Bath Echo - Issue 001 - 06/08/2019

ECHO

Your free local newspaper for the city of Bath

Tuesday, 6th August 2019

Delivered to 20,000 homes across Bath every fortnight

Luxury bespoke made-to-measure kitchens and interior solutions 01225 337276 www.bathecho.co.uk | Issue No. 001 | FREE

Welcome to your brand new fortnightly newspaper for Bath P2

Wales & West Utilities apologises for Combe Down upgrade chaos

Green light for new nine home development on site of former church P4

Team working 7 days a week to ensure essential work is completed quickly WALES & West Utilities has apologised for the significant disruption caused to local residents by the ongoing work in Combe Down to upgrade the ageing gas network.

The project involves working along North Road in Combe Down to upgrade gas pipes.

Wales & West Utlities have said the work is “essential to keep the gas flowing to heat homes and power businesses in the area, so

that people are safe and warm for generations to come."

Wales & West Utilities Senior Technical Manager Neil Dalley said: “We started work on 29 July and anticipate our work will be finished by the end of August.

This work was planned for the school summer holidays to reduce the impact on local roads.

“In agreement with Bath and North East Somerset Council and to keep the local community,

road users, and our colleagues safe while we work, North Road is closed at its junction with The Firs to its junction with Combe Road. A diversion route, directing traffic into the city centre and back out again is in place and clearly signposted.

“We’re sorry for the disruption our work has caused.”

After reviewing the traffic management plans in place during the work, Wales & West

Utilities has implemented a number of changes, including increasing the number of Diversion, No Access and Road Closed signs, making Tyning Road one-way only and utilising marshals on the road between 7am and 7pm to direct traffic down the diversion route.

Members of the Wales & West Utilities team have also been visiting homes on The Firs, ...

Continued on page 2

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In this issue...

Top stories

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Education

P12

Health

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Community

P16

Business

P24

Politics

P26

In Other News

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Puzzles

P30

Sport

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Useful Information The Bath Echo newspaper is produced fortnightly, and delivered to 20,000 homes across the Bath area.

If your home isn’t on our distribution route, you can pick up a copy at various locations across the city.

How to get in touch with us...

For news items and press releases: news@bathecho.co.uk 01225 585484 For sport and match reports: sport@bathecho.co.uk 01225 585484 Want to have a letter published? letters@bathecho.co.uk Advertising & Marketing: advertise@bathecho.co.uk 01225 589789 Contact the editor: Sebastian Hawker editor@bathecho.co.uk Published by Media Bath Limited

Bath Echo, PO Box 5395, Bath, BA1 0YA

Company Number: 09384496

Disclaimer Please note, the views expressed in this newsaper are not neccesarily the views of the editor, or publisher.

No parts of this newspaper may be reproduced without prior written permission. Liability for advertising in this publication comes down to the individual advertiser, and not the publisher. © Media Bath Limited

ISSN 2632-7805 The Bath Echo is regulated by IMPRESS: The Independent Monitor for the Press CIC. We adhere to the Standards Code adopted by IMPRESS, and can only deal with complaints which relate to an alleged breach of the standards set out in this Code. You can find out more about the code on the IMPRESS website: www.impress.press/standards/.

If you believe we have breached this code, you can make a complaint to us regarding it. For more information, please visit: www.bathecho.co.uk/complaints/

Avon and Somerset’s police officers to be kitted out with high-tech mobile fingerprint scanners Stephen Sumner

Local Democracy Reporter

POLICE officers in Avon and Somerset are set to be kitted out with mobile fingerprint scanners to prevent innocent people being confused with suspects.

The force revealed the mooted investment following an investigation into the tasering of Judah Adunbi, a community elder in Bristol who was wrongly identified as a man police wanted to speak to, and the criticism of how the force handled the aftermath.

The officers involved were cleared of wrongdoing but a panel which scrutinises the use of force said Avon and Somerset Police should have learned more from the case.

It said: “The misidentification in January 2017 was the second

time this particular misidentification has happened.

“It also happened on two subsequent occasions.

“The panel is dismayed and concerned by Avon and Somerset Constabulary’s lack of organisational learning from these incidents, all of which have led to further adverse press coverage.

“This has caused damage to the work being done to re-establish community relations.”

Mr Adunbi was stopped by two officers who believed he was Royston MacCalla, a man the police wanted to speak to, in January 2017.

He declined to give his name and, after an argument, was hit in the face with a taser barb fired by PC Claire Boddie.

The incident was captured on the officers’ body-worn video camer-

as, and by a neighbour.

The scrutiny of police powers panel, a “critical friend” of the force set up by set up by the police and crime commissioner Sue Mountstevens, said: “Over the past two years since the January 2017 taser incident, the Avon and Somerset Constabulary has taken a number of important initiatives that demonstrate the organisa-

tion is serious about learning from this incident and from other such high profile cases.” It urged the force to review its protocols, procedures and training “so that officers correctly identify individuals who are to be arrested or served with warrants”.

Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Cullen said in his response: “We aim to provide the best possible data, intelligence and information 24/7 to all our officers and staff so they can make informed ‘real time’ decisions.

“We have made the decision to provide frontline officers with mobile biometric technology to enable real time identification in the field.

“This will be procured and rolled out over the coming 12 to 18 months.”

Combe Down upgrade work set to continue until end of August Continued from page 1 ... The Avenue, North Road, Combe Road and Church Road, to update them on the progress and let them know how they’re managing traffic in the area.

Mr Dalley continued: “We would urge all road users, particularly heavy goods vehicles, to follow the marked diversion route. We are working alongside the local Police and would remind road users to obey traffic law at all times. Additionally, we would also respectfully ask that the small number of local people who are damaging and moving signs and barriers stop doing so.

“Our team is working 7 days a week to make sure that the work is completed as safely and as quickly as possible. We really appreciate the patience of local people and road users while we are working.

“We know working on roads like

these is not ideal, but this work really is essential to keep the gas flowing to heat homes and power businesses in the area, and to make sure the gas network is fit for the future and can play its part in delivering reliable and affordable green energy. “Our Customer Service Team is ready to take your call if you have any questions about our work. You can contact them on freephone 0800 912 2999 or enquiries@wwwutilities.co.uk.

Alternatively, you can contact us on Twitter @WWUtilities or Facebook.com/WWUtilities.”

Bath MP Wera Hobhouse encouraged her followers on Twitter to: “Please follow recommended diversions rather than doing your own thing.” Businesses including The Darling Deli on The Avenue remain open during the closures.

Work is expected to be completed by the end of August, barring any engineering difficulties.

Welcome to your brand new newspaper for Bath FOLLOWING months of hard work, we're pleased to introduce you to your brand new fortnightly newspaper for the Bath area - the Bath Echo.

In our first ever issue, you'll find a glimpse of the type of of the news we're going to cover in print each fortnight, as well the opportunity to join us via our new Community Correspondents scheme.

Along with our website (www. bathecho.co.uk) and social media, we're here to keep you upto-date with what's happening in

this historic city, as well as featuring the latest reviews, what's on in the area and stories on things that matter to you most.

This new newspaper is being distributed to 20,000 homes across Bath, with additional copies being made available at various locations in the city.

If you're reading this, it's likely to have dropped through your letterbox - so thank you for taking the time to have a look and we hope you enjoy what we've put together. We're trying to change

how local news is shared in Bath - we feel it should be more community-focussed, and we hope this new newspaper goes some way to making that happen.

We're going to be working closely with Bath's local businesses, venues and community leaders to ensure the coverage we provide in our stories is relevant to you, our local residents, and gives an insight into what's really happening where you live. As the paper continues into the future, we'll be adding more parts, including

dedicated Opinion / Letters and What's On sections.

As we're a completely free newspaper, we rely solely on advertising to keep running. We'll be working hard to ensure this doesn't affect the quality or become intrusive, as we want you to continue reading every fortnight.

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the organisations who have advertised in our first ever edition. We hope you enjoy reading.

Sebastian Hawker Editor, Bath Echo

Tuesday, 6th August 2019

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Milsom Street to go vehicle-free next month as part of “Love Our High Streets” WECA project MILSOM Street in Bath is to go vehicle-free for a whole weekend next month, championing businesses and offering space for pop-up trading stalls along the road.

The ‘Love Milsom Street’ event will take place on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September, and will see the street closed to all vehicles. The closure is set to give businesses increased footfall, as well as the opportunity to offer pop-up trading stalls and extra seating on the street.

Two mini parks the size of a single-car parking space, known as ‘parklets’, will be temporarily installed to provide seating and planting.

The event is part of the Love Our High Streets project funded by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), which aims to revitalise and rethink the way local high streets are used.

The closure will coincide with national World Car Free day on the Sunday and European Mobility Week on 16th – 22th September, a campaign to promote sustainable travel across Europe. To carry out the closure, Bath and North East Somerset Council is working with local businesses, Bath BID, Visit Bath and local landlords.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community

Milsom Street in Bath | Photo: Nigel Jarvis / Shutterstock.com

Services, said: “This is a fantastic community event that not only raises the profile of this historic street and attracts more visitors, but also supports our priority of tackling the climate emergency.

“Having a car-free weekend will highlight our commitment to bring clean air to Bath, as well as draw more visitors in to fully appreciate what Milsom Street has to offer.”

Councillor Joanna Wright, cabinet member for Transport added: “‘Love Milsom Street’ presents a unique opportunity to celebrate the businesses local to Milsom Street whilst testing

the environmental benefits of restricting traffic to one of Bath’s most prominent and historic high streets.

“The event which coincides with international car free day and EU mobility week will help to promote sustainable transport across Bath and raise awareness of the Climate Emergency.

“The success of this event will hopefully pave the way for more regular closures of Milsom Street in the future.”

Businesses from Milsom Street and Milsom Place have been involved with the event from the early stages. Paula Leech,

Area Manager of Kiehl’s, said: “I love the concept and am very much looking forward to this collaboration and possibly future ones.”

West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles, added: “This is a great example of how our Love our High Streets project is helping to revitalise local communities by giving high streets and town centres a real boost.

“The future of our high streets isn’t just about shops, it’s about our businesses, community activities and the way that spaces are used. This is another example of how the West of England Combined Authority is making a difference in our communities.

“Making Milsom Street a vehiclefree zone for the weekend also supports our ambitions for clean and inclusive economic growth in the West of England, as set out in our Local Industrial Strategy.”

The street will be closed from 5am on Saturday 21st September to 23:59 on Sunday 22nd September.

Diverted traffic will be rerouted along George Street, Gay Street, Old King Street, John Street and Quiet Street. All parking will be suspended from Milsom Street during the closure and the Park and Ride bus service will be diverted to Queen Square.

The bus stop will be located on eastern side of the square.

News in Brief Hardware store to close The popular Langbridge Home Hardware store in Larkhall is to close next spring. A statement posted by the shop said: “We will have had 62 great years of serving the community and we thank all our loyal customers for their support over these years, but now the time has come for Mike and Angela to retire.” The shop, which opened in Larkhall in 1958, was named in the Top 20 DIY stores in Britain by The Telegraph newspaper for three years running.

Bath man sentenced A 26-year-old man has received a two-year community order after being convicted for burglary and fraud offences following his arrest in June. Elliot, 26, of no fixed address in Bath, has been sentenced to a two-year community order with a sixmonth curfew restricting his movements between 7pm-7am.

He will also undergo a 40-day rehabilitation activity and has been ordered to pay an £85 victim surcharge. Elliot was arrested on 25th June after using debit and credit cards stolen from a property in the Walcot area of Bath. He was charged on Wednesday 26th June with burglary and theft.

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Tonnes of residual waste to be burnt in bid to avoid using landfill NEW contracts have been awarded to two regional companies to manage local residual waste, material which cannot be recycled or otherwise reused, which will be burned to produce electricity.

The new contracts will see the vast majority of such waste diverted from landfill and instead used to generate energy, with the potential to power more than 120,000 homes. A third contract has also been awarded for processing bulky residual waste.

Recycling rates are increasing right across the West of England region, which covers the Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol City, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Council areas, but there are materials that it is not possible to recycle or repurpose.

Until now, the four local authorities have worked jointly to dispose of this via energy recovery facilities in Scandinavia, but the new approach will mean it is managed locally, saving money and transport-related emissions.

The contracts will see Viridor and Suez disposing of 120,000 and 50,000 tonnes of residual waste each year respectively, while ETM will manage the disposal

of 45,500 tonnes of bulky waste each year. The new arrangements will ensure that all of the residual waste is managed in the South West region and that the electricity produced feeds into the power grid locally.

By reducing transport and other costs, it is expected that across the four local authorities will save more than £300,000 each year.

The new contracts will use two Energy from Waste (EFW) plants in Avonmouth to use the waste as a fuel to generate electricity and potential energy for heating, using new technology that incinerates pre-treated, non-recyclable waste at high temperatures under carefully controlled conditions.

EFW technology is able to divert more waste from landfill than the current Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) disposal method and will help to reduce the amount sent to landfill across the region.

The new contracts require the new contractors to achieve at least a 90 per cent diversion from landfill for residual waste collected at the kerbside and 80 per cent diversion for bulky waste and that collected at council recycling centres.

Councillor David Wood, cabinet

The Severnside Energy Recovery Centre in Avonmouth | Photo: urbanbuzz / Shutterstock.com

member for Climate Emergency and Neighbourhoods at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “It’s terrible in this day and age that we send our rubbish all the way to the continent to be incinerated; with Climate Change at the top of the agenda we need to be more careful with our carbon footprint.

“Sending so much rubbish to landfill is also the worst possible thing we can do. Landfilled rubbish creates methane that worsens Climate Change.

“These changes will reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill which is good news for

residents of Bath and North East Somerset and great news for the environment.”

Councillor Steve Pearce, Cabinet Member for Waste Regulatory Services and Commercialisation at Bristol City Council said: “These new contracts show how as a region we can provide cleaner energy from residual waste and save taxpayer money in doing so.

Our agreements with Viridor and Suez are an efficient and greener approach to reconstituting unusable waste into energy.”

Councillor Rachael Hunt, Cabinet Member for Communities at South Gloucestershire Council

added: “We are committed to continuing to improve our environmental performance; increasing the amount we recycle and reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill. Our residents have really risen to the challenges we have set down in our Waste Strategy and we are working together to make our area cleaner and greener.

“This new contract will help us manage and make the best use of the waste that can’t be recycled, which will now be used to generate energy locally, reduce transport-related emissions and save the council money.”

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News in Brief Uni's chronic pain study Researchers at the University of Bath are hoping to recruit local participants for a new study, to help them understand the mechanics of chronic pain in order to inform better future treatments.

They are looking for Bath-based volunteers aged 18 – 88 who have experienced pain in one limb for more than 3 months.

This might include a frozen shoulder, foot or ankle pain, or pain in the wrist or hand.

Regardless of the cause of the pain – whether because of a sports injury, surgery, accident or something else – they are interested in speaking to you.

Participants will be reimbursed for their time and travel. The study will take approximately 3 hours and takes place at the University’s Claverton Down campus.

Researcher, Teuni ten Brink explained: “Although sometimes we know why someone suffers chronic pain, for others it can be unclear why they have pain or why the pain has continued beyond the normal healing time for whatever caused it.

“We want to find out more about the underlying causes of chronic pain, which could help us in the development of new treatments.”

To take part, email Teuni via t.ten.brink@bath.ac.uk; or visit https://www.bath.ac.uk/ campaigns/help-us-understandthe-mechanisms-of-chronicpain/ for further information.

Green light for development on former church site PLANS to demolish St Joseph’s Church on Sladebrook Road in Bath to create nine new family homes have been approved

by Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Planning Committee.

Bath & North East Somerset Council has loaned Aequus Construction Limited, which it fully owns, £2.75million to develop the new properties, which will also generate gross returns estimated at more than £1million. Aequus Chairman, Charles Gerrish welcomed the decision, saying: “This scheme will bring forward 9 much needed family homes in Bath and in addition to the improvements to the layout and design approved today by the Planning Committee, we are also working on the site as a potential exemplar for energy efficiency and additionality of affordable housing.” Developers say the new layout will make much more efficient use of the redundant site, relocating the access driveway to the western and southern boundaries of the site together, while allowing for additional private amenity space for each dwelling and a greater separation between new homes and existing homes.

The new homes have been designed to “secure a high standard of internal and external amenity for future occupiers”.

£275,000 being sought to create 'exemplar' development Councillors are now being asked to approve £275,000 of funding to support the development, including the creation of two

Volunteers sought to maintain landscape AN appeal has been launched for more volunteers to help care for Bath’s landscape as part of a National Lottery Heritage Fund scheme to enhance the grassland and woodland surrounding the city.

Bathscape’s Community Action for Nature Group, which runs regular volunteering sessions in the countryside around Bath, is looking for volunteers to help care for the landscape and make sure it can be enjoyed by future generations. The work people could get involved in is varied, but it will give people the chance to develop new skills, while working to restore important grassland and woodland areas that are under threat. From hand-collecting seeds from yellow rattle plants on National Trust land to sowing the seeds later in the year throughout the Bathscape area, volunteers

will see the fruits of their labour.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “With growing concerns about climate emergency and biodiversity loss, here is an opportunity for people to take positive action.

“Meadows and grasslands are teeming with wildlife and are essential for many pollinating insects. In Bath they also form the stunning green backdrop of the city itself.” Amy Coulthard, Director of Conservation at Avon Wildlife Trust, said: “Thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and players of the National Lottery, we are going to be able to work with communities in Bath, supporting hundreds of new volunteers over the next five years, as we take crucial steps towards safeguarding these important habitats.”

Above: How the proposed development is expected to look - Below: The rear of the properties | Photos : Aequus Homes

shared-ownership properties, as exemplars of eco-friendly affordable housing.

The cabinet member for Housing, Planning & Economic Development, Councillor Tim Ball and the cabinet member for Resources, Councillor Richard Samuel are being asked to approve £140,000 to ACL to fund the affordable housing.

They are also being asked to approve £128,000 to support the provision of very low carbon, sustainable family homes as an exemplar site for climate change emergency.

The councillors are also requested to approve £7,000 to provide for title restrictions to ensure against the future use of the properties for House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) purposes.

New artwork tribute to unsung hero THE artist behind Bath Riverside’s Hershel Chairs has created a new piece of permanent artwork for the development’s Elizabeth Park, as a tribute to a local unsung hero.

The bronze sculpture, which takes the form of a two-seater chair, is in tribute to unsung hero Leonard Jenyns (1800 –1893).

Jenyns, a Victorian clergyman and naturalist in Bath, turned down a voyage on HMS Beagle and instead recommended naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin to take his place. The artwork commemorates Jenyns’ influence on Darwin, whose five-year voyage on HMS Beagle in the early 19th century lead to what would become the foundation of evolutionary biology, ‘On the Origin of Species’.

Bath artist Patrick Haines created the Jenyns Seat in the same style as his previous Herschel Chairs, which were in tribute to astrono-

mers William and Caroline Herschel who are credited for the discovery of Uranus in 1781.

The sculpture forms part of the Bath Riverside art strategy which includes stone carvings, bronze sculptures, window etchings and more.

Mr Haines said: “I feel honoured to be asked to create another piece of work for the Riverside development. I wanted to continue with the theme of connecting the artwork to Bath’s history.

“I believe the chair represents the sharing of ideas between Darwin and Jenyns and is somewhere for people to sit and contemplate

their important work. Jenyns moved to a house near Bath in 1850 due to his wife’s ill-health and he is buried at Lansdown Cemetery, so a commemoration to his memory in Bath is fitting.”

