Deadline for B&NES home improvement grant approaching

Hurry to access Council home improvement grant

Bath & North East Somerset Council currently has a grant of up to £6,000 available through the Energy at Home scheme to help you make energy saving improvements to your home. 

The grant can be used to help cover the costs of improvements such as:

• improved heating systems (including gas and oil fired systems, and electric storage heaters),
• internal, external, or cavity wall insulation, and loft insulation, 
• upgraded glazing including secondary glazing, double glazing and external doors,
• and renewable energy technologies.

Installing measures like these can help improve your home’s energy performance, reduce the amount you spend on your energy bills, and help keep your home warm and cosy over the winter.

This grant is available to all home owners, private landlords and privately renting tenants.  You do not need to be on a low income or an elderly person to be eligible for this grant, but you do need to be signed up before the end of February. 

The Energy at Home scheme will continue to be available after this particular grant ends, with access to other local and national grants, however funding to this level, accessible for so many people, and for this range of measures is unlikely to be available again...
 

..so contact the Energy at Home Advice Service today!

0800 038 5680

New housing standards for rental set.

The work that I Started before the last election to drive housing rental standards has been moved forward by the council.

Landlords in Bath and North East Somerset are being encouraged to apply for accreditation under the new West of England Rental Standard.

Bath & North East Somerset Council is promoting this new scheme that sets out specific requirements that landlords and letting or management agents in the private rented sector should reach – with the aim of driving up standards for tenants.

Through this scheme a single badge of quality accreditation will be awarded to all landlords and letting agents who meet a set of requirements. Nearly 18% of homes in Bath and North East Somerset are privately rented - that’s 13,730 privately rented homes. We want to drive up standards and help tenants to rent with more confidence, protecting them by exposing poor landlords and agents.

“The benefit to landlords and agents is that they will be easily recognised as complying with a recognised standards and procedures. However it is a voluntary scheme, and does not replace the enforcement tools available to the Council to make landlords comply with minimum standards.”

The West of England Rental Standard will endorse organisations and, through them, their members, not individual properties. The endorsed organisation will be expected to ensure that its members (individual landlords or agents) meet and continue to meet the membership requirements.

Letting agents and landlord organisations can now apply to join the scheme atwww.westofenglandrentalstandard.co.uk

Applications can be completed online and need to be returned with a fee of £300 by February 2016. The fee for following two years is £150 per year. This will be used to pay for the advertising and promotional costs of the scheme. The successful organisations will be announced in March 2016.

The West of England Rental Standard will replace a voluntary accreditation standard for rented accommodation that was agreed across the West of England some years ago. Bristol City Council will administer the scheme on behalf of the four West of England authorities for an initial period of three years.

Council to take measures to curb rise in unauthorised advertisements

The council are at long last going to take some action on the amount of unauthorised advertisements on our streets.

I know from bitter experience of the problems with posters on boards on our highways and footpaths as I am sure many other residents are.

Local businesses and organisations who want to advertise on roadsides must have consent before they can legally display an advert.

Over the past year Bath & North East Somerset Council has seen a significant rise in complaints about unauthorised advertisements across the district, principally banners being displayed along roadsides. 

Whilst there are some exemptions in the regulations (usually relating to banners advertising a specific event) the majority of these advertisements require consent and it is an offence to display them without consent.

In an effort to reduce the detrimental visual impact these adverts are having, in both rural and urban areas, the Council is to bring in measures set out in the Town and Country Planning Act to remove unauthorised banners. 

From January 18, 2016, anyone displaying an unauthorised banner or placard will be given 7 days’ notice to voluntarily remove the advert. If the advert is not removed the Council will remove it for them and store it for a limited period. There will be a fee of £50 for administering the removal and storage of the unauthorised adverts.

Details of how to make an application can be found on the Council’s website athttp://www.bathnes.gov.uk/roadside-ads

There is also a useful Government guide to advertisinghttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/11499/326679.pdf

Anyone wishing to discuss these measures, or seeking advice about how to make an application can contact the Council’s planning department on 01225 394041

Beware rogue tree surgeons

Members of the public are urged to be vigilant of rogue tree surgeons after numerous reports of cold-call tradesmen operating across Bath and North East Somerset.

