An election on May 4th as residents go to the polls Mini bus service

By John Wimperis, Local Democ-

racy

Reporter:

There is a new West Link minibus services starting this month.

By Harry Mottram: Bathonians

and all voters in Bath and North East Somerset go to the polls on Thursday, May 4th, 2023 to elect new councillors.

Remember you need personal identification when you vote such as a photo driving licence or passport - or you may not be allowed to tick your cross in the booth.

In Bath and North East Somerset the current council is controlled by the Liberal Democrats who swept to power four years ago when they gained more councillors than the Conservatives in 2019.

Bath Voice understands the LibDems have 35 councillors, the Tories 12, Labour 5, Independents 6, and Greens 1 despite some changes since 2019.

Nationally the Conservatives are not doing well in the opinion polls compared to Labour but local elections tend to throw up contrasting results compared to a General Election.

There are no reliable local opinion polls so it is not known how well the Lib Dems, Tories, Labour and Greens will do or whether the Independents will prosper and remain above party politics.

The Liberal Democrats will be defending their record including such policies that have seen creating the first social or council housing in a generation in former offices.

Another policy are the changes to residential roads plagued by rat runs and ‘park and stride’ commuters but these have not been universally embraced by some residents who lobbied against them.

They have also taken flack over the at Entry Hill’s former golf coursewhich is now in effect a park and a dog walker’s paradise.

The Government’s National Counter Terrorism Security Office recommended measures to protect the city centre against terrorism after vehicles were used to kill people in other cities in the past. The barriers have been criticised as being too expensive and cutting access and have been dubbed The Ring of Steel. The jury is still out on whether the scheme has a positive or negative effect on trade and access.

They have also introduced more cycle lanes in the city and approved the use of Voi’s e-scooters - to the anger of some motorists but the joy of those who use them.

In their defence they have said they have put in place many of the policies promised in the last election.

The Conservatives have been vocal in their opposition to some of the Resident’s Parking Zones and restrictions to vehicles in general as they claim they affect shops and businesses and are not wanted by some residents due to the costs of paying to park. And they haven’t held back on their criticism of the ‘Ring of Steel’ in part due to the cost that’s risen to more than £7 million.

Plus they will point to the victory of Police and Crime Commissioner Conservative Mark Shelford in the PCC election as good omen.

Labour have made it plain they would be in favour of the Council building more council homes and of getting tough with land owners who allow plots to remain empty when there is a shortage of affordable services to be brought back within the Council’s full control rather than contracting private firms to carry out many services once done by local authorities.

In the past Labour had city councillors in Bath and they will be hoping their national popularity will have an affect. They do have Dan Norris for Labour who was elected as the Metro Mayor and he has worked with B&NES, South Glos and Bristol on transport and a number of areas to coordinate the councils to work together with mixed resultsdepending on your point of view.

There are currently five Independent councillors and they rely on their personal integrity and social standing to gain votes as they have no official political party for support.

These include councillors in several areas outside the city while in Bath the former mayor Cllr June Player represents Westmoreland along with fellow Independent Cllr Colin Blackburn - and will hope for a further endorsement from voters.

The Green Party may be hoping to emulate their colleagues in Bristol who became the second largest group in the city at the last election.

Currently their only representative is Cllr Joanna Wright of Lambridge. She was elected as a LibDem but switched to the Greens after she failed to agree with their response to the climate emergency after they changed leaders from Dino Romaro to Kevin Guy.

Local elections are important as they affect in some ways the lives of residents as much as a general election so the most important thing for voters is to vote on Thursday, May 4th, 2023, even if it’s raining.

Passengers will be able to book a West Link minibus via phone, app or a website, to take them from more remote areas to major transport routes. The services will run 30 bright green minibuses, as part of a £3-million new scheme known as ‘demand responsive transport’.

The new services are the largest of its kind in the country, having only been run before on a much smaller scale.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “Stop-to-stop tailor-made travel is new for everyone. I am really pleased to see the first West Link bus, which is going into service from April and rolling out thereafter. It’s new to us all, so it certainly won’t be plain sailing.”

Eventually, the app and booking phone service will be able to advise passengers about major public transport route timetables.