Jenyns’ collections of books, research and correspondence with Darwin is now the property of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution in Queen Squar. Betty Suchar, Chair of Directors at BRLSI, added: “BRLSI is very pleased that Crest Nicholson is supporting a tribute to Leonard Jenyns, a prominent member during the 19th century. In celebration of his many contributions, BRLSI has named a room at Queen Square in his honour and published a book in 2005, Leonard Jenyns Darwin’s Lifetime Friend, which drew on the extensive correspondence between Darwin and Jenyns. The special artwork was officially unveiled at the opening of Elizabeth Park on 26th July.

Not sure what to do when you get your GCSE or A Level results?

Come along to our

Results Day Advice Surgeries th nd 15 & 22 AUG • 10AM - 2PM Whether your results are better or worse than you thought, come and see us to get: • • • •

Answers to any questions you have about coming to college Advice and guidence on what your results mean for you Help with online course applications Apprenticeship advice

City Centre Campus, Avon St, Bath BA1 1UP Somer Valley Campus, Wells Road, Radstock BA3 3RW 01225 328 720

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Free night out at Bath Racecourse offered to local residents BATH Racecourse is offering residents with a BA postcode free tickets to enjoy a night out at the races next month, as a thank you to the local community for their continued support. Anyone living with a BA postcode can claim two complimentary tickets per household to experience horseracing at the prestigious Lansdown venue.

As well as seven races on the night for residents to enjoy, there’ll be food and drink available whilst people soak up the atmosphere

of the evening.

Jo Hall, Executive Director of Bath Racecourse, said: “We’re offering Bath residents the chance to come racing for free this summer as a way to thank the local community for their on-going support and also encourage locals who haven’t visit us before the chance to experience what we have to offer.

“After our multi-million-pound redevelopment in 2016, the racecourse is looking stunning.

“Offering residents free tickets also gives us another opportunity to show our local community the new-look racecourse.”

BA postcode residents can claim their free tickets simply by visiting: https://www.bath-racecourse.co.uk/whats-on/free-residents-racenight and selecting the Free Residents Ticket.

There is a maximum of two tickets per household, and tickets must be claimed by midnight on Monday 26th August.

Avon Fire & Rescue Rescheduled charity dragon boat to Service 'recruits' 200 take place in Bath next month special trauma teddies AVON Fire & Rescue Service has recruited a special crew of trauma teddies thanks to a local organisation, which will be used to support youngsters at upsetting incidents.

The 200-strong-crew will be spread out across the service’s area to ride on trucks alongside firefighters and specialist equipment.

The cuddly toys will be handed out to children involved in t ra u m a tic and upsetting incidents w h o are distressed or in need of reassurance and emotional support.

Kindly knitted by the Knowle Townswomen’s Guild in Bristol, it is hoped the teddies will help to make a real difference.

Darren Clasper, Risk Reduction Watch Manager at AF&RS, said: “We are absolutely delighted that this group of extraordinary women have come together to provide these trauma teddies.

“We often attend upsetting emergency incidents and we see children in distress who don’t understand what is happening and why they are there.

“As a Service, we understand how scary these experiences can be so any small act of comfort, such as a teddy, will go a long way.

“This gives us an opportunity to engage with children and lessen the impact of a situation. For that, we cannot thank the Knowle Townswomen’s Guild enough.”

Each fire engine across the Avon Fire & Rescue Service area will carry at least two bears at any one time, so they can be gifted to children in need, from those at a fire, road traffic collision or simply locked in a bathroom.

The remainder of the bears will sit with the Children and Young Person department and will be handed out at schools and safeguarding.

AF&RS is also a keen advocate of mental health and wellbeing, and has taken big steps recently by providing wellbeing spaces, Trauma Risk Management, and family and wellbeing officers.

The Knowle Townswomen’s Guild, who kindly knitted the bears, is celebrating its 90th birthday this year and has been key in supporting women and the community throughout the years.

Members have been involved from everything from Women’s Suffrage Societies, raising money to plant trees, encouraging environmental change and campaigning on mental health.

Stella Tratt, of the Knowle Townswomen’s Guild, said: “We are delighted that AF&RS have accepted our offer to provide them with trauma teddies.

“I have distributed the knitting pattern to all the Townswomen’s Guilds in the Avon area and, while there is still a need, we will carry on knitting!”

THE popular Headlight charity dragon boat race in Bath, which was postponed earlier this year due to bad weather, has been rescheduled for Saturday 14th September.

The event is organised by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP) NHS Trust’s official charity Headlight, which raises money to help support people with mental health conditions.

The AWP Trust is looking for teams and individuals to compete on the River Avon in Bath or to come along and support the racers.

Last year saw teams of staff, volunteers, members of the public and local businesses battling it out in a series of races, racing 30foot Chinese-style dragon boats to the beat of the drummer in the prow. The event raised over £5,000.

Headlight Mental Health Charity Fundraising Manager, Tia Shortall, said: “It’s great news that the event has now been rescheduled and we look forward to welcoming all our supporters to the River Avon for this exciting event.

“The race is now in its third year and is growing every year. It’s fun, a great way to build relationships

with teams and helps raise money for people who are supported

by AWP. “We’re looking for teams to take part in this enjoyable and lively event. No equipment is needed, as everything is provided, including skilled helms and tuition.

“All fitness and skill levels can participate – co-ordination being far more critical than upper body strength! We welcome registrations from individuals or full teams.”

The event will take place at the Minerva Bath Rowing Club, Newbridge Road, Bath, BA1 3NB, from 9am on Saturday 14th September. Registration is just £10 per person, and you can then either pay an additional £25 to take

part or pledge to raise as much as you can via sponsorship, aiming for a minimum of £50.

Spectators are welcome and in addition to the racing, the day will feature fun off the water as well as on, with children’s entertainment, stalls, raffles and food and drink. Tia continued: “Even if you are not too keen on entering the racing, there will be plenty of things to do on dry land.

“We would love for anyone who is looking to support a good cause to sign up and take part or to join us at the event and cheer on the racers.”

To find out more, visit www.headlightcharity.org.uk/support-us/ our-events/dragon-boat-race/.

£260,000 grant success for Great Western Air Ambulance charity THE Great Western Air Ambulance Charity has been selected as one of the recipients to receive a grant of more than £260,000 from the Air Ambulance Capital Fund.

The charity was granted £267,659 towards the purchase of a new fleet of critical care cars. The Air Ambulance Capital Fund is a one-off funding opportunity from the Department of Health

and Social Care aimed at air ambulances across the UK, to help with the capital costs of upgrading equipment or facilities.

Chief Executive Anna Perry explained: “We’re thrilled to have received this one-off pot of money, which will enable the charity to purchase 3 new critical care cars and associated equipment.

“Many people don’t realise that we attend around two-thirds of

incidents in one of our cars, effectively bringing the expertise and specialist equipment of an Emergency Department directly to the scene of an incident.

“This means that patients are able to receive complex medical interventions from our Specialist Paramedics and Doctors such as blood transfusions and anaesthetics, before they even reach hospital."

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Five-year-old male Harris hawk brought in to deter urban gulls from settling on Bath's roofs A FIVE-year-old Harris hawk called Murray is being used to keep urban gulls at bay, by sweeping over roofs where gulls have been identified as causing a problem.

Urban gulls pose a risk to public health and safety in Bath and North East Somerset.

The Harris hawk, which was bred for pest control, has been brought in to sweep over roofs where gulls are causing an issue with aggression or excess faecal coverage.

He does not harm the birds but merely scares them away. Harris hawks are not native to the UK, so the gulls are intimidated by the mystery predator in their midst. Murray’s job is to carry out weekly flights over locations where there is evidence of large or increasing

numbers of gulls.

T h e s e include hospitals, industrial estates, town centres and any sites where gulls have become displaced.

Contractor NBC Environment is currently carrying out a threeyear contract to tackle the gulls on behalf of Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “Murray and his handlers are carrying out an excellent function in tackling the gull population in Bath and North East Somerset.

“We want to prevent any risk to public health from the gulls, which is why our contractors carried out removal of eggs and nests in the spring.

“At this time of year the gulls are not in their breeding phase, so our falconry flights are part of the

continued effort to keep numbers down by deterring gulls from settling on roofs.

“A survey we have commissioned tells us that the gull population has decreased in Bath and I would like to reassure residents that we are doing our utmost to continue this trend.”

According to the most recent survey, the gull population in Bath stands at 835 pairs. This represents a decrease of more than 26% since 2015.

Areas in which gulls are being deterred by the hawk include Bathwick, Combe Down, Kingsmead, Moorlands, Newbridge, Odd Down, Oldfield Park, Southdown, Westmoreland and Widcombe and Lyncombe.

The former Welton Bibby factory site in Midsomer Norton is also being treated, as well as some council-owned buildings in the centre of Bath.

The roof treatments are part of a series of measures being put in place to tackle the gull problem, supported by Bath & North East Somerset Council.

Plans being drawn up to convert historic city centre Bath hospital into new luxury hotel Stephen Sumner

Local Democracy Reporter

THE Singaporean investors who now own a historic Bath hospital are drawing up plans to turn it into a luxury hotel.

NHS staff are set to complete their relocation from the Grade II-listed Royal National Hospital For Rheumatic Diseases – previously called the Royal Mineral Water Hospital and better known as the Min – to the Royal United Hospital by the end of the year.

The 18th century Upper Borough Walls property was bought

by Winchester-based Versant Homes and Development in 2017, which said it was exploring a range of options.

However, Land Registry documents reveal that it sold the

building to Fragrance UK – Bath Limited in January 2018 for £21.5million.

The firm claims to have a “current market capitalization” in excess of $1billion.

According to Companies House, the board is made up of three Singapore-based directors, Dr Koh Wee Meng, Looi Wan Lim and Periakaruppan Aravindan, and “wealth services” firm Intertrust (UK) Limited is the secretary.

Fragrance Group’s website shows it has portfolios in Singapore and Australia and owns a number of historic and listed hotels across the UK, including Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel, the Crown Hotel in Harrogate and the Townhouse Hotel in Manchester.

It has submitted plans to convert Liverpool’s Municipal Buildings and other premises in Torquay

and Paignton into hotels.

The Fragrance Group website says of The Min: “Originally built in the 18th century to serve those who came in search of the healing properties of Bath’s mineral waters, this property comprises of two buildings connected by a two-storey bridge link and basement tunnel.

“Plans are being drawn up to develop the property into a luxury hotel.”

It says the company’s vision is: “Delivering developments that bring together the qualities of practicality, simplicity and high quality. Maximising the usability of compact urban spaces.”

A planning application has not yet been submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Fragrance Group is not the first company from the East Asia to

take an interest in Bath Malaysia-based YTL owns the Gainsborough Bath Spa Hotel and the Thermae Development Co Ltd, which holds the licence to operate the Thermae Bath Spa complex.

The Royal Mineral Hospital was founded in 1738.

The RUH acquired the site in 2015 and put it up for sale in 2017.

It is not clear exactly how much the trust got for the site but its annual report for 2017/18 says: “The sale of the Mineral Hospital is included in the profit on disposal of property which resulted in a net profit of £15.265m, reduced by sundry other asset disposals during the year.”

RUH deputy chief operating officer Claire O’Farrell told councillors that staff will have vacated the Min by the end of December.

Dyrham Park's paintings go on show during work SOME of Dyrham Park’s finest paintings have gone on show at very close quarters thanks to ongoing conservation work to revitalise the National Trust property.

Work on the house, part of a £10 million project across the whole National Trust site, means that both staircases are currently undergoing vital repairs.

As a result, a large number of paintings have had to be moved.

But rather than store them away,

the works of art are being housed on stands in two rooms – the Slop’t Parlour and Gilt Leather Parlour.

The special collection includes various 17th century Dutch pieces by Samuel van Hoogstraten, Hendrick Danckerts and Melchior de Hon-

decoeter, a work

by Spanish painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo dating from the 1660s and paintings of the Blathwayt family who created the house back in the late 1600s.

William Blathwayt lived and worked in Holland during his career as

a prominent civil servant, so the collection reflects his life and love of contemporary perspective oil painting. Eilidh Auckland, House and Collections Manager, said: ‘This is a once in a lifetime chance to see these magnificent pieces of art really close.

“You can see things you maybe wouldn’t normally spot and it’s a rare treat to be able to see these paintings at such close quarters in our specially created ‘pop-up’ gallery."

News in Brief Police seek Anthony Ford Police have launched an appeal for help to trace a man called Anthony (Tony) Ford as part of an ongoing investigation, who is believed to have worked in Bath around forty years ago. Mr Ford lived in the Oldland Common area on the outskirts of Bristol in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Officers believe he was well known in the area, and worked in a clothes shop in Bath at the time.

If you know Anthony and can put officers in touch with him, or have any information which could help police contact him, get in touch through www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/contact, or call 101 quoting reference 5218213467.

Looking for lost friends Do you know Juliet and George Grear who live in Bath?

Val Larcombe in Wellington, Somerset is trying to get in touch with them, after losing her address book. If you know either Juliet or George, and can help Val contact them, please get in touch with the Bath Echo team via phone or email news@ bathecho.co.uk and we'll pass on the details.

50 free walks on offer The programme for this year’s Bathscape Walking Festival has been announced and bookings are now being taken, with over 50 free walks being offered for residents and visitors to enjoy.

The Festival features 50 free walks covering a variety of themes and distances.

All the walks are led by knowledgeable leaders and supported by volunteers. They start at various locations around Bath and explore every corner of the city and surrounding countryside.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “If you’re visiting Bath for the first time, or have lived here all your life, whether you want to walk longer distances, enjoy stunning views, find out more about local history or want a shorter, thought provoking experience, there’s a walk for you.

“It’s a really exciting range of walks, and we are grateful to our walk leaders, funders and players of the National Lottery for making it possible.”

The packed programme includes historic walks where you can learn more about John Wood, Ralph Allen, Emperor Haile Selassie and William Beckford There are walks about gardens and climate change and plants and foraging. Many of the walks are child-friendly, including a number of bat walks. There are also walks aimed at those living with dementia, people wanting to improve their health and wellbeing or taking their first steps to fitness. You can even help Bathscape create a meadow.

To find out more, visit www. bathscapewalkingfestival.co.uk

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New outpatient pharmacy opened Students create 3D to improve convenience at the RUH replicas of Bath Abbey's collapsing floor THANKS to a new partnership between LloydsPharmacy and Royal United Hospital in Bath, outpatients can now benefit from a faster, more convenient pharmacy experience at the site in Combe Park.

The outpatient pharmacy at the RUH has been completely revamped to help improve service levels for patients.

It was officially reopened on Thursday 1st August at a special ribbon-cutting event, which was attended by Alison Ryan, Chair from the Trust and Kevin Birch, Chief Retail Officer from McKesson UK, which includes LloydsPharmacy.

The new outpatient pharmacy, which is located in the hospital’s Atrium main entrance, is designed to be brighter and more modern, making it a comfortable environment for patients to collect their prescriptions.

The layout of the dispensary will make the operation more efficient, which should lead to reduced waiting times.

Kevin Birch from McKesson commented: “We’re delighted to work in partnership with the RUH to provide patients with the best possible service and help to make a difference to their hospital experience.

“We understand that outpatients want to be able to collect their medicine from a welcoming, attractive pharmacy – and not have to wait too long.

“We hope that this new design will make things better for not only our patients, but also the team of colleagues working in there.”

As well as an improved environment, patients, RUH staff and visitors can also access a range of over-the-counter products, including pain medication, skin care products and toiletries.

The pharmacy team can also provide advice and support for

patients who have any questions about their health or treatment regime. RUH Chief Pharmacist Regina Brophy said: “We hope the new pharmacy provides a better and safer use of space for our patients. “Visiting hospital can be a difficult time for many people, but by enhancing the services we provide, we can help improve that experience.”

The outpatient pharmacy at Royal United Hospital in Bath dispenses over 5,000 prescriptions each month.

New Elizabeth Park at Bath Riverside officially opened

STUDENTS and academic staff from the University of West of England (UWE) have been helping Bath Abbey to create a detailed archive and 3D replicas of their historic ledgerstones.

The research is essential as all 891 ledgerstones that form Bath Abbey’s floor are currently being lifted, restored and replaced as part of the Abbey’s Footprint project to repair the collapsing floor while installing eco-friendly heating using Bath’s hot springs.

Many of the ledgerstones which form the Abbey’s floor are presently in a poor state of repair.

Some date back to the 17th century and are so fragile that they could disintegrate during removal, making their re-assembly all the more complicated.

The group from the University of West of England (UWE) were able to accurately record the condition of the ledgerstones using a process called photogrammetry, which involves taking a series of photos all the way around the object. Computer software was then used to transform the images into realistic 3D models, and some of these models have been successfully “printed” to create physical

replicas. David Littlefield, joint leader of the Advance Cultural Studies module at the University of West of England (UWE), said: “Overall, the Abbey is a fascinating place at a crucial moment in its history.

“We are incredibly grateful to staff for giving us the time to study the Abbey’s floor surface in such detail – the floor is a physical record of Bath’s social history, as well as a changing surface which records its continued use and the central role the Abbey plays in Bath’s cultural and spiritual life.

“My students, who are from the UK and abroad, consider the time spent at the Abbey to be a rare privilege; and we hope that their work will help in the deeper understanding of this building, and heritage spaces more widely.”

Ollie Taylor, Head of Interpretation, Learning and Engagement at Bath Abbey, added: “This is a great example of combining art, science and technology to assist conservators in a real-life scenario.

“The students and academic staff from UWE have done a fantastic job of documenting and replicating the Abbey’s ledgerstones."

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CREST Nicholson Regeneration welcomed hundreds of people to the new Elizabeth Park on Friday, 26th July, as part of the official opening at the Bath Riverside development.

Their recent Party in the Park marked an important milestone in the development of Bath Riverside.

Hundreds of people visited the park throughout the day, enjoying the new open space along with a selection of art installations, and an open-air showing of The Greatest Showman in the evening.

Bath Riverside’s very first apartment owner Denise Medley cut the ribbon to officially open the park, which creates a landscaped open space between the flagship Royal View and Sovereign Point buildings and runs alongside the busy riverside path.

Crest Nicholson Sales & Marketing Director Marcus Evans said: “The launch went really well and visitors were delighted with the new art installations, which add some real character to the landscaping around

the buildings. “We showed a number of people around the apartments and made some interesting connections.

“This is the latest milestone in the Bath Riverside development, which has transformed a derelict waterfront site and created a genuine destination for residents and visitors alike.

“We believe we are playing a key part in creating a new residential address for the city complete with commercial and leisure opportunities.”

Named by public demand, Elizabeth Park will give Bath Riverside a large open space to visit beside the Avon, and improve the scenic route for residents and the general public to and from the city centre.

“People seem to have taken the new park to their hearts – and we received many positive comments from members of the public and stakeholders.

“We are confident Elizabeth Park will become the vibrant, beating heart of our development.”

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£10 million of funding announced for Clean Air Zone schemes GOVERNMENT money of up to £10 million has been announced to fund various schemes that will help reduce the impact of Bath’s proposed Clean Air Zone on businesses and residents.

The funding is on top of £5.5 million already secured to implement the zone when it is launched by 2021.

Earlier this year, Bath & North East Somerset Council agreed a class C charging clean air zone which will exempt cars from paying to drive in the zone.

The class C zone is being introduced to urgently reduce harmful levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution by 2021 at the latest.

Private cars and motorbikes will not be charged, but higher emission commercial vehicles such as vans, lorries, buses, taxis and private hire vehicles will be affected.

The council has already put in a bid for more than £28 million to fund a wide package of measures to support those affected by the scheme and further improve air quality in the city.

To date, it has been successful in securing £10 million to help local bus companies to upgrade older

buses; provide financial support to help local businesses and individuals upgrade non-compliant commercial vehicles; and to fund a team of travel advisors to help business access the financial support on offer and encourage people to switch to greener, cleaner travel. As part of the full business case to be submitted later this year, the council will seek funding for other mitigation measures to help businesses consolidate deliveries and reduce their reliance on large vehicles delivering goods into the city centre by using alternatives such as electric cargo bikes and vans and micro-distribution hubs.

