MY BATH Saskia Heijltjes

Born in the Netherlands, Saskia Heijltjes is Content Editor at Cycle Sprog, the Bicycle Mayor of Bath and Green Party Councillor representing her local community in Lambridge

Name: British beetle/Rhagonycha fulva

Also called Common Red Soldier Beetle Length 8–10mm

This little beetle is very helpful. It eats garden pests such as aphids, slugs and snails. It is also a pollinator of some flowers. Found on open flowers such as daisies, cow parsley and hogweed.

See more of Marian’s insects at buzzandscuttle.com

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Visit theatreroyal.org.uk to become an 1805 member today.

What brought you to the UK from The Netherlands? Love brought me, because I followed my boyfriend at the time to Edinburgh in 2007. He wanted to do a PhD there and we decided to take the leap. We stayed there for four years, got married in the Scottish Lowlands and moved to Bath in 2012. Unsurprisingly, Bath turned out to be a good place in terms of job opportunities for me and to start a family. I like living in a small city, with green spaces all around us.

You were recently elected to represent Lambridge as Green Party Councillor, along with Councillor Joanna Wright. Why is Lambridge so directed towards green issues? Lambridge has a strong community and local people see that Cllr Joanna Wright and I are involved in our community and advocating for them. In May Lambridge saw the highest voter turnout in all of B&NES.

How do you make a difference as a councillor? I listen to local residents and support them with local issues as well as pushing green issues in council and holding the Lib Dems to account.We need a wide range of people represented in local and national politics but the average age of councillors in England is 60. As a working parent of school-aged children, I bring in a different perspective and show that local decision-making is by and for everyone.

Explain your connection with bikes...

In the Netherlands most people cycle for everyday journeys, and so did I. When I moved abroad I just kept cycling, because it’s cheap, reliable and fun. My passion kicked in when I noticed cycling is not seen as an option by many because of the lack of safe cycling infrastructure. I believe we need to introduce this to enable everyone who wants to take up cycling to do so. My vision is for all secondary school children to be able to walk or cycle to school independently.

in a safe environment. With a group of amazing volunteers, we’ve organised regular rides since. We’ve even ridden in the rain, and it turned out no one was made of sugar and no one melted (Dutch saying)!I applied to become the first Bicycle Mayor of Bath in October 2021. I was then named ‘cycle influencer’ on Cycling UK’s 100 Women in Cycling in 2022. Such an honour!

You have a Bsc in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence. Why was this your choice? I wanted to find a challenging course with a small cohort that combined science and maths. The course spanned several departments, from psychology to linguistics and computer science to philosophy. I’m not very impressed with the progress made in terms of AI in the past 20 years. We certainly don’t seem to be using it yet to solve any of the current pressing problems we are facing.

Tell us about your work in web and content development. One of my first jobs as a teenager was writing html code for websites and I’ve been fascinated with websites ever since. Breaking down complex information into plain English is one of the things I like to do most and this is a useful skill to have as a Councillor. As a non-native speaker, I’m aware of the need to provide information in a way that everyone can understand.

What are some of your favourite green spaces in Bath? We have an electric cargo bike to carry our two children (when my eldest doesn’t use her bike). The canal towpath is a favourite and it’s our route to school, so coming home usually involves wandering along the canal and looking at the ducks and swans. Little Solsbury is the best place for a walk close to Lambridge, with amazing views over Bath.

Ammi majus (Queen Anne’s Lace), Cosmos, Gaura,

You are the Bicycle Mayor of Bath. What does this involve? When a plan to enable more people to walk and cycle was ditched by the Council in 2021, I decided to take action and organised a Kidical Mass. This is a protest group cycle ride, with people of all ages and abilities. It is a joyous form of protest, with children cycling through town

What are your ideas about solving Bath’s traffic problems? We need measures to cut congestion and improve air quality including school streets, better pedestrian crossings and pavements, 20mph speed limits in residential areas, better buses, residents’ parking zones, safe cycle routes along main roads, and a workplace parking levy.

Twitter: @saskiaheijltjes; Facebook: kidicalmassbath