“Several local residents have been approached by tradesmen posing as qualified tree surgeons offering to cut down or provide maintenance to garden trees in exchange for cash."

Not only is this potentially dangerous for the tradesmen, it can also cause lasting damage to the tree, possible damage to the property and, in some cases, may result in enforcement action from the Council.”

Bath and many of its surrounding villages and hamlets are covered by Conservation Area designations. In addition, some trees (including trees located in private gardens) may be subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) – which protects specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands in the interests of amenity. The Council must be notified six weeks in advance of intended works to a tree located within a Conservation Area or covered by a TPO unless a specific exemption applies (such as where a tree poses a risk to the public). To cut down, uproot or destroy a tree covered by a TPO or within a Conservation Area, or to authorise such an action to take place, is considered an offence under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Rogue tree surgeons are therefore leaving landowners potentially liable to criminal prosecution.

Work to trees will often require careful consideration by an experienced Arboriculturalist or a person who is practiced in assessing the health of trees and their appropriate management. Tree works should also ideally be undertaken outside of the bird nesting season (March – October) to prevent destruction of eggs and harm to birds protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The Council would advise anyone who is considering undertaking or contracting work to trees on their property to first ensure that the trees are not located within a Conservation Area or covered by a TPO. The Arboricultural Association provides a Directory of Tree Surgeons on their website which lists professional, qualified tree surgeons by name, area or postcode. The website also contains information relating to good tree care.

If residents remain in doubt as to the works that can be undertaken to trees covered by a TPO or located within a Conservation Area they can contact the Council for further advice and guidance by emailing Trees_andWoodlands@BATHNES.GOV.UK or calling 01225 394041.

The Energy at Home Scheme

The Energy at Home scheme provides free, expert home energy advice, access to national and local grants, and support to make energy saving home improvements.

The Council currently has a very generous grant available of up to £6,000 for solid wall insulation, and up to £2,000 for other energy saving measures available through the scheme for home owners, private landlords and privately renting tenants. This grant is only available for a limited time and residents need to get signed up by the end of February 2016 to benefit.

There is also extra support available for residents meeting eligibility criteria to help cover the costs of heating and insulation improvements. This includes a voucher scheme for gas connection of up to £2,700 to help you connect to the gas grid (if feasible).

For more information, residents should contact the Energy at Home Advice Service:

Freephone 0800 038 5680 available Monday to Friday 9am-6pm, and on Saturday mornings 9am-12pm. 

Or email advice@energyathome.org.uk

Or visit the website www.energyathome.org.uk

Penny pinching Tories put up School dinner costs

It has come out very quietly that one if the first things that the Tories have done since they have been elected to power in Bath & North east Somerset is to put up the cost of School dinners for primary School children.

The cost of dinner rises from £2.00 per day to £2.30 per day. The Liberal Democrats when in control kept the price frozen for the previous 4 years.

It seems that life under the Conservatives is going to be much more expensive for hard working families.

New noise toolkit and app launched

I am pleased that with all the problems that we have had over the yeas with noise being created by som unsociable residents that the council have launched a new app to help battle this problem for many households.

Noise nuisance accounts for almost two thirds of complaints received by the Council’s Environmental Protection Team, but because it is often unpredictable and can happen at any time of the day or night it may be difficult for Environmental Health Officers to witness. 

The online toolkit and app will help people to gather evidence, so that the Council can,hopefully, help those affected resolve the issue without the need for formal action.

The toolkit includes advice on the actions you can take whilst noise is happening and afterwards. Amongst the ‘tools’ supplied are log sheets, template letters and the Bath and North East Somerset noise app.

The free app can be downloaded to your smart phone, and can then be used as an electronic noise diary, recording short audio clips, with date, and time. This information is then sent to the Environmental Protection Team who can use it to help with their investigation.

There are a number of benefits in using the app over making traditional audio recordings:

• The app provides a GPS location to pinpoint where you are recording the noise from.

• It has easy to use icons to indicate the type of noise and which room you are in when being affected.

• It means you can take action as the nuisance is happening.

• The app acknowledges that your recording has been received.

• Ultimately, the app provides a whole package to enable you to communicate easily with the Council. There’s no need to write letters or email, the app does it all for you.

To view the toolkit and download the app visit:http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/environment/pollution-noise-nuisance/noise-toolkit