Councillor Dine Romero, council leader, said: “While we have not yet secured all of the funding we bid for, this announcement from the Joint Air Quality Unit will allow us to move forward with Bath’s Clean Air Zone.

“We will continue to make our case for the full funding which is necessary to deliver the scheme successfully.

“In the meantime we can start to focus on supporting those local businesses directly affected by charges. We don’t want people

driving polluting vehicles in the city and we recognise businesses may need support to make the necessary changes.

“This announcement means we can now progress the work needed to get the financial assistance scheme up and running, further improving air quality in the city.”

The council is on track for a consultation early in the autumn on the draft charging order,

which will form the legal basis for enforcing the zone when it is launched by 2021.

Councillor Sarah Warren, cabinet member for Climate Emergency and Neighbourhood Services, added: “In addition to funds to mitigate the impact of the scheme, any future revenue from the zone will be reinvested into sustainable transport and travel.

“We want to encourage people

out of their cars by improving our sustainable transport networks.

“The clean air zone is an important next step towards achieving this and a cleaner, greener, healthier community plays a vital part in our overall commitment to climate emergency and the health and wellbeing of residents, future generations and our planet.”

MP Wera Hobhouse visits St Mungo's Bookbarn expands supported housing service in Bath bespoke design service across the world

BATH MP Wera Hobhouse recently visit St Mungo’s staff and clients at their supported housing service, Mulberry House, in the Weston area of the city.

Gill Day, Manager of Mulberry House at St Mungo’s, said: “It was great to welcome Wera Hobhouse MP to Mulberry House, our Mental Health Supported Housing Service, which aims to ensure people who require high support housing have access to it.

“Mulberry House provides accommodation and support to clients who may experience complex and enduring mental health challenges.

“The service enables clients to maximise independent living skills by enabling them to improve their life skills including cooking, household tasks, budgeting and personal care.

“We also support clients to access opportunities for social inclusion such as employment, education, training, leisure and other meaningful daytime activities.”

Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, added: “I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet with clients and support staff at Mulberry House.

“This specialist facility, the only one of its kind in Bath and North

East Somerset, provides a safe space for recovery.

“It was especially valuable and moving to hear from clients who shared their powerful personal journeys of recovery, and to see how they, in turn, are going on to support others with mental health challenges.

“It is vital that we remove the stigma associated with mental health issues and that we give mental health parity with physical health.

“We need many more facilities like Mulberry House to support those in need, and the funding required to run them.”

BOOKBARN is expanding its bespoke designer service, selling Books by the Yard to collectors, home designers and set dressers in the United States, Australia and China as well as a thriving UK market.

Specially chosen texts from Bookbarn’s shelving will feature on the forthcoming His Dark Materials TV series. Books also featured on Netflix show Sex Education 2.

Chief Executive Nick Bates said Bookbarn was looking to take its service to the next level by expanding its overseas market.

"We have already supplied highly authentic and historically accurate books for TV and theatre productions as well as the Being Brunel exhibition on the ss Great Britain. We have worked with designers at the BBC, Pinewood Studios, London’s Young Vic Theatre and the ss Great Britain Museum.

“Bookbarn is now finalising a deal to send texts to a bookshop in South Western Australia and to supply a bookseller in Taiwan as well as contacts in Shandong province in mainland China. We have also supplied 11 yards of

books for a luxury villa in Ibiza.”

Bookbarn provided 90ft of books to dress sets for the latest series of Luther - and has also supplied period books for Outlander and Doctor Who. “But now we are looking to build our business connections with hotels and restaurants and designers in the United States who are looking for bespoke, heritage books to complete their furnishings.

In China, there is strong demand for Shakespeare, classics, old bibles and antique books.”

Nick Bates added: “We are fulfilling our mission in Thinking Global, Acting local.”

Bookbarn’s bulk book ordering service is specially designed to deliver hand-picked selections of books – and with more than 750,000 books in stock at the Hallatrow headquarters, they can supply books of any shape, size or period.

“Books by the Yard provides books by age, colour, binding, genre and more. We have already fulfilled individual orders from across the world for more than 10,000 books, for your own instant library, to fill the shelves of a show home or hotel room.”

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Venues to open their doors across Mental health team Bath for Heritage Open Days festival gets creative to improve local headquarters

Visitors will be able to see the Cleveland Pools ahead of their restoration | Photo: © Cleveland Pools

VENUES across Bath and North East Somerset are set to open their doors this September, as part of an annual nationwide celebration of history, architecture and culture.

Heritage Open Days run from Friday 13th to Sunday 22nd September, and give people the chance to see hidden places and try new experiences – all for free.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “Heritage Open Days are a great opportunity for our community to see inside some fascinating places – many

of which aren’t normally open to the public.

“I hope residents of all ages will enjoy exploring the amazing heritage on our doorstep.”

There will be something for all ages and interests, including: • Meet the Roman Baths team at Lansdown North Local History Store, and take a tour of the weird and wonderful spa collection.

• Visit the strongrooms at Bath Record Office, where you’ll get exclusive access to some of the rare books collection.

• Put on a hard hat for a special behind-the-scenes tour of Bath Abbey’s Footprint Project.

• Discover Bath Jewish Burial Ground, the resting place for Bath’s Jewish community in the 19th and 20th centuries.

• Visit Cleveland Pools, the oldest open-air swimming pool in the UK, which will soon be restored and brought back into use.

• Explore Saltford Brass Mill with its working water wheel and water-powered mill.

• Visit Somerset & Dorset Railway Museum at Midsomer Norton and see the restored station buildings, signal box, and two museums. Opening dates and times for locations will vary. Advance booking may be required.

STAFF, users and carers from the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health NHS Partnership (AWP) NHS Trust have come together to enhance the working environment at the Trust’s headquarters.

In total 12 staff, including those from clinical and corporate teams, worked with nine service users and two carers on the Co-Create project, which provided them with the opportunity to work together to create artwork.

The idea of bringing service users, carers and staff together to co-produce artwork was developed at the B&NES service user forum.

Each service user or carer was matched with a member of staff to develop artwork in a variety of mediums, encouraging inclusivity and diversity.The artwork was based around the themes ‘what inspires me’, ‘what recovery means to me’ and ‘what identity means to me.’

The service users and carers were paired with staff before their artwork was created to discuss the themes and then develop their work.

They kept in touch with each other throughout the time they were creating their work, and this was followed by an opportunity to meet in person to share their work with each other and discuss their thoughts and views.

Lee Rawlings, Local Involvement Co-ordinator for AWP in Bath and North East Somerset, said: “Working alongside service users and carers on an entirely equal level is what makes this project so enjoyable and inspiring.

“It was about building relationships, enhancing trust and allowed the service users and carers to have fun, feel valued and give something back to AWP, supporting their recovery through meaningful activity.

"When I saw all the completed work I felt so proud and can’t wait to see the artwork on the walls of our Headquarters.”

Simon Truelove, AWP’s Interim Chief Executive, was involved in the project. He said: “I really enjoyed this project as it provided an opportunity for us to connect with those we provide services for and support.

"It was really interesting to discuss the themes and to hear people’s thoughts on recovery, identity and inspiration.

“We hope that the artwork will continue to stimulate conversations within our working environment and create a mutual understanding between staff, service users and carers.”

The final artwork will be displayed on walls around the Trust’s Headquarters at Bath NHS House on Newbridge Hill in Bath.

Over 2000 people give their views on Residents prosecuted improving health and care services over Blue Badge use HEALTH and care leaders in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire will be listening to views put forward by local residents as they draw up plans for the future.

Over 2000 people across the region have passed on their views about improving health and care services by answering questionnaires and attending events organised by local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and independent health champion Healthwatch.

Members of the public were invited to share their views as part of the ‘Our Health Our Future’ campaign, organised by local CCGs, and the Healthwatch #Whatwouldyoudo? campaign.

The results of the Healthwatch survey have now been published online.

The Healthwatch survey showed local people would like to see improved use of technology for booking appointments, more help for people to lead healthier lifestyles, shorter waiting times for access to GP appointments and for health professionals to have a better understanding of long-term health conditions such

as autism.

The ‘Our Health Our Future’ campaign closed on 31st July and collected responses from around 1600 people across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire via surveys and a further 750 people via face to face conversations.

Dr Ian Orpen | Photo: Stephen Sumner

Results from the survey will now be analysed by an independent researcher and will be shared with the public in the autumn.

Views collected from both campaigns will be used by health leaders as they draw up a plan for how health and care services across the region will be organised over the next five years.

Dr Ian Orpen, Chair of the BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical

Board, said: “We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to fill in the surveys and speak to us at events across the region over the past few weeks.

“It’s clear that local people have strong views about how heath and care services should be organised in the future. We will listen to them and make sure we address their concerns as we draw up plans for how we organise services over the coming years.”

Carol Willis, Manager at Healthwatch Swindon said: “The Government is investing an additional £20 billion a year until 2023 in the NHS to implement the vision laid out in the NHS Long Term Plan. We were asked to help find out what local people thought was the best way for the NHS in Bath & North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire to invest in the right services as part of this plan.

“It was wonderful to listen to so many people keen to make a difference to our local NHS. These views are all in the report and we will now monitor how the local NHS responds.”

THREE people in Bath have been successfully prosecuted

by Bath & North East Somerset Council for illegally using Blue Badges to take advantage of free and convenient parking.

Fiona Gay, aged 49, from Melrose Grove in Bath, failed to appear in court and the hearing proceeded in her absence. She was found guilty of Blue Badge Misuse and ordered to pay £1000 fine, £395 costs and a £100 Victim Surcharge.

Karen Sainsbury, 57, from Flatwood Road in Bath, pleaded guilty in person to Blue Badge Misuse and was ordered to pay £660 fine, £395 costs and a £66 Victim Surcharge.

El Bawna, 57, from Pennyquick View in Bath, pleaded guilty by post to Blue Badge Misuse and was ordered to pay £660 fine, £395 costs and a £66 Victim Surcharge.

The prosecutions were brought by the council and supported by Blue Badge Fraud Investigation

(BBFI).

Councillor Joanna Wright, joint cabinet member for Transport Services, said: “We recognise that the majority of Blue Badge holders are legitimate, but a minority play the system and use blue badges illegally.

“It means fewer disabled parking bays are available for those who really need them and less money goes into the public purse through parking charges.

“These prosecutions send a clear message to fraudsters that they risk going to court, receiving a criminal record and a fine of up to £1000 if caught.”

Residents can apply for Blue Badges if they have a disability or health condition that affects their mobility. Parents of a child with a health condition that affects their mobility can also apply for a Blue Badge.

Any instances of suspected Blue Badge abuse should be reported to Parking@bathnes.gov.uk or alternatively call 01225 477133.

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Work begins at Roman Baths to create new Learning Centre THE transformation of buildings on Swallow Street in Bath into a Clore Learning Centre for the Roman Baths and a World Heritage Centre for the city has begun.

The conversion is being carried out by Beard Construction, who are now on site.

The National Lottery-funded project will improve learning and engagement at the Roman Baths.

The project team will work with local community groups and schools from across the region on events, activities and sessions for educational groups.

Workshop leaders will lead new learning opportunities to investigate the Romans and the science of archaeology, in an exciting Investigation Zone set amongst the Roman remains of the archaeological site. The World Heritage Centre will contain imaginative displays which will show people why the city of Bath is a World Heritage Site and inspire them to go out and explore thir surroundings. It will be free to visit and welcome everyone. The project, supported by £3.4m from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, will also open up new areas of the Roman Baths to visitors, including a Roman laconicum (similar to a sauna) and a possible Roman exercise yard. The new facilities are due to open in 2020.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “We are delighted to see the creation of the Learning Centre and World Heritage Centre beginning.

“The new spaces will be accompanied by exciting community events, activities and learning opportunities – from wellbeing courses for local community groups, to a digging pit where school children can unearth replica Roman objects.

“In addition, we hope to attract visitors from around the world to see parts of the Roman Baths that will be revealed to the public for the very first time.”

The work will be undertaken by Beard Construction, who have a long history of carrying out projects involving historic sites, and of protecting heritage buildings throughout the south of England.

Mike Hedges, Beard Bristol director, said: “We are delighted to be back at the Roman Baths again, where we undertook work on the Temple Precinct back in 2013/2014, installing a walkway to enable easier visitor access to this historically important site.

“This new project will provide visitors with a hands-on learning experience set among Roman remains and help showcase Bath’s rich and fascinating heritage.”

New Living Library initiative deemed a great success STAFF at the Royal United Hospital in Bath have taken part in a special new Living Library initiative, where ‘books’ are people and the ‘reading’ consists of a conversation.

The Living Library saw 10 members of staff and volunteers base themselves at the RUH’s Education Centre to discuss a range of subjects with their colleagues, from palliative care, staff counselling and dementia care technology to yoga, physiotherapy and art and design.

There was even Pets as Therapy dog Fudge on hand with owner Martin Fricker.

‘Readers’ could choose the subject of the ‘book’ they wished to ‘borrow’, and sit down with them for a 15-minute chat to find out more about them and their role at the hospital.

Head of Library and Knowledge Services, Jason Ovens, said: “The Living Library event was held as part of national Health Information Week.

“It was a great opportunity for staff to meet and talk to colleagues that they may not otherwise speak to on a day-to-day basis.

“We have 5,500 people working at the RUH and this event showed how staff are

working together across the organisation, no matter what their role.

“Staff were very keen to volunteer to be ‘books’ and we had a really good turnout of ‘readers’ too.

“Feedback from staff has been really positive and we’ll be looking to do it again next year.”

Art and Design Manager Hetty Dupays, who manages Art at the Heart, the RUH’s award-winning art and design programme, was one of the staff who played the role of a book in the project.

She said: “It was a pleasure to have the opportunity at this event to talk about Art at the Heart in more detail and the benefits of the programme.

“We were all pleasantly surprised at the interest that this session generated and hope that this will become a regular event.”

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Education TV’s Martin Roberts opens Moorlands Community Nursery MAYOR Gerry Curran and his Mayoress Caroline Howarth recently joined a host of VIPs, families and children to celebrate the opening of the Moorlands Community Nursery and Early Years Centre in Bath.

TV presenter Martin Roberts, from Homes under the Hammer, cut the ribbon to officially open the nursery and then read the children a story in the newly refurbished outdoor learning space.

Martin read from one of the children’s books he has written, promoting children’s emotional development, his Villes series.

Ken Littlewood chair of the Board of First Steps Trustees thanked all the people who have been involved in the new build project, many of those who gave time and expertise for free.

Roz Lambert Chief Executive at First Steps said: “Today’s celebration is our chance to thank staff, parents and children who have supported First Steps through the long and often difficult process of replacing a building, we now have a chance

Photos: Jeni Meade Photography Martin Roberts opening the new nursery | Photo: Jeni Meade Photography

to continue to work with parents and this community to ensure that every child is able to reach their potential for generations to come. “This project demonstrates what can be achieved when a local charity works with the local businesses and the local authority to improve outcomes in a community.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank Loraine MorganBrinkhurst MBE and her

Morgan-Brinkhurst Events team who organised the fantastic celebration event.

“Moorlands Community Nursery is open all year around and has spaces for 65 children from babies to children starting school and an after school / holiday club.

“To ensure an integrated service for families a new parent’s room is available where parents can meet up with Early Years professionals.”

Peasedown group awarded £200 thanks to grant scheme

Accessibility Bathrooms Free towel set with every installation

A POPULAR Peasedown toddler group has been awarded £200 to purchase new toys.

The grant was provided by the village’s Party in the Park Grant Fund, which was set up in 2010 to support community projects and initiatives. Over the past 9 years, more than £15,000 has been given out to a variety of groups across Peasedown St John.

‘SJ’s Little Ones’, based at St John’s Church, is open four mornings a week for parents to come along with their baby-topreschool aged children to play, relax and socialise. Coordinator Sarah Carney said: “Our aim is to see no new mother, father or carer isolated, no toddler without toys to play with and books to read and all to be included and welcomed at our group, and thriving at this challenging stage in life. We aim to create a welcoming,

stimulating space where parents/ carers and their children can meet, be refreshed and feel encouraged. We have a wonderful team of very committed volunteers who serve teas, bake amazing cakes and listen and engage with everyone at the groups.”

SJ’s Little Ones currently supports 65 children and their parents each week with their large open social safe space, toy library, warm drinks and cake, and creative thoughtful and varied learning/ play opportunities.

Party in the Park’s Nathan Hartley said: “When we set up Party in the Park in 2008 we decided we wanted to support the community all year round, not just on one day of the year. So, a lot of the proceeds we make after each year’s festival are reinvested back into the local community.

“As the festival has got bigger, we’ve been able to fund more projects.

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Health National acclaim for RUH service Innovative new project which helps patients with dementia prepares elderly patients to go home A SPECIAL initiative which is helping to make the RUH in Bath a more dementiafriendly hospital has proved so successful it is being copied throughout the country. Patients with dementia now have the chance to listen to audiobooks, plays and TV and radio shows during their stay at the RUH. The aim of the initiative is to keep patients stimulated and engaged, while helping to relieve some of the boredom of being in hospital.

Head of Library and Knowledge Services, Jason Ovens, said: “We are the first hospital in the country to introduce audiobooks for patients with dementia and it’s proved so popular we’ve had calls from other hospitals up and down the country asking for more information.

“The idea behind this awardwinning initiative came from the library team and we’re very proud that it’s been such a success.

“It’s all about improving the patient experience – we’ve been told that patients with dementia are much more rested and less agitated because they have something to listen to.

“The feedback from both staff and patients has been very positive.”

Once a member of staff tells the hospital’s Academy Library that they have a patient who would benefit from an audiobook, the library staff get to work downloading the content for them. The patient or family member can suggest topics that are of interest and the library staff will do their best to find a close match. The library has access to hundreds of audiobooks, along with audio of old TV and radio shows, such as Only Fools and

Horses, The Goon Show and Desert Island Discs.

The shows are then loaded onto an easy to use audio player which is given to the patient, along with a pair of headphones so as not to disturb other patients.

The audio player, known as a Simple Music Player, was created

by Designability, an independent charity based at the RUH, which designs products for people with disabilities. Hazel Boyd, User Interface Engineer at Designability, said: “The Simple Music Player was developed for and with people with dementia, to be easily used by people who cannot remember how to work other music players.

“It is also easy to use by people without good dexterity or vision, enabling a wide range of people to access music independently.

“We are delighted that this access to audio content has been increased even further by this excellent audiobooks initiative by the RUH library.”

The success of the project has meant it’s now being rolled out across other departments at the RUH. In addition to dementia patients, it’s also proved very helpful for people who have had a stroke and have difficulty holding a book, the visually impaired, patients admitted to hospital suddenly and who haven’t had time to pack any personal belongings and also for patients who are having trouble sleeping.

It hasn’t taken long for word to get out about the initiative and it’s now being replicated at hospitals across the country.

Jason said that detective novels and some of the classics were among the most popular requests, but there was one patient who was a huge fan of a particular rock group.

“It was Bon Jovi and they wanted as much as possible about the group. We couldn’t provide them with the music, but we managed to locate some podcasts and I think that did the trick!”

Mineral Water Hospital's historic paintings set for expert restoration FIVE historic paintings at the Mineral Water Hospital in Bath are being given some TLC before they are transferred to the new RNHRD and Brownsword Therapies Centre at the RUH. In a delicate and careful operation, specialist artwork removers have lifted them from the walls ready for expert conservation and restoration over the next few months.

One is the RUH Trust’s bestknown and most treasured painting of Dr Oliver and Mr Pierce by the artist W.T. Hoare.

