The next phase of 20 mph speed limits is due to start, which means that almost all of Foxhill will be covered by a 20 mph speed limit.

The eastern part of Hawthorn Grove, Down Avenue, Quantocks, Porlock Road, Sedgemoor Road, Exmoor Road, Oakhill Road and Drake Avenue if approved, will be completed by the end of March.  This will leave only Foxhill Road and Bradford Park without a 20 mph limit.

Justification (it’s what most people who use their common sense know) has recently been published in a North West Public Health Observatory report, which concluded that,  “140 killed or seriously injured child casualties could have been prevented each year between 2004-8 if 20mph traffic speed zones had been introduced in residential areas (other than main roads) across the North West.” Dominic Harrison  Director of Public Health Blackburn and Darwin Council said:

“Most children will live and recover if hit by a vehicle travelling at 20mph whereas most risk a lifetime of disability or death if hit at 30mph”.  

The Foxhill estate will be the largest local area, apart from the city centre, with 20 mph speed limit cover in B&NES.  This new report demonstrates the value of 20 mph speed limits and shows how they can save lives.  We are pleased with the progress made her in Combe Down, but we would like to see these speed limits in all residential streets across the Council area. We have long campaigned for 20 mph speed limits in Foxhill and we are almost there. 

Dealing with speeding traffic and making the roads safer was listed In our Six to Fix pledges made before the last local elections in 2007, after residents told us that these issues, were high on their list of priorities. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12481423  gives more details about how speed limits can save lives.

Combe Down’s Excellent Shops and Businesses – the Social Heart of the Village

Part of the reason people like to live in Combe Down and relocate here is the Community feel, with a great selection of local businesses and shops. This provides a real hub, and social heart to the village, as well as excellent personal services for local people. However In these financial times, our local businesses are feeling the squeeze, and it is vital to keep these small areas alive and vibrant, by all of us being conscious of the benefits in shopping locally. It can often lift the spirits to get out and about, visit our shops and have a chat with people on the way.

We have been talking to the Combe Down shops about the challenges they have, and we have raised the issues in the Press. We have also met with Bath’s Small Business Focus Group, and hope to have a meeting to see how further support can be given. Perhaps we could have an open week whereby people can come to the shops and businesses and find out more about the range of services which are there, and take away a leaflet, and chat to the traders.

Jacs from the Avenue Newsagent ihas been very proactive, and is now doing new “Sweet Bouquets” for special occasions, gifts and parties, or however you want to use them. They look really great. As a result of our Press release to the Chronicle, Sainsburys at Odd Down have offered to put up signs about the local shops in their foyer, and appear to want to help reduce the adverse effects they have had on nearby small shopping areas. We will keep you posted on developments, and let us know what you think. We would love to hear from other businesses and Combe Down People who work from home.

 Spring repairs aim to keep waters – and visitors – flowing

A precision operation to replace Bath’s “Hetling Spring” Borehole begins next month as part of the Council’s efforts to protect the heritage of the city’s popular thermal water system. This project falls under one of the sections of Cherry’s Portfolio, being to do with Bath Heritage.

Engineers from Wessex Water, working on behalf of the Council, will create a new borehole for the spring to replace the old pipework which is suffering from corrosion. The replacement borehole will drill down from a vault under Hot Bath Street at an angle of 13 degrees in order to intercept the base of the Hetling Spring at 75 metres below street level.

This is a significant piece of precision engineering commissioned by Bath & North East Somerset Council, which means drilling through 80 metres of ground in order to reach the source. This is the first piece of intervention work to be carried out on the hot springs for over a decade but it is necessary for us to maintain the sustainability of the thermal springs system.

The current Hetling borehole casing is made of mild steel which is rotting. We don’t want an unstable source of the thermal waters as it would threaten the whole spring system by affecting the hydraulic pressure that brings the water to the surface. Therefore it’s vitally important that we carry out these works to preserve the springs as an attraction for residents and visitors.

We’re putting the head gear in one of the vaults under the road so we are presently working with a team of archaeologists to explore the foundations of the vaults under controlled conditions. This is part of our commitment to not only protect the source but also to respect the vaults and the overall heritage of the city. 

How the repairs will work:

• The drilling rig will be set up in Hot Bath Street – set back a reasonable distance from the Hetling Spring to avoid disturbed geological deposits in the spring pipe – and the borehole will be drilled through a pre-formed access hole in the road.
• Steel casings will be progressively installed and grouted to seal the upper layers.
• Once the carboniferous limestone aquifer rock is reached, at the base of the Hetling Spring, a plastic pipe will be installed to bring the thermal spring water to the surface.
• Upon completion of the drilling operation, the rig will be removed and a permanent access cover will be installed in the road above the vault.
• Following installation of the headplate, twin 100mm ducts will be laid to carry the piping to the existing Hetling borehole control chamber. The existing Hetling Spring Borehole will then be sealed off.

The first phase of the works to install the replacement borehole is expected to take place from 5 September to 15 November and will require the closure of the lower end of Hot Bath Street. Phase two – the installation of the new ducts and sealing the existing borehole – is anticipated to close the upper end of Hot Bath Street from 16 to 24 November.