The services will cover parts of North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bristol and North Somerset, which are currently poorly served by public transport. Many of these places will also soon see traditional subsidised bus routes scrapped, as councils decided not to increase the transport levy for these routes in line with inflation.

Single fares will cost £2 for adults and £1 for children, for any length of journey. Concessionary and older person’s bus passes will be accepted. Initially the services will run Monday to Saturday from 7am to 7pm. But in future this will be expanded to 5.30am to 9.30pm Monday to Saturday, and 9am to 6pm on Sundays.

Christmas (yes, Christmas) News:

The dates for this year’s Bath Christmas Market have been announced alongside official visitor figures for the 2022 event - which boosted the local economy by an estimated £50 million said the Council.

Bath Christmas Market will open this year on Thursday November 23 and run for 18 days closing on Sunday December 10 with applications for stall holders opening mid-April.

Details from an independent survey of 900 people carried out by The South West Research company, revealed the 2022 market attracted an estimated 426,000 visitors over the 18-day event – which was up from 403,000 in 2019. The research also estimated the market boosted business in the city some £20 million pounds compared to the year before.

More than 900 people were questioned in the survey which revealed the proportion of visitors to the market, who stayed in the city as part of their trip increased during 2022, along with the amount they spent on their accommodation during their stay compared with 2019. The majority of staying visitors said they would consider returning for another short break at another time of the year. More than 200 traders and 36 charities took part in the market. Bath & North East Somerset Council took over the running of the event in 2020 with a layout of the 178 chalets selling seasonal gifts, food and drink plus last year new Christmas Carts were introduced.

More information for stall holders for the 2023 market will be added to the Christmas Market website in the coming weeks and those wishing to apply can sign up to the mailing list here https://bathchristmasmarket.co. uk/

However not everyone is a fan as some of these remarks left on Trip Advisor suggest. They include these less than five-star reviews:

“Very disappointed. The market is completely overcrowded, and you can’t actually even get to the stalls, parking around the area is also near impossible. Definitely won’t be going again.”

“After wanting to visit for years I was so excited to make the 2-hour journey to Bath specifically for the Xmas market. What a lot of tat, clearly bulk bought from China and being sold at over inflated prices because it was in ‘Bath’ nothing new to see on the stalls, and there definitely were not 170 stalls as advertised. Don’t bother going if you are planning to, overcrowded, dismal and disappointing.”

Also there was criticism of the amount of coaches coming to the market. Frome Nub News reported that Cllr Winston Duguid told the Council’s scrutiny meeting: “Those that I have known that have lived here for 30 years have never seen Bath so packed as it was on Saturday. I was called out to look at 26 coaches on Wellsway and when I went up to Odd Down park & ride, the extended facility for coaches was full. And for the first time in my experience of living in Bath, the Odd Down park & ride was full.”

Music news: In March, Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath and Chair of the Music in Education All Party Parliamentary Group, met with the Music Venue Trust (MVT) to discuss the challenges facing grassroots music venues in the city.

The MVT is a UK registered charity which acts to protect, secure, and improve the UK’s grassroots music venue circuit. In Bath, the trust represents seven venues: The Bell Inn, Chapel Arts Centre, Komedia, Moles,

The Royal Oak, St Jame Wine Vaults and Walcot House.

Tom Maddicott, the owner of Moles in Bath, spoke with Mrs Hobhouse about the role his venue plays in the city. Moles supports Bath College and local musicians to practise their skills in front of live audiences, while also attracting swathes of visitors by hosting large acts such as Slowthai.

Tom and Wera discussed how the venues in Bath could have the potential to boost the local economy by encouraging gig-goers to stay in hotels and use local services. Grassroots Music Venues operate, on average, with a 0.2% profit margin. This makes them uniquely vulnerable to external factors such as the cost of living crisis and artist popularity.

Moles also reported that the energy costs for the venue have doubled, and that people are not going out as much as the cost of living crisis continues to pinch.

Under Liberal Democrat proposals, small and medium-sized businesses would be offered government grants covering 80% of the increase in their energy bills for one year, up to a maximum of £50,000.