The conservation treatment involves cleaning the oil paint and canvas, repairing the frames and fitting them with a museum grade UV acrylic glazing.

The glazing will protect them from UV light and pollutants allowing them to be installed in the new RNHRD and Brownsword Therapies Centre in late September.

The restoration and added

protection mean that patients, visitors and staff can continue to experience and enjoy the rich cultural heritage of Bath’s medical past.

Hetty Dupays, RUH Art and Design Manager, said: “It’s always nerve-wracking to see such valuable and treasured paintings being handled, but our experts removers did a great job.

“The five paintings are hugely important historically and aesthetically.

It’s wonderful that they will be restored, conserved and improved and given a new home at our new therapies centre.”

Senior Sister Helen Slocombe with Occupational Therapist Annabel Hafner

AN innovative new project has been launched at the Royal United Hospital in Bath which aims to encourage elderly patients to get up and about and prepare them for their return home.

The ‘Dayroom to Doorstep’ initiative, the brainchild of Senior Sister Helen Slocombe, with support from Occupational Therapist Annabel Hafner, has seen a once under-used dayroom on Combe Ward brought back to life by staff.

The bright and airy dayroom is now a focal point for patients on the ward, which specialises in care for older people. It is kitted out with comfy chairs and a big table and has been sensitively decorated to compliment a number of vintage props, including an old television and rotary dial telephone. There is even a piano for the occasional sing song. The dayroom is the venue for games and art sessions, while patients are encouraged to get up and about and make themselves a cup of tea in the dayroom’s kitchen.

Annabel said: “Encouraging the patients to get out of bed and move around is so important for their muscle strength. It also builds their confidence and independence.

“We also encourage patients on the ward to dress in their own clothes while they are with us as this has been shown to aid their recovery.”

During Wimbledon, staff had the idea of treating patients to strawberries and cream in the

dayroom. Helen said: “We’ve really changed the way we work on Combe ward, making sure the dayroom is at the centre of everything that happens on the ward from daily lunch clubs to ensuring timely discharges.

“Patients are much more mobile and socialising with one another.

It also helps the hospital with patient flow. On a day a patient is due to be discharged, we will support them into the day room as early as possible to prepare them for their journey home, at the same time freeing up a muchneeded bed.

“The Dayroom to Doorstep project has been a real success and there are plans to expand it to other wards at the RUH.” The project has attracted worldwide attention, with Helen and Annabel speaking at a virtual ‘End PJ Paralysis’ global summit conference, which focused on the different work being done to encourage hospital patients to get up and about, wearing their own clothes, to boost their recovery.

Also speaking at the conference, was Team Lead Occupational Therapist Nicola Stirling, who talked about “Spreading the End PJ Paralysis love” message throughout the RUH. Nicola said: “This is such an important message and we are so passionate about it here at the RUH. Supporting patients to get up, get dressed and get moving gives them back their identity and sense of purpose, which is often lost whilst in hospital. It’s all about helping our patients feel like themselves again.”

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Paramedics being injured getting in and out of ambulances Stephen Sumner

Local Democracy Reporter

ONE paramedic a month in the South West is being injured while getting out of an ambulance, new figures have shown.

Fifteen accidents have been reported to South Western Ambulance Service in the 15 months leading up to the end of June.

In response, the trust said it has provided its staff with training on how to get in and out of vehicles safely “with appropriate footwear”.

According to figures published in the trust’s latest board report, 15 incidents – two of which were in Dorset – were reported through its reporting system. They cover the period from April 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 across the whole of

its area – South West England and the Isles of Scilly. Just under half of the reported injuries were sustained by paramedics attempting to use the sidestep of their vehicle which does not automatically fold out once the door is open.

The trust said all the ambulances involved had been checked with no faults found with the equipment. However, it has issued a bulletin to staff explaining how the side doors in its ambulances work. Seven of the total recorded incidents, including both reported in Dorset, related to people using the front doors of vehicles.

The remaining injury over the period came when a paramedic “fell out” the back of an ambulance.

A spokesman for the trust said: “Our staff are our most important asset and staff health and wellbeing is a top priority which is why

we introduced our acclaimed Staying Well Service for our 4,500 emergency crews to access.

“Frontline staff receive health and safety training on dynamic risk assessment, information and training on how to get in and out of an ambulance safely with suitable footwear. Staff also have access to annual learning and development reviews on current policies for slips, trips and falls risk assessment.”

The board report also highlights concerns about paramedic injuries being caused by the stretcher system on its new Fiat ambulances which have been introduced in Cornwall in recent months.

Six incidents have been recorded since May 1 this year including one where the front of a stretcher dropped to the floor while carrying a patient in cardiac arrest.

Cutting-edge radiology technology now being used at Bath's RUH

Dr Jonathan Rodrigues and Dr Ben Hudson

THE latest in medical technology is being used at the Royal United Hospital in Bath to help quickly and efficiently diagnose patients at risk from obstructive coronary disease.

The cutting-edge technology means that many patients being checked for a narrowing of their coronary arteries, something which can lead to angina and heart attack, may no longer need to undergo additional stress testing or even an invasive procedure.

The RUH has one of the latest CT scanners, that allows radiologists to capture motion-free images of the heart and its blood vessels in a single heartbeat. If the scan shows signs of coronary heart disease, it may be sent to HeartFlow, a company in the US, where it is analysed using computation fluid dynamic algorithms. The results are then returned to the RUH within just six hours in the

form of a computer-generated 3D model, clearly illustrating if the arteries have potentially flow-limiting narrowing and where.

Patients showing signs of obstructive coronary disease go forward to have ‘revascularisation’, through the introduction of a stent by cardiologists or a coronary bypass operation by cardiac surgeons. Where no flow-limiting narrowing of the arteries is found, patients don’t have to undergo any further tests and invasive procedures as they would have in the past, and instead, their condition can usually be managed with lifestyle advice and medications.

Consultant Radiologist, Dr Ben Hudson, said: “We’ve had nearly 300 patients use the new technology. It means that we are able to diagnose potential obstructive coronary disease earlier, and those patients that do not have a narrowing of their arteries no

longer have to go through any unnecessary and invasive tests.

“The HeartFlow analysis also helps us to determine whether or not the insertion of stents or surgical bypass is likely to relieve symptoms and improve a patient’s longer-term outcomes.”

Consultant Radiologist, Dr. Jonathan Rodrigues, added: “Heart disease remains the biggest killer in the UK. This new technology helps us work closely with our cardiology and cardiac surgical colleagues to identify upfront the best treatment for each individual patient.” The HeartFlow Analysis tool was introduced at the RUH after a successful bid to NHS England for an Innovation and Technology Payment, which helps to fund innovative medical devices, diagnostics and digital products.

HearftFlow Analysis is being used on a trial basis until April 2020.

Ambulances at the RUH in Bath | Photo: 1000 Words / Shutterstock.com

Celebration marks 10 years of Trust's Medical Nurse Practitioners THE Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust is celebrating 10 years since it introduced a valuable new nursing role that has made a huge difference across the hospital – Medical Nurse Practitioners.

Medical Nurse Practitioners (MNP) work as part of the multidisciplinary medical team, working alongside junior doctors, consultants and nurses across all clinical settings, dependent on their area of expertise.

An MNP is an experienced and highly educated registered nurse who undergoes further training to manage the complete clinical care for their patient, including assessing, diagnosing and treating patients with complex multi-dimensional problems.

When the role was first introduced at the RUH, one of the first hospitals in the country to do so, seven MNPs were appointed. Today there are 40 working across the medical division of the Trust – Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Respiratory, Endocrinology, General Medicine and Older Persons Unit. There are also nurse practitioners working in the Surgical department and Women and Children’s division.

Samantha Jones, one of the Trust’s first MNPs, who works in Cardiology, said: “Before I became a MNP, I was a junior sister and was looking to develop my skills and progress my career.

When I heard about the MNP role, it sounded like the perfect position for me – it was an opportunity to take a step up but also stay clinical and develop a different set of skills. Since being in my role, I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge and skills and my role has grown to working across all areas of cardiology.

“As I work alongside consultants and junior doctors, I find that we

bring a different perspective to making decisions whilst caring for our patients. You could say that we are the ‘glue’ between doctors and the nursing team.

“We run the rota for the junior doctors, and support them as they work on a four-month rotation. We’re able to spend that extra bit of time with them explaining how we do things and answer questions. We also have developed good working relationships with the ward sisters and we are here to support our nursing colleagues. My mantra is ‘can I do that?’ and I’ve found myself saying ‘yes’ in this role – I’ve pushed the boundaries and am proud of what I’ve achieved over the past 10 years.”

Philippa Nash, another of the original MNPs appointed 10 years ago, said: “It’s been amazing what we have achieved as MNPs. We have been very proactive in growing the role and are well-established within the nursing teams.

We have developed our skills, become highly experienced and have taken on new responsibilities. For example, we write new protocols and develop the way we work. The MNP role is also expanding across the Trust into Haematology so we have a MNP in every speciality within medicine. To anyone thinking about becoming a MNP, I would say to them that it’s a fantastic role and it is ideal if you want to stay working on a ward, but work to a much higher clinical level. You’re constantly learning, you’re clinically valued and you feel part of both the nursing and medical teams, which is great.”

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The 'Min' is on the move - what's relocating, and where to?

THERE are just a few weeks to go until various services begin their move from the Mineral Water Hospital in the city centre to the Royal United Hospital’s Combe Park site.

This will mark the first in a phased programme of staff and services moving from the building known locally as the ‘Min’. The historic building in the centre of Bath also houses rheumatology, rheumatology therapies and chronic pain services, as well as diagnostic and research teams and support staff.

All will be making the move to the main RUH site in Bath this autumn. Bringing staff and servic-

es together on one site has been many years in the planning, and the RUH has worked closely with patients and staff to design the best new home for each service.

RUH Chief Executive James Scott said: “This is an exciting time for everyone at the Trust and we’re really looking forward to colleagues and patients joining us here at Combe Park.

“We know the Min is a muchloved building and there may be some sadness at moving. However, our new facilities will ensure that we can continue to provide the same high quality care, delivered by the same teams, in

new and improved surroundings.

We’ve also paid great attention to the interior design of our new buildings, incorporating some of the Min’s iconic features and artworks to ensure the history, heritage and significance of the Min will live on.”

It’s just a couple of miles from the Min to the RUH, but moving a whole hospital is a big task so the move will take place in stages, during the weekends, over the space of a couple of months. This will ensure the minimum amount of disruption to patients and staff.

Until then, services continue to be provided from the Min site.

Date of Move

Services Moving

New location at RUH site

31st August - 1st September 7th - 8th September 11th September 14th - 15th September 10th - 11th October

• Bath Centre for Fatigue Services • RUH Therapies • RUH Pain services

RNHRD & Brownsword Therapies Centre

• Rheumatology Services • Rheumatology Therapies

RNHRD & Brownsword Therapies Centre

• Clinical measurement – Dexa • Clinical measurement - X-ray • Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Service • Complex Cancer Late Effects Rehabilitation Service

The Mineral Water Hospital in Bath | Photo: Colin Peachey / Shutterstock.com

Clinical Imaging and Measurement Department Fracture and Orthopaedic Clinic

RNHRD & Brownsword Therapies Centre

•

Research and Development

Wolfson Centre

•

Bath Centre for Pain Services

Bernard Ireland House

The new RNRHD & Brownsword Therapies Centre at the RUH

RNHRD and Brownsword Therapies Centre This new, purpose built centre is nearing completion close to the main entrance of the RUH. It will be an outpatient centre providing treatment, care and education for patients to recover from episodes of illness or injury, or to manage their long-term condition.

The new building will include a large hydrotherapy pool, group rooms, specialist gym and rehabilitation equipment, and a biologics treatment space.

The new centre has been specially designed to make use of natural light as well as garden areas and art to create a nurturing environment for all who use the building.

The centre will be the new home for many of the services currently provided at the Min, including: Rheumatology, Rheumatology Therapies, The Bath Centre for Fatigue Services, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Service and the Complex Cancer Late Effects Rehabilitation Service.

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Bernard Ireland House The RUH Trust is refurbishing a residential building at the Combe Park site, Bernard Ireland House, to create a fitting setting for the Bath Centre for Pain Services (BCPS).

This specialised, national service treats people of all ages with chronic pain and offers a range of residential programmes. Bernard Ireland House will provide specially designed residential accommodation as well as group treatment areas and office space.

Wolfson Centre The Wolfson Centre is where the RUH’s laboratory-based research and clinical trials take place and this will provide a new home for the Research and Development team currently based at the Min site. The Centre is being extended to provide access to more clinic and research rooms, dedicated laboratory areas and office space. The RUH has a long history of innovative research as well as supporting nationally organised studies.

Having both research teams together on one site will bring benefits and opportunities for the important research and development work that the staff at the RUH do.

Clinical Imaging and Measurement Department Clinical Measurement will move into the Clinical Imaging and Measurement Department at the RUH, located a short walk away from the RNHRD and Brownsword Therapies Centre. This department is being specially modified to provide suitable facilities for bone density and clinical imaging services, alongside the existing nuclear medicine services at the RUH.

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It’s not just staff from the Min site who are on the move. Teams from the RUH will also be relocating into the new RNHRD and Brownsword Therapy Centre on the weekend of 31st August. Services including Physiotherapy outpatients, Hydrotherapy Outpatients, the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Physiotherapy service, Hand Unit and RUH Bath Pain clinic will all relocate, bringing together therapies and pain services located at the RUH with many of the services currently located at the Min.

ECHO

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Community New benches set to be installed in Queen Square NEW benches are set to be installed in Queen Square in Bath, thanks to an award of £19,200 from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Neighbourhood Fund.

Bath City Forum allocated the CIL funding from the charge Bath & North East Somerset Council places on developers to support infrastructure improvements.

The money will also pay for the maintenance of the benches for at least the next decade.

Councillor Colin Blackburn, Bath City Forum chair, said: “Queen Square is a very well used green space in the city centre and the heritage site is a favourite spot with residents and visitors alike,

Queen Square in Bath | Photo: RogerMechan / Shutterstock.com

but the benches are worn and tired.

“By replacing them and securing

their maintenance into the future we can help to ensure that Queen Square remains an attractive and

welcoming green oasis is the heart of the city.”

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “The construction of new homes and hotels in the city means Bath’s outdoor spaces are well used.

“We need to ensure these spaces are looked after and that good quality street furniture is provided. Bath is a very walkable city.

“It is important to provide plenty of seating so that residents and visitors can rest and enjoy their surroundings and what better place to dwell awhile than Queen’s Square?”

The benches will be replaced later this summer.

News in Brief £20k of funding available Local charities and community groups are being encouraged to apply for funding of up to £20,000 from a pot worth over £3 million that has been raised by players of the People's Postcode Lottery.

A wide range of community organisations can apply for grants between £500 and £20,000. Applications are open until Wednesday 14th August. The funding is available through three different trusts, the People's Postcode Trust, Postcode Community Trust and Postcode Local Trust.

Visit www.postcodetrust.org. uk for more information and to download the application forms.

Actor Simon Callow backs upcoming Will Month fundraiser ACTOR, writer and theatre director Simon Callow is backing The Forever Friends Appeal’s annual RUH Will Month scheme, with appointments now available to book with participating solicitors.

He paid a visit to the Royal United Hospital in Bath earlier this year to see how the support from generous firms who, with the general public, have helped transform patient care through the important fundraising initiative.

Simon Callow said: “It’s terribly important, for every possible reason, for all of us to have an upto-date Will.

If you haven’t got one, help is at hand as part of the Forever Friends Appeal Will writing scheme.

“RUH Will Month is a great opportunity to have a Will written to professional standards. It costs less and helps support your wonderful local hospital. Do take advantage of this really excellent Will writing offer.”

This year, fourteen participating solicitor firms across Bath, Bristol, North East Somerset and Wiltshire have joined the RUH Will Month scheme.

They will prepare and draw up a professional Will for you at a reduced fee – £100 for a single standard Will and £150 for a standard Mirror Wills or joint Wills.

Jan Witt, In Memory and Legacy Officer, The Forever Friends Appeal said: “It may come as a surprise that fewer than half of the population have an up-to-date Will, despite its importance in offering you security for both you and your family.

“Often having a Will written can be expensive, therefore, we’d like to invite people to take advantage of our Will writing scheme to ensure savings, possessions and wishes are respected in the future, giving you peace of mind.

“By taking part in RUH Will Month you are also helping to support your local hospital as the solicitors waive their fees and are instead donated to our charity.

“This means that you can decide where the fee is donated – whether it goes towards one of our fundraising campaigns or to a specific ward or department that you may have a special connection with.”

To take part in RUH Will Month, simply call any one of the participating solicitors listed on The Forever Friends Appeal’s website, quoting ‘RUH Will Month’ and make an appointment for this September. Alternatively, for more information contact Jan Witt on 01225 825819 or email jan.witt@nhs.net.

Firms partcipating in the annual fundraiser in Bath include: • Bath Wills • BLB Solicitors • Burningham & Brown Solicitors • Cooke Painter Ltd Solicitors • Helen Starkie Solicitors • Mogers Drewett • Mowbray Woodwards Solicitors • Royds Withy King Solicitors

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Julian House's annual Circuit of New website offering Bath walk to take place next month relationship and sexual advice launched BATH charity Julian House is calling on the city's residents to join them for their 18th spectacular Circuit of Bath sponsored walk, taking place next month.

The walk, which is popular with both locals and visitors, takes place on Sunday 22nd September, and organisers are hoping to have over 400 people taking part.

The route takes in some of Bath’s beautiful nearby countryside and participants can choose their own distance – from 2 to 20 miles.

Participants can start the route at any of the 5 checkpoints, with a convenient shuttlebus running between each point: Kingwood School Upper Sports Pavilion, Bathampton Mill, Canal Visitor Centre (Limpley Stoke), St. Gregory’s Catholic College 6th Form building (Odd Down), and Newbridge Park & Ride.

It’s the perfect day out for families, friends or work colleagues and dogs are also welcome.

For young family groups, the stretch between Bathampton Mill and Limpley Stoke follows the canal path, making it suitable for pushchairs. Everybody who completes the whole 20-mile route

will be rewarded with a medal.

Tessa Kerslake, Community and Events organiser at Julian House said: “The fantastic thing about the Circuit of Bath Walk is that there is a route for everyone. You can choose to walk clockwise or anti-clockwise, and pick a distance that suits you.

“From an all day hike, to a lovely afternoon out. It is a fantastic opportunity for locals and visitors to Bath alike to experience the beautiful countryside on the doorstep of Bath.”

Tickets cost £12 for adults and £6 for children with £25 family tickets available. Organisers kindly

ask that all participants raise as much sponsorship as they can so that the charity can continue to help and support vulnerable people across the South West.

The money raised from the walk will help Julian House continue to change and save lives.

The charity operates emergency and supported housing projects, as well as support, training and employment services that give socially excluded people the opportunity to build a brighter future for themselves.

Further details, and tickets, can be found online at: www.circuitofbathwalk.co.uk.

£127k grant welcomed to support young carers in making music BATH & North East Somerset Council has welcomed the announcement of a £127,000 grant that will support young carers from across the area in making music with the aim of improving their wellbeing.

The National Foundation for Youth Music has awarded the grant to Bath Philharmonia, the city’s professional orchestra.

The money will be used to deliver a programme of music-making activities, helping young carers from across the South West to discover their musical talent and improve their levels of self-confidence.

The unique project aims to improve young carers’ wellbeing through music and will culminate in 14 performances across the South West.

Councillor Kevin Guy, cabinet member for Children’s Services, said: “This is fantastic news for young carers across Bath and North East Somerset.

“There are many young people under the age of eighteen across Bath and North East

Somerset who have a significant caring responsibility for someone in their family who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol.