Bath & North East Somerset Council is endeavouring to keep local businesses around the area in question informed about the traffic situation so that they can prepare alternative arrangements for deliveries from their suppliers.

David Lawrence, the Council’s Divisional Director for Tourism, Leisure & Culture, said: “We are liaising with local traders through the Business Improvement District to explain why we have to carry out the work at Hot Bath Street to ensure that the head gear for the borehole can be placed in solid ground rather than soft sediment, as it is at the moment.

“We are committed to continue consulting with local businesses as we endeavour to keep disruption to a minimum, which is why we have scheduled these essential works to take place after the summer holidays are over and before the Christmas lights are switched on.

“By carrying out the work, Bath & North East Somerset Council is meeting its obligations under the Avon Act 1982 to protect the important source of the water whilst also promoting the use of the spring system and preserving it for future generations.”

For a copy of the Traffic Regulation Order relating to the work needed and how it will affect traffic around the Hot Bath Street area, visit www.bathnes.gov.uk/temporarytrafficorders/hotbathstreet.

Cherry and Roger outside Foxhill MOD last week

Minister for Housing, Grant Shapps announced in early June that all three Bath MOD Sites would be disposed of for development over the next few years. This was despite the fact that MP Don Foster and North East Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg secured a commitment from Defence minister Andrew Robathan that they, council leaders and union officials could have until the end of June to make the economic case for saving at least one of the Bath sites.

1,200 staff from Bath are already in the process of being transferred, but another 1,400 are scheduled to follow in the next two years. Campaigners have disputed the financial figures being used to justify the move, and also raised concerns over staff recruitment and retention.

They also argue that no serious study has been made into the impact of the move, both in terms of the added pressures on the already over-stretched transport links and the damage to the Bath economy.

The three political group leaders on Bath and North East Somerset Council have already written to the MoD to raise their concerns, urging the Government to “pause” and re-evaluate the case for shutting the site.

A statement earlier this month from the Department for Communities said: “The rationalisation of office accommodation owned by the Ministry of Defence will free up three sites at Foxhill, Warminster Road and Ensleigh, which will be brought forward for disposal over the next few years.

“Subject to planning, the 36-hectare sites have the potential for over 1,200 new homes. Bath and North East Somerset’s core strategy is going to enquiry in public in September and it is anticipated that the inspector’s report due in spring 2012 will confirm the allocations for development.”

The closure of all the sites would end the MoD’s 72-year association with Bath, having had offices in the city since the start of the Second World War when the old Admiralty was moved out of London.

Don Foster has argued that not all of the Ensleigh site can be disposed of because computer systems cannot be moved.

Roger and I will be closely monitoring the future for these sites, and especially for the substantial Foxhill Site, and plans there.

Roger and Cherry in Foxhill

With this next phase of 20 mph speed limits, which will soon go out for consultation, almost all of Foxhill will be covered by a 20 mph speed limit.

The eastern part of Hawthorn Grove, Down Avenue, Quantocks, Porlock Road, Sedgemoor Road, Exmoor Road, Oakhill Road and Drake Avenue should be completed by the end of March.  This will leave only Foxhill Road and Bradford Park without a 20 mph limit.  We have asked the Council to extend the 20 mph speed limit to these last two roads when there are funds available.

There has been evidence, and a high impact TV advertisement in recent years,  about how lower speed reduces the risk of death of children in collision with motor vehicles.  This has once again been been highlighted in a new report.

The North West Public Health Observatory concluded that “140 killed or seriously injured child casualties could have been prevented each year between 2004-8 if 20mph traffic speed zones had been introduced in residential areas (other than main roads) across the North West.”

Extra Early July News

In Hawthorn Grove, Combe Down, Friday morning July 4th,  around 20 local people demonstrated in favour of local 20 mph speed limits for Hawthorn Grove, Sedgemoor Road and Southstoke Road.

This was also the launch of the Lib Dems’ and Don Foster’s campaign for 20 mph speed limits in all residential areas. After all 48% of pedestrians in collision with a motor vehicle travelling at 30 mph will die, but if the speed is reduced to 20 mph deaths are reduced to 5%.

We have been trying to convince the Council for more than 2 years to provide these local speed limits, but even though local people have presented petitions to Council and money was allocated by local councillors sitting on the Bath South Local Committee, we are still waiting. The new Conservative administration abolished the committee and used the money for schemes elsewhere.

There is hope of funding for Hawthorn Grove and Sedgemoor Road, because there some money to start a scheme has been allocated and there is also likely to be a contribution towards a crossing by the Church when/if their St Andrews scheme for community facilities is approved. But for Southstoke Road and Bradford/North Road (after the long awaited pedestrian refuge is finished) there is nothing. We will continue to campaign for a speed limits in Southstoke Road and for Bradford/North Road to be made safer to encourage walking and cycling.

We will help residents in any of our local streets to campaign for speed limits if they are agreed that this will improve their environment. Please get in touch.