planning team has worked hard to reduce the impact.

The rail replacement service – First Great Western
The rail replacement service is running very well, with many peak morning services arriving early. First Great Western is in constant contact with the council to identify and resolve any issues as they arise. Bath is very much open for business throughout the rest of the work.

New Bus Service 16

A new bus service will soon be in place that will run from Bath Spa University picking up students from the new Twerton Mill accommodation on the Lower Bristol Road then picking up at stops along Lower Bristol Road and then back towards Bath Spa University on the Newbridge Road.

I am pleased that this service has been introduced as it will ease pressure on our local bus services and even give a few of us non students who can also use the bus a pleasurable trip to the Globe for lunch.

I asked that the bus service was provided during the planning process and its good to know that I have been listened to.

The new Bus will be number 16  and run every 30 minutes Monday to Friday in term time only.

What about the Green Party in Bath

These are my own thoughts about the recent General and Local elections in Bath.

The Green Party literature in Bath had a mythical tone to it with them telling residents that they were going to win in Bath and showing graphs how they were going to beat the Lib Dems hands down, in reality it did not happen and fell a long way short.

The The Green Party vote in Bath rose at both local elections and General elections with almost all of their extra votes coming from the Liberal Democrats.

In Fact the Greens did very well capturing a seat in Lambridge Ward where their candidate worked very hard, they also had a surprise win in Abbey Ward in the City centre.

The Green Party PPC was very vocal on social media getting to lots of debates with political hacks of all persuasions and making a lot of noise about local issues.

What was he Green Party ambition in Bath well only they will really be able answer that one, but from my own view it seems that they achieved it making a breakthrough in the City and increasing their share of the Vote.

On the issue of the General election its is very evidential that those former Liberal Democrat voters who voted Green at the General election succeeded in electing a Conservative MP and I can not believe that is what they wanted.

The acid test for the Greens will be in 2019 when they have to defend their seats without a protest vote against the Lib Dems and this may be a much harder task for them, and then in 2020 General election.

Next Saturday UKIP

What was Labours ambition in Bath

These are my own thoughts after a few weeks reflection.

Labour could expect to be rightly buoyant going into the General election and could expect to make some progress in the City.

We were aware that they were working hard in several wards that in the end did not come their way although increasing their vote across the City.

The surprise came in my own ward of Twerton where a young Labour candidate finished second although still being a long way behind my own personal vote deposing a long standing councillor. I in fact increased my own vote quite significantly and even put my majority up, but the hard work of this young Labour candidate saw him elected in second place only time will see if he will put the work in that is needed in this area?

I blame myself somewhat for not seeing the signs that votes were leaking away from my former ward colleague and am reflecting on what we could have done differently.

At a General election Labour has normally faired quite badly in Bath just holding their deposit on many occasions, but this time they put their vote up quite significantly by reducing the Liberal Democrat Vote in the parties heartlands. 

It is ironic that the rise in the Labour and Green vote in Bath was nearly all from the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative vote hardly moved.

If you were cynical you could say that by people voting Labour at the General Election succeeded in electing a conservative MP for Bath.

Is this something that Labour wanted only they can answer that but that is what they succeeded in doing.

From listening to residents over the weeks since the election many have said what have we done.

I suspect that the Labour vote at this election may be a high point for them in Bath but only time will tell.

Trauma recovery centre Bath

I was pleased to be able to visit the Trauma recovery centre at Freedom House on Thursday and to be able to learn of the work that is being carried out there.

My initial reason for the visit was to look at a proposed planning application for a new modern building at the rear of Freedom House on the Lower Bristol Road that would expand the unit for the vulnerable children that are receiving help there.

Another reason for the application is that it would also provide a new religious building that would be used for worship on a Sunday.

Any way back to my reasons for this entry.

I was really astounded at the work that is carried out at the unit of the trauma recovery centre that deal with young Children through to young Adults that are going for a crisis in their life's that is caused by traumatic events.

This unit is on the edges of Twerton and this work is a welcome addition to our community.

Instead of my harping on how good that they seem to be it would be better if they told their own story and here is a link to their website so you can see what they say about themselves.

http://www.trc-uk.org