“For many young carers caring can have a significant and long term impact on their physical and mental health, and wellbeing.

“Providing them with an opportunity to escape the pressures of daily life by making music can often be hugely beneficial.

“I really looking forward to hearing those who take part in the programme perform.”

Working in partnership with local Music Education Hubs, Bath Philharmonia will train music leaders from Plymouth, Torbay, Poole, Somerset and Bath & North East Somerset in delivering music-making activities to young carers.

Jason Thornton, Music Director at Bath Philharmonia added: “We’re delighted with this grant from Youth Music. Being a young carer can be very isolating.

“This grant will give young carers a safe place to play

together, using music as an outlet for their self-expression and to share their life experiences.

“What’s more, by training local music leaders, even more young carers will be able to fulfil their musical potential.”

YOUNG people across Bath and North East Somerset can now access relationship and sexual health advice and information with just a few clicks of a mouse, thanks to the relaunch of a website. www.safebanes.com has been redesigned in collaboration with young people from across the area.

The site, which is easy to navigate, provides users with advice and information on free condoms (C Card); contraception; emergency contraception; sexually transmitted infections (STIs); pregnancy; sexual and gender identity; relationships and sexual abuse.

The website, set up by Bath & North East Somerset Council’s public health and preventative services team, also gives details of sexual health and relationship services available across Bath and North East Somerset including those in Bath, Keynsham, Chew Valley, Paulton, Midsomer Norton and Radstock.

Councillor Rob Appleyard, cab-

inet member for Adult Services and Health, said: “Sexual and reproductive health is a core aspect of wider public health. This website is an important on-line resource which can help improve health outcomes across Bath and North East Somerset.”

Councillor Kevin Guy, cabinet member for Children’s Services, said: “We want to support young people to make informed choices about their sexual health and wellbeing, and this website puts the key information they need at their fingertips.”

The website also has a professionals-only section that includes a range of helpful and useful resources to support and help young people with their sexual health.

SAFE stands for ‘Sexual health Advice For Everyone’, and is a quality standard offered to all organisations who provide sexual health advice and information to young people aged 13 to 24.

Curo to hold conference CURO is set to hold a conference for its residents on 17th and 18th September at its offices in Twerton, Bath.

Paul Harris, Curo’s Executive Director Customer Experience, said: “There are daytime and early evening sessions to choose

from and it’s going to be informal and welcoming, with the emphasis on us listening to and learning from our residents."

The event is free for anyone living in a Curo home, or receiving a Curo service such as its Independent Living Service.

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MONDAY Odd Down 10.00am Tel: Christine 07976 709203

TUESDAY Twerton 5.30pm & 7.30pm Tel: Sarah 07881 758292

Odd Down 5.00pm & 7.00pm Tel: Christine 07976 709203

Larkhall 5.30pm & 7.30pm Tel: Jane 07857 147093

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WEDNESDAY Oldfield park 10.00am Tel: Christine 07976 709203

THURSDAY Weston 7.00pm Tel: Sarah 07881 758292

Corsham 9.30am Tel: Jane 07857 147093

Southdown 5.30pm & 7.30pm Tel: Jane 07857 147093

Bath city centre 5.30pm & 7.30pm Tel: Jane 07857 147093

FRIDAY Southdown 9.30am Tel: Jane 07857 147093

Saltford 7.30pm Tel: Sarah 7881758292

0344 897 8000

Combe Down 9.30am Tel: Nikki 07538 975125

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Review | Uncle Vanya Theatre Royal Bath

Katherine Parkinson as Sonya & Rupert Everett as Vanya | Photos © Nobby Clark

This new adaption by David Hare brings Chekhov and Rupert Everett to the Theatre Royal Summer Season.

We find the characters, at the close of the nineteenth century. In the heart of the Russian countryside, Vanya and his niece Sonya have worked for years to manage the r a m s h a c kle estate on behalf of his b ro t h e r- i n law, a retired professor.

When the professor arrives with his stunningly beautiful young wife and announces his plan to sell the estate, all their lives are thrown into turmoil.

The glowering oppressive design from Charles Quiggin captures the psychological and physical limitations that the characters are struggling with, and the various tableaux created by Everett’s careful direction depict some glorious pictures.

Having reduced the play to a mere two hours, there is a tension in the dialogue between the much needed laconic humour and also moments when Hare shoehorns in unwieldy chunks

of script; such as the Doctor’s extended climate change discussion.

Act Two is far more successful and the revealed expanse of the design encourages yet another angle on their frustrated empty lives.

Rupert Everett is a commanding Vanya, lost in his own self-despair, regrets of life and lack of love.

John Light is a fine Astrov, desperate in his love for Yelena whilst treating the increasingly sick peasants.

But it is the suffering of Sonya played by Katherine Parkinson who holds the attention. The measured pain, sense of duty and need to provide brings a depth of purpose that others lack.

Clemence Poesy is porcelain perfect as Yelena trapped in her marriage to the aged professor.

Perhaps it does not quite live up to expectations however, the detail in the soundscape and design shift the seasons with ease and the final moments reflect the ties of duty and the need for life to just continue as before. The relief that “normality” has returned is almost palpable.

Petra Schofield

Dorothy House to hold new 5km run in Bath

DOROTHY House Hospice Care is inviting local residents to join them for an exciting new 5km fun run in aid of the charity at Odd Down Sports Ground in Bath on Sunday 13th October.

Organisers are encouraging those taking part in the timed and measured run to dress in lycra or

pyjamas – the choice is yours.

All participants will receive a free breakfast bap at the end, plus a mug with a free hot drink as a well-deserved reward.

The fun run route consists of loops around a cycling track along a relatively flat course, which takes place on tarmac and

University student wins national women in engineering scholarship UNIVERSITY of Bath student Hannah Thomas has been recognised as one of the UK’s top young engineering talents by a new national scholarship programme.

Hannah Thomas, a third-year Integrated Design Engineering master’s student, was named as one of the first 30 winners of a place on the Santander Universities STEMships Programme, which has been established to accelerate the number of women entering engineering careers in the UK. She earned entry to the programme by attaining impressive results during her degree course and securing high-quality industry placements including a year at Williams Advanced Engineering.

Hannah’s prize comprises two years’ worth of support, including access to networking events and mentorship schemes with female industry leaders, membership of the Women’s Engineering Society, a £1,500 scholarship, and an overseas experience at a leading engineering institution.

She said: “I was really surprised to win and it’s so nice to be recognised in this way. The work I’ve done during my studies and at Williams has been really rewarding, so I’m excited to see what kind of opportunities the

Santander Universities STEMships Programme will provide and what I can learn from it.

“Once I’ve completed my master’s, I’m hoping to work somewhere within the automotive industry as I’ve loved working at Williams. I’ve already seen some of the parts I’ve designed being made and it’s really exciting to know they’re being used in practice, so I’d love to keep doing that in future and to see where it leads.”

The award was presented by 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button, who is himself an honorary graduate of the University of Bath, during a Santander Universities launch event being held alongside the 2019 Formula Student UK competition at Silverstone.

Lauren Nilsson, who is studying for a master’s in Aerospace Engineering at Bath, was also nominated for one of the scholarships.

Professor Semali Perera, academic lead for the University’s Student Women’s Engineering Society (WESBath), said: “Huge congratulations to Hannah and Lauren – it’s great to see their superb efforts at the University and during their placements have been recognised in this way.

“We will always encourage our female students to take advantage of the wide variety of oppor-

tunities careers in engineering can provide. Programmes such as this one, which aims to make the industry more diverse and representative, are clearly to be applauded.”

WESBath helps female students within the Faculty of Engineering & Design to enter engineering-related jobs by organising events and building links with alumni working in the industry.

It was established in 2014 and is affiliated with the UK Women’s Engineering Society.

The partnership between Santander Universities and the University of Bath spans nearly 20 years and now totals almost £2 million in funding and support.

This has been used to transform PhD researchers’ international experiences, boost Olympic athletes’ achievements, aid student enterprise and entrepreneurship, and create work experience opportunities.

Matt Hutnell, Director of Santander Universities UK added: “We’re thrilled to be launching our unique STEMships to support and inspire the next generation of women engineers from across the UK. We hope the programme will support them with their career ambitions.”

is easily accessible for runners and spectators.

Entry costs £15 for adults (aged 17 years+), £5 for children (aged 2-16 years), £35 for a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children) and free for children aged under 2 years.

There will be breakfast-themed prizes for winners of age categories plus best-dressed child and adult.

The event is being held to raise money for Dorothy House. Runners don’t have to raise sponsor-

ship but all monies raised makes a difference to the charity. £28 could pay for one hour of Nurse Specialist time delivering care to patients in the local community.

You can sign up at www.bigbreakfast5k.org.uk.

Tuesday, 6th August 2019

Council lends support to Safe Places scheme BATH & North East Somerset Council has announced its support for a service designed to help vulnerable people if they feel scared or at risk while they are out and about in the community and need support right away.

The Safe Places scheme is operated by Avon & Somerset Police and has been set up to support people who are vulnerable and have communication difficulties such as those living with dementia, autism or learning disabilities.

People who join the scheme are given a yellow card with a unique reference number which they can show to trusted people such as police officers, PCSOs, bus drivers, shopkeepers or council staff if they find themselves in a crisis situation, are lost, scared or upset, and don’t know what to do, or if they have been a victim of crime.

A telephone number on the card gives direct access to police support 24 hours a day.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “This scheme is life changing; enabling vulnerable people to feel safe in the knowledge help is at hand if need be and giving peace of mind to families and carers.

“I’d urge anyone in Bath and North East Somerset who feels they’d benefit from the scheme to sign up and would encourage residents who are approached by someone carrying the yellow Safe Place card to take the time to help the individual. A few minutes of your time, picking up the phone

and calling the Safe Place number to let the police know that someone is frightened and needs help will ensure they get the support they need.

“We’re promoting the scheme to schools and care homes and we’ll be making sure our staff are Safe Place aware. We all have a role to play in ensuring vulnerable people feel safe in our community and I’d urge other organisations across Bath & North East Somerset to get involved.”

Sergeant Adam O’Loughlin, Force Lead for Autism for Avon & Somerset Police, said: “Being lost, feeling scared or upset and not knowing what to do, especially if you’ve been a victim of crime is an unsettling experience for anybody, but for someone who is vulnerable, it can be extremely distressing. Anyone who’s registered can call the Safe Places number if they find themselves in a crisis situation, and know that not only will they get the help that they need, but that their individual communication needs will be met. Not only that but those on the scheme can show their card to either a police officer or PCSO who will have direct access to their information, ensuring they can support them effectively.”

The Safe Places service has no age limit and is open to anyone who lives or frequents the Avon and Somerset police force area who has communication difficulties. To join the Safe Places scheme complete the online registration form by visiting: https:// www.avonandsomerset.police. uk/forms/rsp

GWAAC on track for busiest year to date THE Great Western Air Ambulance Charity has said that they have attended a record number of incidents in Bath and North East Somerset during the first six months of 2019.

The service, which is charity funded, was called out to 86 missions across Bath and North East Somerset alone from the beginning of January to the end of June this year, a 16% increase on 2018.

The team have received 971 call-outs in total across the region they serve. If replicated, these figures will see it being the charity’s busiest year to date.

GWAAC’s Air Operations Officer, John Wood, said: “We continue to be extremely grateful to our loyal supporters whose generosity allows us to provide a critical care service to the people of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, North Somerset and the surrounding areas.

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“We have seen a steady increase in the number of patients we have been able to help over the years and it’s only through the help and support of our local communities that we are able to respond to this increase in demand for our service.” GWAAC’s Critical Care Team consists of a Critical Care Doctor, Specialist Paramedic and if flying, a highly trained and experienced Pilot, who are able to carry out life-saving interventions such as blood transfusions, administering anaesthetics and emergency surgical procedures, all at the scene of the incident.

The crew effectively bring the skills of an emergency department to the patient at the scene of an incident or medical emergency. They have attended an average of 162 jobs a month across the region, providing their life-saving pre-hospital emergency medical care to an average of over 5 incidents a day.

Restoration of Parade Gardens bandstand set to be completed

Parade Gardens in Bath | Photo: RogerMechan / Shutterstock.com

THE restoration of the bandstand in Parade Gardens in Bath is set to be completed following the allocation of £12,300 from the Bath Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Neighbourhood Fund.

The National Heritage Ironwork Group has spent the past two years raising funds to restore the bandstand, while at the same time creating an unusual piece of contemporary art, in the form of a handcrafted ironwork balustrade.

The group had already raised £75,000 from grants, commercial sponsorship and private donations.

Bath City Forum allocated the additional CIL funding from the charge Bath & North East Som-

erset Council places on developers to support infrastructure improvements.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services said: “This is a fantastic project which will benefit both residents and visitors for decades to come.

“Historically there has always been a performance space in this well used and popular park and I’m sure the bandstand’s restoration will be welcomed by park users and performers alike.

“Heritage ironwork is intrinsic to the fabric of Bath and it’s wonderful to see that traditional hand skills have been used to craft the beautiful contemporary artwork that forms the balustrade.”

Councillor Colin Blackburn, Bath City Forum Chair, explained that

the design of the new balustrade is based on a specially commissioned piece of music, Hammer & Anvil, composed by Bath Spa University undergraduate Jake Garrett.

He said: “Eight unique panels on a musical theme were designed by master craftspeople from around the UK and handforged live at BathIRON in Parade Gardens in June 2018 in front of thousands of visitors.”

More than 200 local school children have also been involved in the project. They hand-forged treble clefs which have been made into a sphere which will be erected on the top of the bandstand.

‘Regional Merchant of the Year’ award for Bath's Le Vignoble POPULAR Bath-based wine business Le Vignoble has been given a prestigious award at an exclusive event in London, making it the IWC Regional Merchant South West for 2019.

The IWC 2019 Awards Dinner took place earlier this month at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

The event, also known as the “Oscars of the Wine Trade”, revealed the highly anticipated winners of the Merchant of the Year, Champion Trophy and Winemaker of the Year awards. Le Vignoble was awarded the prize in recognition of its efforts to become ‘the ultimate wine heaven’ – offering customers a one-stop shop for wine education, a wine lounge and a wine shop at both their Milsom Street (Bath) and Royal William Yard (Plymouth) addresses.

The International Wine Challenge Merchant Awards UK celebrate the most successful small and large businesses, who deliver an outstanding service to wine consumers.

The awards are based on top quality wines, but, most importantly, in this sector of the awards, of a commercially successful, viable, and proven business model.

The Le Vignoble team said it is very proud of their incredible achievement, which gives them recognition of their hard work and dedication over the past 7 years to develop Le Vignoble into the ultimate wine business.

Competition was tough – Le Vignoble were up against fifth

generation family wine merchants, Averys of Bristol.

Yannick Loué, owner of Le Vignoble, said: “It is a great achievement to have won the South West merchant of the year award at the IWC 2019, and this is something I am very proud of. Being an independent family owned business it is a huge accomplishment to be recognised by the leading experts in the industry as the best in the region, especially as we are amongst many other great wine merchants. We hope residents of Plymouth & Bath will be equally as pleased that we have won this award, as they now have the best wine merchant in the region on their doorstep.”

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Volunteers being sought for B&NES’ Home Library Service BATH & North East Somerset’s Home Library Service is on the lookout for volunteers to help them encourage eligible new readers to sign up to the scheme.

The service supports people who are housebound, and can no longer get to their local library, by offering home delivery through a team of dedicated volunteer book lovers.

Currently, 120 readers use the Home Library Service supported

by 42 volunteers.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “Across Bath and North East Somerset there are many residents who are lifelong readers but who are unable to visit their local library or use the mobile library service and miss being able to read.

“By teaming these residents up with a committed volunteer we can ensure they have access to

the entire LibraryWest catalogue and a regular supply of suitable reading material.

“Being housebound can also sometimes result in feelings of isolation and many of those who receive visits from our Home Library Service volunteers value the social aspect of their visit as much as the books.”

Carers whose ability to leave the house is also severely restricted may also be eligible for the ser-

vice.

Readers who join the Home Library Service initially receive a visit from a member of the library staff to see what sort of books they like to read, how often they think they would like a visit and what format books they require (standard print, large print or audio books.)

A suitable volunteer is then identified and introduced to the reader. Prospective volunteers are

requested to fill in a short application form, which asks for two references.

Suitable applicants are then required to have a DBS check carried out before meeting library staff and being matched with a reader.

For more information on becoming a volunteer or if you think you may be eligible to use the Home Library Service contact: june_ wentland@bathnes.gov.uk.

New community dementia garden created in Peasedown A NEW community garden in Peasedown St John has been created to support those living with dementia, following twelve months of hard work and dedication by a handful of volunteers.

Project managed by Nathan Hartley and local gardener, Karen Bourne, the garden is open to anyone to enjoy and relax in.

Mr Hartley, who coordinates the village’s ‘Dementia Friendly’ initiative said: “Our new community garden has something for everyone. In particular it’s dementia-friendly and aides those with sensory difficulties – so it will help to engage people’s senses of sight, smell, touch, and sound.

“I’m grateful to everyone that’s played a part in creating this special space. Dementia is on the rise, with almost 1 million peo-

ple in the UK now living with the condition, so the more we can do to create dementia-friendly communities the better it is for everyone.”

The project was funded through a £500 grant from Curo and another £500 grant from international food producer, Apetito.

Volunteers from Peasedown St John Residents’ Association, Dementia Friendly Peasedown, Peasedown St John Cubs, St John’s Church and Bath & North East Somerset all took part in weeding, cutting, nailing, planting and landscaping over the last 12 months.

Both Karen Bourne and Luke McCafferty from Canon & Sons Ltd were instrumental in the project’s success.

Last Monday afternoon, community leaders, volunteers and

councillors gathered to celebrate all the work that’s been put into the garden.

The community garden is located right outside the village’s new Community Library at 33a St John’s Close, BA2 8JG. Library Manager, Cllr Karen Walker (Independent, Peasedown St John) added: “Our new sensory garden looks beautiful.

It’s just the kind of thing you want to see outside of a popular local resource like a library.

“When the weather is nice, library visitors can sit in the garden with a nice cold drink and get stuck into an enthralling novel, or read the local newspaper!”

Anyone is welcome to visit the Community Garden. It’s free to use and open to the public.

Hedgemead Park officially Families being urged to recognised with first ever Green Flag discuss organ donation WORK carried out by residents and Bath & North East Somerset Council to improve and revitalise Bath’s Hedgemead Park has been officially recognised with a special Green Flag Award.

The 130-year-old park is one of five across the city that has been officially named as among some of the country’s very best green spaces.

Alexandra Park, Bloomfield Green, Henrietta Park and Royal Victoria Park have also scooped Green Flag Awards.

The council-run parks are among a record-breaking 1,970 UK parks and green spaces and 131 in thirteen other countries around the world, that have been awarded the Green Flag Award – the mark of a quality park or green space.

This international award, now into its third decade, is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities.

Councillor Paul Crossley, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “I’d like to congratulate residents of Walcot, Lansdown and Camden who’ve worked with the council in transforming

Hedgemead Park.

“A Green Flag is just reward for their outstanding efforts.

“We are absolutely delighted to receive five Green Flag Awards this year for our beautiful parks and this success is also very much due to the hard work and dedication of each park’s Friends Group.

“We know how much quality green spaces matter to residents and visitors, and the Green Flag awards recognise and celebrate the dedication that goes into maintaining these parks to such a

high standard.”

Paul Todd, International Green Flag Award scheme manager, added: “It’s fantastic that we have more Green Flag Awards in the UK than ever before, joined this year by 131 International winners.”

“Each flag honours the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award.

“We congratulate each and every winner on their fantastic achievement.”

MORE people than ever before across the UK donated their organs after their deaths last year, according to the Organ Donation and Transplantation Activity Report 2018/19.

In Bath and North East Somerset, 7 people gave the gift of life, by donating their organs after death.

Nationally, there was a record number of organ donors, with 1,600 people saving lives through deceased organ donation over the last year.

However, the report also shows that across the UK, fewer people died in circumstances where they were able to donate their organs – 225 fewer than in 2017/18.

This means it is more important than ever that every person who wants and is able to donate their organs after death, is given the opportunity to do so.

Sadly in Bath and North East Somerset, in the past five years, 8 people died before they received the organ they desperately needed.

Organ donation is a relatively rare event in the UK, because although around half a million people die each year, only around 1% do so in circumstances which allow organs to be donated.

From spring 2020, the law around organ and tissue donation in England is changing.

All adults in England will be considered as having agreed to donate their own organs when they die unless they record a decision not to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.

Organ donation is a precious gift, and adults covered by the change will still have a choice whether they want to be an organ donor and their families will still be involved before organ donation goes ahead.

As the families of potential donors will continue to be approached by specialist nurses and asked to support their relative’s decision to be an organ donor, it’s hugely important that families know what their relative would have wanted to happen.

Talking about your organ donation decision to your relatives makes it much easier for them to support what you want. If you would like to help others after your death, tell your family you want to be an organ donor and join the NHS Organ Donor Register.

It’s your choice whether or not you want to donate your organs.

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Sign up to become a Bath Echo Community Correspondent Your chance to represent your neighbourhood and share what's happening where you live HERE at the Bath Echo, we're all about community - it's what makes us tick.

Are you interested in joining us and representing the area where you live? We're on the lookout for a group of budding residents to join our new Community Correspondent scheme. Every issue, we'll be sharing information relevant to various areas of Bath, and we want the right people to be writing it - the residents in those locations. Whether you live in Larkhall or Twerton, we want to hear what matters to you and your neighbourhood. Has there been an increase of vandalism or has there been a successful litter pick along your street? As a Community Correspondent for the Bath Echo, you'll only need to submit around 100 words to us each month, with areas being al-

ternated each issue to ensure we cover every part of Bath equally and fairly. You can see an example piece kindy written by Councillor June Player for the Oldfield Park/Westmoreland area to the right of this article.

Your provided content doesn't need to be in any great depth, but should be able to give your fellow residents a brief update about what's happening where they live, as well as give the Bath Echo team the opportunity to see what could be our next big story. If you're interested in becoming a Community Correspondent, all you need to do

is get in touch with us by emailing news@bathecho.co.uk with the subject 'Community Correspondent' and the area you'd like to represent. We'll then follow up with you regarding the position, and the dates we require submissions.

We're also happy to answer any questions you may have, simply email the address above and we'll be pleased to have a chat.

If you're not interested in becoming a Community Correspondent with us, but know someone who would be perfect for the role, show them this article and tell them to get in touch!

Our Community Correspondent scheme will be covering the following areas of Bath: • Bathampton, Batheaston & Bathford • Bathwick • Combe Down • Kingsmead • Lambridge & Fairfield Park • Lansdown • Larkhall & Swainswick • Moorlands • Newbridge • Odd Down • Oldfield Park / Westmoreland • Southdown • Twerton • Walcot • Weston (Upper & Lower) • Widcombe & Lyncombe Submissions from our correspondents are due on the Friday before each issue goes to print.

Oldfield Park / Westmoreland Two new food outlets to tempt (your) palates are coming to Moorland Road in August and September. The Vegan, in the old Revival Record Shop and The Oyster Shell - a takeaway spin-off of the Scallop Shell Restaurant in the old Herbies Fish and Chips Shop. Do pop in for your holiday reading needs to the Moorland Rd Community Library which is now up and running as a volunteer-run one to ensure this important service is kept going and finally, all will be welcome at the next Westmoreland Litter Pick with McDonald’s Staff (Lower Bristol Rd) on Tuesday 13 August from 10-12.30.

Cllr June Player, Westmoreland Ward

Bath Abbey's hoardings transformed into engaging artwork SPECIALLY-designed work by university students and a local art group are now decorating hoardings inside Bath Abbey, as part of ongoing closures for the Footprint Project.

As part of Phase 2 of Bath Abbey’s Footprint project, part of the nave and crossing will be hidden behind hoardings while essential work is taking place to repair the collapsing floor and install an eco-heating system using Bath’s famous hot springs.

Rather than leave the hoardings bare, Bath Abbey has been working with students from Bath Spa University and The Holburne Museum’s Gardener’s Lodge Art Group to design a series of graphics and artwork that will engage visitors and inform them about the project.

Tim Vyner, Senior Lecturer [BA Hons] Graphic Communication from Bath Spa University said: “This project has been an excellent opportunity for our students to deliver a significant ‘design story’ for the Abbey.

“It has really allowed the students to show off the range of professional skills the course has prepared them for; typography,

illustration photography, organisation and presentation skills and seeing individual students come together as a group has been particularly rewarding.

“The Abbey has been a great client, really positive and encouraging, and our students can all be proud of the work they have produced and take this invaluable professional experience into the next stage of their careers”.

As part of the hoardings design, The Gardener’s Lodge Art Group at The Holburne Museum has also produced a colourful ‘Tree of Life’ mosaic.

The group visited Bath Abbey and were inspired by the scale and majesty of the space as well as the calm and tranquillity. Whilst sketching and exploring the Abbey, they reflected on the idea of ‘peace’ and what it meant to them.

Working with mosaic artist Emma Leith, the members of the art group combined their own individual responses in a large collaborative mosaic which grew with their mosaicing skills and confidence.

The ‘Tree of Life’ symbolises the many different ways in which

people experience and find peace – whether through the beauty of the natural world, exploring religious and spiritual beliefs or simply the joy of colour.

Ollie Taylor, Head of Interpretation, Learning and Engagement at Bath Abbey, said: “We’re grateful to Bath Spa University and the Gardener’s Lodge Art Group for their creativity, motivation and above all, for really getting

to grips with what the Abbey was looking for.

“We asked them to produce something that would make our hoardings look attractive but not detract from the Abbey’s beautiful interior, something that was simple yet somehow depicts what the Abbey and the Footprint project are about.

“It was a really challenging task but one they’ve managed to fulfil

and do extremely well! As part of Footprint, we’ll have new spaces for learning, music and interpretation, better visitor facilities, undertake essential conservation work, as well as create even more opportunities where we can work closely with students and local community groups, and this is a brilliant example of how this can happen.”

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Special screenings coming up at the Little Theatre in Bath THE Little Theatre in Bath is set to host a number of special screenings over the coming weeks, including an exclusive preview of a new Spanish drama, a special cut of a classic movie, a documentary on one of the most controversial religious movements in American history, and a documentary following a transgender man on his journey to parenthood.

Pain & Glory Sunday 11th August - 17.15.

An exclusive preview of Pedro Almodóvar's new drama. In Almodóvar’s deeply personal and tender new drama, a film director reflects on the choices he’s made in life as past and present come crashing down around him. Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas, who won Best Actor at Cannes Film Festival for his performance), an ageing Madrid-based auteur,

is retreating into himself, facing ill health, depression and the decline of his powers. After a chance meeting reunites him with an actor from his past, a wild new chapter begins, sparking a series of reconciliations and reveries in which Salvador revisits old emotional wounds and tries to piece together the puzzle of his life and his art. Even if you've never seen any of Almodóvar’s other works, this is definitely worthy of a watch.

Experience every stay in a different way

An exquisite taste adventure

Apocalypse Now Final Cut Tuesday 13th August - 19.00.

Forty years after its original release, Francis Ford Coppola’s 'Apocalypse Now' returns to cinemas looking and sounding better than ever. Restored from the original negative to the highest standards by the director himself, Final Cut is Coppola’s preferred and most visceral version of his Oscar-winning Vietnam War epic. This never-before-seen

cut features only some of the footage added back into the Redux release, bringing the runtime to just over three hours. The screening includes a Q&A between Coppola and director Steven Soderbergh, recorded at the Tribeca Film Festival, in which they reflect on the film’s legacy in light of its 40th anniversary, and the long journey to creating this new restoration.

Hail Satan?

Tuesday 20th August - 18.00.

An outstanding documentary following one of America's most controversial religions.

As charming and funny as it is thought-provoking, 'Hail Satan?' traces the extraordinary rise of Satanism in America.

When media-savvy members of the Satanic Temple organise a series of public actions designed to advocate religious freedom and challenge corrupt authority, they prove that, with little more than a

clever idea, a mischievous sense of humour and a few rebellious friends, you can speak truth to power in some truly profound ways. Director Penny Lane strikes a cunning balance between cheeky, brazen entertainment and serious storytelling in this wickedly topical documentary.

It’s a timely look at a group of oft-misunderstood outsiders whose commitment to social and political justice has empowered thousands of people around the world.

Seahorse Thursday 5th Sep - 18.15.

Freddy is 30 and yearns to start a family but for him this ordinary desire comes with unique challenges. He is a gay transgender man. Deciding to carry his own baby took years of soul searching, but nothing could prepare him for the reality of pregnancy, as both a physical experience and one

that challenges society's fundamental understanding of gender, parenthood and family. He's forced to confront his own naivety, mine unknown depths of courage and lean on every friend and family member who will stand by him.

The film follows Freddy from conception right through to birth. "An intimate, audacious & lyrical story".

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Tuesday, 6th August 2019

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Business Contracts signed to deliver new Bath Quays North development A SIGNIFICANT scheme to develop an area of Bath has taken a major step forward with the appointment of Legal & General and its development manager Bell Hammer to develop Bath Quays North.

The contract will see high-quality offices and new homes, including affordable housing, constructed on the site near Churchill Bridge.

Bath Quays North is a major part of the Bath Quays development, the council’s flagship regeneration project to create a new and vibrant quarter for the city’s flourishing businesses and is the most significant development in Bath in a generation.

It offers the potential to develop and grow Bath’s economy providing much-needed business space for the city’s growing businesses and attracting quality employers to the city.

The scheme is being part-funded by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership through the Local Growth Fund and administered by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).

Legal & General will deliver 20,000 sqm of new ‘Grade A’ office space creating up to 1900 new jobs and a minimum of 70 new homes on the Bath Quays North site.

Councillor Dine Romero, leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “The redevelopment of Bath Quays North will boost business, skills and job opportunities in Bath and

the wider region, bringing new spaces for work, life and culture.

“Bath is ready to embrace this opportunity for renewal and show that the city is open for business.”

All the new buildings that comprise Bath Quays North will be designed to reduce their environmental impact, adapt to climate change and incorporate features that enhance the health and wellbeing of occupiers and the wider community.

All commercial offices will embody the design principles of WELL certification, and will achieve BREEAM excellence.

The development, which is less than a five-minute walk from Bath Spa station, will incorporate new pedestrian and cycling routes to promote active methods of transport. Occupiers and visitors will benefit from class-leading cycle facilities to encourage sustainable travel.

Rachel Dickie, Head of Urban Regeneration at Legal & General, said: “We are delighted to have been selected to develop Bath Quays North and look forward to working with the council to bring our vision for Bath to life.

“Our investment partnerships in cities such as Cardiff and Newcastle are already delivering at pace, and we believe that our plans for Bath Quays North will have a significant positive impact on the city centre, generating employment opportunities and economic prosperity.”

New Chief Executive for B&NES Council THE group leaders of Bath & North East Somerset Council are set to recommend to a meeting of the full council, on 5th September, that Will Godfrey is appointed as the next Chief Executive of the authority.

Will Godfrey will replace Ashley Ayre, who is retiring at the end of September, after 13 years of service to the council. Will brings extensive experience of working at a senior level with UK and Welsh Governments to the role; he has been Chief Executive of Newport City Council since 2013; was a Strategic Director at Bristol City Council and Chief Executive of East Hampshire District Council prior to that.

Councillor Dine Romero, Council Leader, said: “Will’s experience in strategic financial management, organisational

change and regeneration fits well with the challenges we face over the next few years. A new chief executive will be involved with our commitment to climate emergency and our aims to deliver for residents, to focus on prevention and give people a bigger say. I welcome the recommendation being made to full council.” Will added: “I am delighted and humbled to be offered the opportunity to take on the role of Chief Executive of Bath & North East Somerset Council.

“I’m looking forward to working with councillors, communities and colleagues to ensure we keep improving the lives for everyone across the council area.”

Mr Godfrey will start at B&NES Council in early October, subject to his appointment being approved on 5th September 2019.

The special device, created by researchers from the University of Bath

Bath researchers invite companies to trial new ‘cyber nudge’ gadget RESEARCHERS at the University of Bath are looking to recruit organisations in Bath to take part in a six-week trial to find out whether a simple desktop device can help to change human behaviour.

The new device could also encourage better protection of privacy and data.

People routinely put off, ignore or forget cybersecurity measures such as changing passwords, updating privacy settings and locking computer screens.

Taking inspiration from exercise and fitness apps that successfully nudge people to make behavioural change, researchers from the University of Bath and Goldsmiths, University of London are investigating whether a small device that plugs into a PC and signals when action is needed with gentle sound, lights or vibration could make the difference.

Over the last five years, the cost of cyberattacks is reported to have risen by 67%, with the majority of

these data breaches being traced back to human error.

It is anticipated that 75% of UK companies plan to address human factors in cyberattacks in the next three years in an attempt to mitigate this.

Dr Emily Collins, Research Associate at the University of Bath’s School of Management, said: “Technology used in exercise and lifestyle apps may hold the key to getting people to better protect their online privacy and data.

“We’d love to get office workers in local organisations on board with the project – to help us test out whether this little device can really make a difference by gently nudging people into action without it becoming an annoyance or distraction.

“We’ll be able to give organisations taking part some tailored advice on how they can improve computer security.”

The researchers have programmed the device, known as an Adafruit Circuit Playground,

to detect when people leave their desks and remind them to lock their screen through a sequence of lights, sounds or vibrations.

To take part in the project, the device will need to be plugged in to desktops for 6-8 weeks and the research team will monitor the impact on screen locking.

They will ask staff to complete a questionnaire or carry out short interviews with them before and after the trial to help judge the effect of the device.

The project, which is funded by the Home Office via the National Cyber Security Programme, aims to create a working prototype with open-source code to be available to businesses later in the year. It could be tailored for home use in the future.

To find out more about taking part in the project, email researchers Dr Emily Collins or Dr Joanne Hinds in the University of Bath’s School of Management at eimc20@bath.ac.uk and jh945@ bath.ac.uk.

Creatrix PR welcomes UWE graduate CREATRIX PR has welcomed Olivia Evans as the newest addition to their team.

Olivia has begun her consulting career as Account Executive having earned her first class honours degree in Journalism and Public Relations from the University of The West of England.

Having previously held the title as President of the UWE PR Society, Olivia will now be working on various clients and projects based in Bath and the South West.

Olivia said: “Having spent the past three years studying and gaining experience at various PR agencies, I’m so pleased to have landed in Creatrix’s office. I adore Bath and to work in the city and get involved with local and regional projects is really exciting. Creatrix has welcomed me this summer and I couldn’t ask for a better team to work and learn with.”

Gary Squires, Director of Creatrix PR, said, “We’re pleased to welcome Olivia to the team.

Her degree will stand her in good stead working for our clients throughout the region on various projects, from PR and marketing campaigns to major building developments throughout the country.

We’re sure she will be a great asset to the team.”

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Two non-executive directors sought for housing company BATH & North East Somerset Council is looking to appoint two additional independent Non-Executive Directors to strengthen and diversify its housing development company board to advise on housing development and related company governance matters.

Aequus Developments Ltd was established in 2016 by the council to develop, deliver, own and manage private sector property as well as new build property developments on a case by case basis. The company is making good progress with an increasing number of developments now being worked on and in delivery.

Applications are welcomed from all sections of the community, particularly from women and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, who are currently underrepresented on the Aequus Board. Applicants should be able to demonstrate an ability to look objectively at property developments and make balanced judgements based on the evidence provided.

An annual remuneration of

£4,000 will be provided for the non-executive roles, including travelling and subsistence expenses. Non-executives are required to attend at least six meetings a year as well as support to the board when required.

All applicants must carefully consider any potential conflict of interest issues either present or future prior to applying for consideration for these roles. It is important for the Board to protect its objectivity and develop a reputation for impartiality, and candidates will need to demonstrate within their supporting statement and at interview how they have considered and propose to address this.

If you feel the roles are of interest, apply by sending a CV and a supporting statement setting out why you wish to be considered, to katie.pink@ aequusdevelopments.co.uk. For an informal discussion about therole, please contact Tim Richens, Managing Director on 01225 394367.

The closing date for receipt of interest is 9th September 2019.

Popular brewery launches special search for first brewing apprentices BATH Ales is offering two people a paid role at its state-ofthe-art West Country brewery, to learn all about the craft of beer production.

Fronted by flagship beer Gem, Hare Brewery first opened its doors last year and has enabled the brewer to create a collection of new beers including Lansdown West Coast IPA and its first lager, Sulis. As well as gaining handson experience in the brewery, the apprentices will develop their technical knowledge by undertaking academicallybased training sessions at the International Centre for Brewing Science (ICBS), based at Nottingham University.

They will complete an 18-24 month ‘Level 4’ qualification, which is the equivalent to the first year of a bachelor’s degree.

The new course, launched in February 2019, is the first of its kind in the UK. It has been facilitated by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) in conjunction with a group of individuals who work in the UK brewing industry, including Bath Ales’ head brewer Georgina Young. The successful candidates will both report to Georgina, who oversees all aspects of the brewing

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and packaging of Bath Ales’ beer brands. Georgina said: We’re delighted to be opening Hare Brewery’s door to the brewers of the future. It’s so important that we offer high-quality training opportunities and look to nurture talent within our industry.

“We’re looking forward to meeting some of the shortlisted applicants – it’s a Gem of an opportunity for aspiring brewers looking for a foot in the door.”

Georgina, previous Head Brewer at Fuller, Smith & Turner, took on the role of Bath Ales’ Head Brewer in May 2019 and oversees all aspects of the brewing and

packaging of Bath Ales’ beer brands.

Hare Brewery has the capacity to produce more than 50,000 brewers’ barrels of beer per year – the equivalent of over 14.5 million pints. With 16 new fermenting vessels in place, the South West’s most sophisticated and technologically advanced brewery, which opened in May 2018, has doubled the available brewing capacity at Bath Ales.

To find out more, visit www.bathales.com/ brewingapprenticeship.

Applications for the two posts will close on Friday 30th August.

Chef launches gin range to support endangered leopard LOCAL chef and gastropub owner, Will Phillips has set about creating his own gin brand in a bid to support the clouded leopard, which is on the verge of extinction.

Phillips, who is based in Bath, has created Clouded Leopard Gin which will donate 15% of gross profits to the Born Free Foundation who protect the clouded leopard, with at least £1 from each bottle sold going to fund the foundation.

As a qualified chef and h a v i n g worked in the hospitality sector for 20 years, the quality of the product and botanicals used is just as important as the message the gin hopes to deliver.

Mr Philips said: “Having worked in the food sector for many years, I am well versed in what ingredients marry well together as well as being an avid gin lover.

“I started experimenting with different botanicals at home last summer when we experienced a heatwave – a summer similar to those of India and Southern Asia.

“The Provence of the core ingredients used was key and I started playing with

fruits such as mangos and black pepper sourced from Southern Asia, the home of the Clouded Leopard.”

Craft distilled in Bristol, the finished product delivers a London dry Juniper on the start, bright lemon zest citrus notes through the middle and tropical mango and fragrant black pepper finish.

With an abv of 40%, it is produced from British wheat spirit using single-shot distillation on 30ltr copper pot stills.

The botanicals used are juniper berries, coriander seeds, angelica root, cassia bark, mango, black pepper and lemon zest.

They are then macerated for 24hours before distillation and the dilution is with reverse osmosis in purified water.

P h i l l i p s continued: “The Clouded Leopard is a fantastic and elusive animal rarely seen in the wild, and in grave danger of extinction.

“He is beautiful with huge paws and a chunky long tail that makes him a great climber of trees.

“I really want to help save this fantastic animal in its natural habitat and riding the crest of the gin wave seems like an ideal place to start.”

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Politics Doubts cast over ability to deliver new social housing in B&NES Stephen Sumner

Local Democracy Reporter

FURTHER work will be needed to determine if the first council houses in a generation can be built in Bath and North East Somerset. The council closed down its accounts and transferred its housing stock to what is now Curo in 1999, because it could not borrow money itself.

In March the Labour group called on the authority to help tackle the housing crisis and resume building council houses, but councillors deferred a decision until a recent meeting.

Councillor Chris Watt said others were better placed to deliver the properties: “We need to do everything we can to maximise the amount of affordable housing available to our residents.

“How do you achieve that in the shortest possible time? You need land, resources and competence.

“We have land. We may have some resources. We don’t have the competence. There are 22 registered providers in Bath and North East Somerset, many of which have competence in providing new units, in managing

existing units, and some even have land.

“They’re working to deliver what we all want – more affordable housing as fast as possible for our residents that need it. We shouldn’t be so precious as to say the only way of delivering it is to do it ourselves.”

Councillor Paul Crossley took a different view, saying: “Over the last few decades we’ve simply failed to deliver social housing in adequate numbers to provide for the needs of our communities.

“We’re trying to ensure that, moving forward, this council will be joining a growing number of councils that is building and covering for the failure of the development industry to deliver housing for us. This is a really good move. What I want to see is housing for the people of Bath and North East Somerset that can’t afford the city centre rates or some of the rates in Keynsham can afford through the housing we will build.”

Councillors were presented with an update that said further investigative work was needed, and it would be scrutinised by a committee before it comes back before the full council.

Moving an amendment, councillor Robin Moss called for support in principle for the authority to start building council housing again. He said it would need to reopen its Housing Revenue Account, which closed when B&NES Council passed its housing stock to Curo.

Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for planning, housing and economic development, accepted the amendment and said: “This is a huge matter that the council has to get right.

“We’re looking to build the first council housing in a generation.

We’ll be building carbon-neutral homes. Some of these will be council houses.

“There’s a whole vision out there to deliver fully sustainable housing for residents for years to come.

The matter should be properly investigated and debated. This will go through the system properly.”

He said a full report was due in the late summer or early autumn, adding: “We can then move rapidly forward to deliver the sort of housing people are looking for.

“It will be looking at empty properties, and the regulation of certain properties.”

Developers set to be targeted with new rules DEVELOPERS who try to avoid building social and affordable housing in the area will have to come back to the planning committee, thanks to new rules introduced by B&NES Council.

Larger housing projects usually come with a quota for the provision of social and/or affordable housing for rent or sale.

Some developers try to avoid this by demonstrating that the development as a whole would not be ‘viable’ were they required to build some less expensive units.

Councillor Tim Ball (Twerton), Cabinet member for Housing, Planning and Economic Development, said: “In recent years we have seen an increasing trend of developers trying to game the system, using so-called ‘viability assessments’ to avoid building the social and affordable housing required by their planning con-

sent.

“We feel that, in these cases, it’s only right that the studies should be examined by the Planning Committee, in public, rather than behind closed doors.

“Likewise, if a developer has received permission for a major project, but then comes back wanting to make significant material changes, the Committee should be able to revisit the application.

“We intend to publish for public consumption all the details of viability assessments and other changes so that the public can question what is proposed.

“The Planning Committee is the right place for these issues to be decided. This isn’t just about openness and better decision making, this is about making sure we get the right sort of development for our area.”

£125,000 boost for Bath City Farm Grants to help Bath businesses improve their energy efficiency Bath City Farm in Whiteway | Photo: tviolet / Shutterstock.com

BATH City Farm has been awarded £125,000 from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Neighbourhood Fund for the development of a new community cafe at the site.

Bath City Forum allocated the CIL funding from the charge Bath & North East Somerset Council places on developers to support infrastructure improvements.

Bath City Farm, in Kelston View, Whiteway, is a free community health and wellbeing centre accessible to all.

Its mission is to help build a strong, healthy and caring community by connecting people

with nature and farming.

It runs projects designed to help people combat mental health issues, drug dependency and social isolation as well as providing a safe setting for children to let off steam after school. The projects are designed to encourage people to maximise their capabilities and gain resilience and confidence to have control over their lives. The new cafe will bring a number of benefits, including enabling the farm to expand its essential work promoting social cohesion, increasing the number and type of training programmes and work experience opportu-

nities it can provide and helping volunteers to develop social and employment skills. It will also mean that the farm can generate a steady income reducing its reliance on earmarked grant funding. Councillor Colin Blackburn, Bath City Forum Chair, said: “Bath City Farm is one of the largest City Farms in the country, but it’s so much more than just a ‘farm’. The new purpose-built café will enable the farm to expand its fantastic work and turn it into a year-round, whatever-the-weather place to learn about food and farming and enjoy a green environment.”

A NEW £1m fund from the West of England Combined Authority, to help small and medium-sized businesses improve their energy efficiency, is now open to applications.

This could help businesses reduce their energy bills and be protected from future energy price rises.

Green Business Grants are open to eligible applicants across Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Cashback grants of £1,000£15,000 are available for: • Improvements to the energy efficiency of buildings – including insulation, heating and lighting • And/or purchases to improve business operations, such as electric vehicles and more efficient production or refrigeration equipment.

The grant pays for 40% of eligible

costs and is paid in arrears at the end of the project.

Regional Mayor, Tim Bowles, said: “We know we all need to do more to tackle climate change.

This new fund will help businesses make their buildings and activities more energy efficient. It will help protect the climate and environment upon which we and future generations depend and builds on our Local Industrial Strategy.”

Green Business Grants are part of the West of England Combined Authority’s Low Carbon Challenge Fund, which is supported with £1.7m from the European Regional Development Fund.

For more information on the West of England Green Business Grants, including eligibility criteria, grant guidance and application forms, visit www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/green-business-grants.

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“Significant concerns” raised as Government rejects plans for 105,000 new homes in the West Stephen Sumner

Local Democracy Reporter

GOVERNMENT officials have rejected major plans to build 105,000 homes across the West of England. Planning inspectors have advised the local authorities for Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset to take their joint spatial plan back to the drawing board.

The regional plan was put through its paces during an examination held in public in Bath last month.

Planning inspectors Malcolm Rivett and Steven Lee were tasked with deciding whether the plan was sound and legally compliant and could be adopted straight away or needed modifications first.

Instead, the inspectors concluded that they had “significant concerns” about fundamental aspects of the plan and advised the four councils to withdraw it.

In a letter dated August 1, Mr Rivett and Mr Lee wrote: “We think it only fair to advise you that we currently consider that withdrawal of the JSP from examination may well be the most appro-

priate way forward.

“We envisage that, overall, a very substantial amount of further work on the plan needs to be undertaken.”

Further hearings expected to take place in September or October have been cancelled.

The inspectors’ key criticism of the plan involved the way that 12 main locations for new housing developments were selected.

The 12 “strategic development locations” across the four local authorities included Thornbury, Charfield, Buckover, Yate, Coalpit Heath, Brislington, North Keynsham, Whitchurch, Nailsea, Backwell, Churchill and Banwell.

Plans to build three new ‘garden villages’ in South Gloucestershire and North Somerset were among the most contentious aspects of the plan.

All of the other proposals were extensions to existing cities, towns and villages.

Mr Rivett and Mr Lee said they were not convinced that the four councils had considered “reasonable alternatives” when selecting the strategic development locations, so they could not be certain that the locations and the overall spatial strategy had been

determined on a “robust, consistent and objective” basis.

“We therefore cannot conclude that these fundamental aspects of the plan are sound,” they said.

The inspectors said that they had warned the councils of their concerns shortly after the plan was submitted in April 2018.

Despite extra evidence submitted and the arguments put by the four councils at last month’s hearings, “our significant concerns” remain, they said.

“We seriously question whether the production of even more evidence, as opposed to going back several stages in the plan-making process, would be likely to address our soundness concerns,” they wrote. I might be appropriate to consider developing a

high-level strategy for the plan area which, not based on specific SDLs, identifies how housing employment and other development should be broadly distributed.”

The inspectors said they would be sending another letter to the councils setting out their concerns in more detail by mid-August. During the hearings, critics accused the four councils having predetermined ideas about where they wanted to put new housing and taking an inconsistent approach. Three authorities chose sites within the green belt but North Somerset Council did not. The councils told the hearing they had consulted extensively and were satisfied that their approach was consistent.

News in Brief Forms filled out online Thousands of electors across Bath and North East Somerset have completed their household enquiry forms online.

More than 36,000 people were emailed by the council’s Electoral Services asking them to fill in the forms online in an effort to reduce printing, postage and processing costs. More than 14,000 forms have now been completed in this way. The Electoral Registration Office is required by law to send a household enquiry form to all properties in their registration area. The information on the household enquiry form is used to prepare an accurate register of electors, and enables the council to verify an individual’s eligibility to vote when there is an election.

Residents of Bath and North East Somerset who haven’t received the email, can either call Electoral Services on 01225 47 7487 and complete the form over the phone or can wait for the form to arrive in the post.

Council apprentices A record number of apprentices have been taken on by B&NES Council. 90 apprentices are currently working in a number of areas. Almost 40% of the apprentices are new employees.

Uncertainty over future of controversial ‘litter police’ contract Stephen Sumner

Local Democracy Reporter

“LITTER police” who handed out £100,000 of fines in three months are unlikely to have their contract renewed, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s waste champion has suggested.

Councillor David Wood said the deal struck with 3GS made him “uneasy” and questioned if the previous administration had considered the consequences of bringing in a private firm.

Speaking at a recent full council meeting, councillor Robin Moss said: “We were promised by the previous administration that this [the 3GS contract] was about education. It was about changing behaviour.

“It probably has changed behaviour – I’m sure there’s any number of people who’ve come to Bath once, been fined £150 and changed their behaviour to make sure they never come back again.

“We all want to see a cleaner Bath and North East Somerset. We can only do that through education.

It’s a shame the most recent national publicity Bath and North East Somerset has had on all the media was over the actions of this company.

“I hope the administration is going to review their contract as soon as is practically possible.”

Mr Wood, whose cabinet portfolio includes neighbourhood services, said: “We don’t need to review the contract – it has an end

point and that’s it.

“We will improve litter and flytipping across Bath and North East Somerset if we work together.

“The 3GS contract we inherited from the previous administration makes me and a lot of people in this chamber uneasy. Bringing private profit into litter enforce-

ment and education changes the very nature of this service.

“I’m not sure enough thought was given to the consequences we’re now seeing play out.

“If hiring a privatised litter army was a response to the litter we see strewn across our streets, then it was very simplified answer to a

very difficult question.

“You can’t solve very complex issues – business waste collection, flats without waste storage and Government cuts – simply by bringing in a sector that specialises in picking up cigarette butts and fining people.”

In the first three months of its

contract, 3GS handed out 785 fixed penalty notices for littering, fly-tipping, dog mess and other environmental crimes – which will be worth £117,750 if everyone fined pays £150.

Among them was Peasedown St John grandmother Sally-Ann Fricker, who said she burst into tears after she was fined for feeding pigeons crumbs from her sausage roll.

The incident was caught on camera, viewed more than 83,000 times within 24 hours and shared widely in the media.

The contract will run until March 2020.

Mr Wood added: “I’m working with officers to make the best of the contractual situation we find ourselves in for the coming months. We’ve intervened and educational warnings will be given to people feeding birds on the first offence rather than financial punishments first time.

“We’ve stepped in when intelligence comes our way of excessive targeting of high-profile events that are of importance to our area, and we’re shifting 3GS’s focus to important issues that face our streets, like dog fouling, and working with the business community to address the buildup of waste.”

A 3GS spokesman said: “Fixed penalty notices are there to deter people from dropping litter on the streets and green spaces, not to deter them from visiting. 3GS is working with B&NES Council to address the problem of littering.”

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In Other News....

Cigarette smoke makes MRSA drug-resistant, Bath researchers find

Homes and businesses celebrate high-speed broadband milestone THOUSANDS of rural homes and businesses across the South West are taking advantage of a faster future thanks to the arrival of high-speed broadband thanks to local partnerships with Openreach.

Openreach, the UK’s largest telephone and broadband network, announced that more than 100,000 premises across the UK are now part of its Community Fibre Partnership (CFP) scheme.

More than 12,000 of them are from the South West, and broadband champions from across the region, including Axbridge in Somerset, Bath, Hockworthy in Devon and the Wiltshire communities of Kellaways and Bremhill Wick, recently celebrated the milestone at the House of Commons.

Openreach’s CFP scheme involves the company splitting the cost of installing faster broadband with the local community.

In many cases, the local contribution can be entirely covered by broadband vouchers, such as the Government’s Rural Gigabit Connectivity Programme.

David Pippett helped to create a partnership between Openreach and the village of Avoncliff near Bath, providing all 43 residents, including nine small businesses, with full fibre broadband and some of the fastest available speeds in the country.

David, who runs his own PR agency ProServ PR, said: “This is going to transform the whole village. There’s a number of small businesses based here and most of them, including myself, work from home for all or part of the week, so having this future-proof broadband technology in the village will be a game changer.”

“Slow broadband speeds can

turn running a business into a bit of juggling act.

“On one occasion I had to email sixty reports to the media for a client which ended up taking so long from home, I drove to my local Sainsbury’s and connected to 4G from my laptop in the car park instead!

“Doing business online is now the norm and no business can really survive that well without it.

As the online world continues to grow – we’ll now be able to grow with it.

Ex-professional Triathlete Mark Threlfall lives in Avoncliff and works in Bath as a presenter for YouTube based online broadcaster Global Triathlon Network. Mark says that having ultrafast broadband fed directly to his home will be a game changer for the way he works.

Mark said: “Both myself and my partner Cassie work from home during the week and the broadband is a major issue when we’re both online trying to work – one of us will end up crashing the system.

“Everything just slows down to a standstill. She’s dealing with clients online so that’s frustrating.

“I spend a lot of time researching online – looking at other videos for inspiration and ideas or trying to find background information.

Currently it just takes a lifetime to load anything.

“I’d love to have the flexibility to work from home more and having the faster broadband would give me the freedom to do that. It would mean I could do more of the filming or editing away from the office which would be awesome.

“You could upload the footage onto the server straight away – without having to travel into the

office, that would be amazing.

“People buy into us as a channel and as presenters – so keeping up to date with followers on social media is an important part of what I do – uploading photos and videos to things like Instagram.

“We build a community on our channel so we’re expected to comment on all our videos – people leave us questions, so being able to respond quickly to people’s questions or leave comment is really important.

Having fibre broadband will make will mean I do all that without any worry.”

Openreach is using a mix of technologies to deliver the CFP programme, but primarily the latest ultrafast fibre-to-thepremises (FTTP) technology providing broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps. That’s enough bandwidth for a family of four to all stream ultra HD or 4k quality movies or TV simultaneously, without waiting or buffering.

Once Openreach has installed the infrastructure, residents can place an order for the new faster services with a provider of their choice. Openreach provides the telephone and broadband network used by the likes of Sky, BT and TalkTalk, so people are still able to choose from a range of broadband products and packages – they are not restricted to just one supplier.

Matthew Galley, Senior Contract Manager (West) for Openreach, said: “There are many examples across the South West of how Openreach’s UK-wide Community Fibre Partnership programme is bringing fibre broadband to some of the UK’s most challenging areas where broadband providers struggle to upgrade alone."

CIGARETTE smoke can make MRSA bacterial strains more resistant to antibiotics, new research from the University of Bath has shown.

In addition, cigarette smoke exposure can make some strains of Staphylococcus aureus – a microbe present in 30-60% of the global population and responsible for many diseases, some fatal – more invasive and persistent, although the effect is not universal across all strains tested.

The researchers believe the stress cigarette smoke causes to S. aureus sparks an emergency ‘SOS’ response, which increases the rate of mutation in microbial DNA, resulting in hardy and persistent variants better able to resist antibiotics.

Previous studies had attributed smokers’ increased susceptibility to infection to the damaging effects of smoke on our immune system, but this study shows that it may also be changing the DNA and characteristics of pathogenic microbes as well.

In a series of lab-based experiments, the researchers from Bath, working with colleagues from Imperial College London, University of Oxford and Institut d’Investigació Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and CIBER Enfer-

medades Respiratorias, Spain, exposed six reference strains of the most important ‘superbug’ Methicillin- Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) clones to cigarette smoke.

The strains were known to cause conditions ranging from skin infections to pneumonia and endocarditis and were chosen for their clinical relevance and genetic diversity. Although not all responded to cigarette smoke in the same way some, including those known to cause invasive infections, showed increased resistance to the antibiotic rifampicin and increased invasiveness and persistence. Resistance to other antibiotics is also likely to be affected.

The study links these changes to the emergence of Small Colony

Variants (SCVs) – hardy sub-populations that are adapted to harsh conditions. SCVs have been linked to chronic infections in smokers in previous research.

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Lead author Dr Maisem Laabei, from the University of Bath’s Department of Biology & Biochemistry, said: “We expected some effects but we didn’t anticipate smoke would affect drug-resistance to this degree. We recognise that exposure in a lab is different to inhaled smoke over a long time, but it seems reasonable to hypothesise, based on our research and others’ that stressful conditions imposed by smoking induce responses in microbial cells leading to adaptation to harsh conditions, with the net effect of increasing virulence and/ or potential for infection.

“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, and cigarette smoke has over 4,800 compounds within it.

“We wanted to study S. aureus because it’s so common in humans and it can cause a range of diseases, so we wanted to see what happened when we exposed it to smoke.

“These Small Colony Variants are highly adhesive, invasive and persistent. They can sit around for a long time, are difficult to kick out, and are linked to chronic infections. We hope that our work provides another reason for people not to smoke and for current smokers to quit.”

The scientists are now interested in studying how air pollution, from diesel exhaust fumes and other sources, might affect the microbes in our nasal passages as many of the pollution compounds are the same as in cigarette smoke.

The research was supported by a European Respiratory Society Long-term Fellowship grant.

The paper “Cigarette smoke exposure redirects Staphylococcus aureus to a virulence profile associated with persistent infection” is published in Scientific Reports and is available online.

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Over £200k to be spent upgrading gallery's air conditioning Stephen Sumner

Local Democracy Reporter

COUNCIL leaders are investing more than £200,000 to ensure Bath’s Victoria Art Gallery can continue to attract world-class exhibitions.

Stable, controlled atmospheric conditions are needed for the visiting collections the venue largely relies on, but they cannot be delivered with its current system.

Planning permission was granted in September to upgrade the air conditioning – despite concerns about the visual impact on the Grade II* listed building – and now Bath and North East Somerset Council has agreed to foot the bill.

It will also spend £350,000 on a project to capture energy from

the King’s Bath hot spring to help power the Pump Room complex and the Clore Learning Centre.

John Wilkinson, the director of economy and growth, said in his decision notice about the gallery: “The new air conditioning system will replace out of date, failing equipment which will reduce maintenance expenditure.

“To do nothing would mean continued reactive maintenance expenditure.

“It would also mean the gallery would not be able to guarantee environmental controls in order to secure high quality, revenue generating exhibitions.”

The planning application to upgrade the aircon said the Victoria Art Gallery relies on visiting collections on temporary loan from other art galleries, but that requires stable, controlled at-

Bath company makes Natwest list of top 100 start-ups to watch A COMPANY from Bath has made it onto a list of the UK’s top 100 start-up businesses to watch.

Tickitto, the UK’s first artificial intelligence event-bot that seamlessly connects users to the event experiences they love, has made NatWest’s inaugural #PowerUp Index along with seven other companies from the South West. The list ranks the 100 best and brightest businesses to have successfully emerged from the bank’s 2018/19 Entrepreneur Accelerator cohort.

The #PowerUp Index is ranked upon businesses’ financial performance, growth and investment potential, as well as their founders’ growth mind-set. It has been developed in partnership with Beauhurst and Equifax and independently verified by the two organisations.

Each of the 100 businesses on the list was based in one of the bank’s 12 Entrepreneur Accelerator hubs across the UK between April 2018 and March 2019.

Tickitto, which was launched by entrepreneur Dana Lattouf, ranked at 39th on the list. The highest-ranking company from the South West to make the list was Bristol headquartered Tumelo, a financial investment app, which was 30th.

Also in the Top 100 from the South West were: Grace and Green (33rd), Payaca (35th), Rhizome Live (36th), Chroma Stationary (73rd), Accounting Hub (74th), and Numerable Software (100th).

Olly Reid, scale acceleration manager in Bristol, said: “We’re

really proud that so many businesses from across the South West have made it onto the inaugural #PowerUp Index. This is such an amazing achievement for them and underlines how much entrepreneurial talent we have in the region. We’re really excited about the prospect of supporting more scale-up businesses when our next intake begins on the accelerator programme in Bristol in October.”

The NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator is the bank’s comprehensive programme of fully-funded mentoring, insight and bespoke coaching, specifically designed to meet the needs of entrepreneurs who want to grow and scale their business.

The bank’s accelerator hubs are able to support up to 1,000 entrepreneurs simultaneously across the country, making them the UK’s largest fully-funded business accelerator network. Since the Bristol accelerator launched in 2015, nearly 900 South West businesses - from Fintech firms to fashion brands – have been through the programme creating a significant number of jobs and raising millions of pounds in investment and funding through the scheme.

Applications are now open for October’s intake on the programme. For more information search online for NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator.

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mospheric conditions the venue cannot currently offer.

The existing ventilation will need to be enlarged and new ducting installed in an area that is only occasionally used by the public.

The application said the visual harm should be weighed against

the “obvious and clear public benefits” of the proposals that are “critical to allow the gallery to borrow the significant and high status art collections that it is largely reliant on”.

Granting permission, officers said the proposals would not

have an unacceptable impact and would preserve the significance of the heritage asset.

Mr Wilkinson said in his decision notice for the King’s Bath that it “demonstrates [B&NES Council’s] commitment to sustainability and responsibility for the environment through reducing need for conventional energy and reducing energy expenditure”.

The energy will supplement the conventional energy usage at the Pump Room complex and power the Clore Learning Centre.

The decision notice says the current equipment is nearly obsolete and will need to be removed or replaced, and that it would be less sustainable to buy energy from the national grid.

The hot springs are also set to provide under-floor heating for Bath Abbey.

Chat Bench initiative arrives in Bath

LONELINESS and isolation is frequently the platform used by unscrupulous criminals to gain the trust and cooperation of many vulnerable people, often those rendered susceptible to such approaches by virtue of advanced age, or disability.

Many such situations result in the financial exploitation of the victims, who can frequently lose their precious savings in a deception-style fraud situation.

In an era where connecting with each other is becoming increasingly easy, due to the rise of social media, many in the older adult community feel increasingly excluded from social interactions, as their ability to make use of the new wave of ‘chat apps’ and other social sites, due to a lack of familiarity with, and access to, the technology in question.

Avon and Somerset Police is

working towards the problem with a new iniative known as the 'Chat Bench'. Det Sgt Ash Jones, a Problem Solving Advisor with Avon & Somerset Police is the architect of the Chat Bench.

He said: “For the last ten years I have been supporting activities that provide safeguarding to elder citizens from financial exploitation situations. During this period I have sadly met many elders who have been scammed and swindled out of their life-savings by heartless offenders, who pay little heed to the devastating effects their activities have upon their trusting victims.

Often chronic loneliness is the core issue for the victims who engage with those, who seek to exploit them for financial gain.

In a recent case I met an elderly widow, who had been exploited over the telephone by a man

who called her every day to ask for money. The victim suffered from such crushing loneliness in her life that she was actually prepared to go along with the scam, even though she knew it was a deception, simply because the man on the phone was her only form of human contact on a daily basis.

"Our Chat Bench initiative is a very simple concept, you simply choose a suitable bench in a location used by a good cross-section of the community, typically in a park or a town centre. Then, place a sign on the bench, which encourages those using the bench to engage with each other in conversation – it’s as simple as that!

The latest Chat Bench has now opened for business in the centre of Bath, on one of the public benches outside the Guildhall on the High Street.

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Puzzles

Solutions will be shared in our next issue - out on 20/08/19

Crossword 1

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10 Extreme 10 surprise Extreme(9) surprise (9)

2 Affluence 2 Affluence (6) (6)

11 Souvenir 11 (5) Souvenir (5)

3 Recent 3arrival Recent (8) arrival (8)

12 Inherent 12 (9) Inherent (9)

4 Saw (6)4 Saw (6)

13 Possess 13 (3) Possess (3)

5 Book end, 5 Book perhaps end,(4,4) perhaps (4,4)

14 Hebrew 14minor Hebrew prophet minor(5)prophet (5)

6 Exceptional 6 Exceptional intellect (6)intellect (6)

15 E.g. wine 15 E.g. goblets wine (9)goblets (9)

7 Convince 7 Convince (8) (8)

16 Bush (5) 16 Bush (5)

8 Adhesive 8 label Adhesive (7) label (7)

18 Double18birdie Double (5) birdie (5)

16 Frenzied 16 rush Frenzied (8) rush (8)

22 Large 22 mass Large of sliding mass snow of sliding (9) snow (9)

17 Single-celled 17 Single-celled organismsorganisms (8) (8)

25 Renounce 25 Renounce (5) (5)

19 Conceal 19 with Conceal decorative with decorative paper (4,4)paper (4,4)

27 Open mesh 27 Open fabric mesh (3) fabric (3)

20 Neither20solid Neither nor liquid solid (7) nor liquid (7)

28 Staff (9) 28 Staff (9)

21 Abrade21(7)Abrade (7)

29 Mistaken 29 (5) Mistaken (5)

23 Part of23 a group Part of(6) a group (6)

30 Weaken 30 insidiously Weaken insidiously (9) (9)

24 Followed 24 (6) Followed (6)

31 Passageway 31 Passageway (5) (5)

26 Cardiff26 International Cardiff International Airport (6)Airport (6)

Sudoku Easy

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Promote your business or event in this newspaper to thousands of residents across Bath Call 01225 589789 for more information

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Planning approval for final phase of Mulberry Park New CEO announced for Julian House Stephen Sumner

Local Democracy Reporter

THE redevelopment of a former Ministry of Defence site in Combe Down with 681 homes and a new primary school is set to be completed in 2026.

Curo now has planning permission for the fourth and final phase of Mulberry Park, which details how the last 158 properties will be designed and distributed.

The former buildings at Foxhill MoD were demolished in 2014 and outline planning permission for the site between Combe Down and Foxhill was granted in 2015.

So far 178 houses have been built, and all but 10 are occupied.

Thirty per cent of the properties will be affordable.

Following a judicial review, Curo is no longer planning to demolish homes in neighbouring Foxhill and will instead work with residents to refurbish the properties.

A spokesperson said: “Alongside much-needed new homes, Curo have already built a state-of-theart community hub, including a family-friendly café and an all-weather sports pitch, a new

210-place primary school and a 70-place nursery. “Subject to planning permission, Curo will also deliver a brand new park and woodland walk at Mulberry Park by 2022.

“The park will include spaces for events, a play area, sensory and edible planting and connections to other places, like Springfield Park and the popular National Trust Skyline Walk.

“Building homes at Mulberry Park has also led to new job opportunities for local people.

“So far, Curo have created sev-

en apprenticeships, 41 new jobs with training recruited locally and 45 work/educational placements at Mulberry Park.”

The latest proposals were met with some opposition.

Objecting to the proposals, Councillor Bharat Panhkania said: “There is an obvious negative impact upon the residents of Priory Close, a towering new build which will look directly down into both their gardens and bedrooms.”

The Widcombe Association said the fourth phase of the Mulber-

ry Park development had “the potential to impact visually on the important wooded skyline to the south of Bath”, which could have a serious effect on the city’s World Heritage status.

It said a number of trees in the area are reaching the end of their lifecycle and will need to be felled, and called for better screening.

Assessing the application, planning officers said the building heights were “well within the maximum parameters” set out in the outline plans, so the impact on the World Heritage Site is acceptable, and will diminish over time as the trees being planted mature. They dismissed concerns about homes in Priory Lane being overlooked or losing light.

The Curo spokesperson said the homes in phase four would be limited to two and a half storeys, well within the heights allowed in the outline plans, and tree planting is already underway to screen the site.

A separate application is due to be submitted this month to detail the landscaping proposals for the public open space and the woodland walk.

WECA launches its first Local Industrial Strategy

CREATIVITY, collaboration and ingenuity are unique strengths the West of England will build on, to secure clean growth to benefit all residents through a new economic blueprint.

That’s the aim set out in the region’s first ever Local Industrial Strategy, developed by the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership, working with regional businesses and organisations, as well as central government.

The strategy sets out how the area will contribute towards delivering the national Industrial Strategy’s aim to raise productivity levels and create high-quality, well paid jobs across the country.

Chris Skidmore, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, said: “From robots to animation

through to aerospace, the West of England has a strong, diverse and increasingly green economy.

“This Local Industrial Strategy ensures the innovation, skills and creativity of every place in the West of England are harnessed, benefiting everyone working and living in the area.”

Tim Bowles, West of England Mayor, said: “From the days of Brunel, through to the latest developments in robotics and virtual reality, the West of England has been at the cutting edge of technology.

“Across our towns and cities, there is an independence of spirit and pride in the diversity, creativity and ingenuity of communities.

Our Local Industrial Strategy sets out how we will work together to build on those strengths.

“As the world changes around us,

we need this plan to make sure we stay ahead of the curve, creating a stronger economy and a better place to live and work for all.”

Professor Steve West, Chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Our region is a place where ideas flourish and businesses grow, where creative, digital and high tech meet traditional industry.

“The Local Industrial Strategy is important to everybody. It’s about the way we live, the way we work, the environment we live in, the way we socialise, and how those things come together to create an environment that allows people to prosper.

Minister for Local Growth, Jake Berry, MP said: “I welcome the launch of the first Local Industrial Strategy in the West of England

which will support a wide range of pioneering, innovative projects from the creation of bionic limbs to exploring green technology and constructing environmentally friendly homes.

“Meeting the priorities outlined in this strategy will enable businesses to adapt to new technology, create well-paid jobs and equip people with the skills they need to thrive in the global digital economy.”

The West of England Local Industrial Strategy also identifies the challenges that need to be addressed to realise the area’s full potential, including improving small firm productivity, ensuring the workforce has the skills needed and the delivery of clean, inclusive growth of the region.

It sets out how the area will bring its world-leading sectors together to promote cross-sectoral collaboration to address national and international challenges.

This includes looking at developing a smart region which is more in tune with the needs of its residents, one that uses the region’s digital expertise to improve connectivity, and that can provide homes that house the ageing population for longer while being built more cheaply, quickly and more energy efficiently.

It will also ensure people have the skills that businesses need to support the region’s ambitions, while also making sure people in the West of England have access to opportunities, both of which will help deliver the national Industrial Strategy’s aim to raise productivity levels and create high-quality, well paid jobs.

BATH charity Julian House has appointed David McAuley as their new Chief Executive, following a distinguished career working in the commercial and voluntary sectors.

Mr McAuley took up his new role at the charity at the beginning of July.

His notable roles have included being CEO for Trussell Trust, whose country-wide reach has achieved a significant reduction to UK hunger.

He also more recently headed up Stroud-based Open House, where he worked to enable young people and vulnerable individuals across Gloucestershire to discover their potential.

David said: “Supporting vulnerable people has never been more important and Julian House has played a vital role in championing their needs and ensuring that they get the right support.

“I am delighted to be joining the organisation to build on the quality work of the team and very much look forward to working with the trustees, staff and volunteers to ensure we do even more for people facing challenges within the South West.”

Joy Saunders, Chair of Trustees, added: “I am delighted that David is joining Julian House at this pivotal moment, where his experience and enthusiasm will be so important to the next phase of our growth and resilience.

“Our focus remains to provide vital support to some of the most marginalised and vulnerable members of society, through a suite of quality services across the region. Not just changing lives. Often saving lives.

“The Trustees are looking forward to working with David and together, taking this impactful organisation on to even greater things.”

Julian House provides a range of services to socially excluded people in Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and other parts of the South West – particularly in the areas of homelessness, domestic abuse, and community rehabilitation.

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Sport

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Email sport@bathecho.co.uk or call 01225 585484

Netball World Cup medallist Eboni Usoro-Brown recommits for 2020 FRESH from winning bronze with England at the 2019 Netball World Cup, Eboni Usoro-Brown has become the first player to recommit to Team Bath Netball for the 2020 Vitality Superleague season.

The defender, who won her 100th cap for the Roses in Liverpool during the World Cup, has captained the Blue & Gold for the past four years and 2020 will mark her tenth Superleague campaign in total with Team Bath.

She made her debut aged 18 back in the 2006-07 season and won four Superleague titles with the Blue & Gold before spending four years playing professionally in Australia from 2011 to 2015.

“It is with great pride that I wear the Blue & Gold of Team Bath Netball and I can’t wait to do so again for a tenth Superleague campaign in 2020,” said Usoro-Brown.

“The Netball World Cup showed just how big the sport is becoming in the UK and I am sure that the 2020 Vitality Superleague season will be more exciting and competitive than ever.

“I am looking forward to getting out on court in front of our loyal Team Bath fans, whose support has been outstanding, and hopefully we’ll see some new spectators who have caught the netball bug as well.”

Team Bath Netball Superleague Head Coach Anna Stembridge, who has worked with Usoro-Brown for both club and country, added: "I am delighted that Eboni will be returning to the

Blue & Gold this season.

"We have been fortunate enough to have been part of Eboni's netball journey for a number of years and she has achieved some remarkable accomplishments in this time – her 100th cap for England, a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, bronze at this year’s World Cup, four Superleague titles with Team Bath and becoming a fully-qualified lawyer. In essence, Eboni has led the way for others to see that excellence can be achieved both on and off the court, and it is a word that epitomises her. She demands it from not only herself but from those around her.

“Eboni inspires you to be the best

version of yourself and that is something special. For that I am truly grateful to have her as part of the 2020 team.” Team Bath, who finished third overall during the 2019 Superleague season, will be back in training in September ahead of the British Fast5 Netball All-Stars Championships at London’s Copper Box Arena on Saturday, 12th October, 1-6pm. The 2020 Vitality Superleague season will then get under way in February. Season-ticket holders will shortly receive renewal notifications in advance of general ticket sales, which will be coming soon.

Further details will be available at netball.teambath.com.

Countdown is on to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - just one year to go WITH exactly one year to go until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Team Bath judoka Ben Fletcher is excited at the prospect of competing at his sport’s spiritual home not just once but twice in the next 12 months.

Fletcher – one of 50 University of Bath-based sportspeople past and present training towards the Games – will compete at the legendary Nippon Budokan next month when it hosts the 2019 World Judo Championships, a Tokyo 2020 test event.

He is also on course to return to Japan’s sacred place for martial arts next July for his second Olympic Games as he currently sits eighth in the men’s -100kg qualification rankings after win-

Tuesday, 6th August 2019

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ning four international medals during 2019.

“It’s exciting times,” said Fletcher, who is coached by Juergen Klinger at the University’s Sports Training Village. “Everyone always says ‘the Olympics come around quickly’ but they really

do. It sneaks up on you and suddenly it’s just a year away.

“I’m feeling in good shape and feel like my level of performance is going up. I have been unlucky with other major events in the past, so I just have to focus on getting there first, but everything seems to be going in the right direction.

“The fact that the Olympic Games are going to be in Tokyo is massive. We are very spoiled as judoka – having the World Championships at the home of judo is one thing but to have both the Worlds and the Olympics there in the

Medal haul for Bathbased swimmers at Summer Championships THERE was a hat-trick of titles for Kieran Bird and sporting scholar Jacob Greenow also struck gold as a host of University of Bath-based swimmers raced at the 2019 British Swimming Summer Championships in Glasgow.

British Swimming National Centre Bath swimmer Bird won 400m and 800m freestyle gold in 3:50.90 and 8:00.27 respectively, while also clocking 15:24.27 as he led a University of Bath 1-2-3 in the 1,500m freestyle.

Sport & Exercise Science student Tom Derbyshire, supported by a British Swimming scholarship, was less than half-a-second behind in 15:24.61 and bronze went to Chemistry student William Ryley in 15:44.35.

Ryley, coached by Mark Skimming, was also seventh in the 400m freestyle (3:58.83), 800m freestyle (8:19.12) and 200m backstroke (2:04.02).

Natural Sciences student Greenow, supported by a Santander Sports Scholarship, won bronze in the latter race (2:01.58) having bagged a brilliant gold in the 400m individual medley earlier in the week in 4:20.01. He was also fifth in the 200m IM in 2:03.27.

David Miller, who studies Sports & Social Science, was ninth in the 200m breaststroke in 2:20.89.

The Team Bath AS community swimming club, who train at the University, was also well represented at the Tollcross International Centre as 11 swimmers raced in the junior events.

Niamh Ward finished fourth in the 15yr 200m backstroke in 2:21.07 and tenth in the 100m backstroke, while Katie Butcher achieved a new personal best of 30.85 as she placed ninth in the 15yr 50m backstroke.

Max Adams competed in four finals, placing eighth in the 200m butterfly (2.16.38), sixth in the 100m freestyle (56.35), seventh in the 100m butterfly (1.01.16) and sixth in the 50m freestyle (25.69) space of 12 months is crazy.

“The Budokan was built for the Tokyo 1964 Olympics and is an incredible place to compete in, there is so much history. I am made up just to be going there for the Worlds. If I get to experience it at an Olympics and do well there, it would just be amazing.”

Fletcher is no stranger to Tokyo having spent plenty of time in the Japanese capital at training camps during his career.

Keep an eye out for the next issue of the Bath Echo - due out on Tuesday 20th August 2019

while also accumulating an impressive collection of personal best times over his six events.

Olly Watts pulled out three consecutive 50m butterfly PBs in a day, including one in a victorious swim-off to win him the last place in the 13/14yr final where he finished eighth in 27.70.

The more experienced 17/18yr swimmers also made their contribution to Team Bath’s 11 final places with Rhiannon Bowen eighth in the 200m freestyle (2:06.12), Laura McNab ninth in the 50m freestyle (27.76) and Mark Edmundson tenth in the 100m backstroke event with a PB of 58.21.

Aiming to improve both their competition position and gain valuable experience at national level, Team Bath AS swimmers showed determination as they put their training and technique to good use.

Bowen’s 58.42 in the 17/18yr 100m freestyle put her 11th overall, a position matched by Edmundson in the 200m backstroke.

He was also 17th in the 50m backstroke (27.50), as was Watts in the 13/14yr 50m freestyle (26.33) and Finlay Saunders in both the 16-yrs 100m backstroke (1:01.53) and 200m backstroke.

Rue Fowler, the youngest member of the team, gained valuable race experience at her first British Nationals as she finished 18th in the 13/14yr 200m IM. Ethan McNeil was 17th in the 17/18yr 200m breaststroke and Misty Marshall-Welling placed 22nd and 24th in the 200m and 50m freestyle respectively.

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