Agenda item

Statements were made by the following people.

·  David Redgewell made a statement about the duty to develop and maintain a Regional Transport Strategy and asked for the Cabinet Member’s help in preserving regional partnerships. The statement was referred to the Cabinet Member for Transport.  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.

·  Gareth Herincx made a statement on behalf of the South of Bath Alliance and presented a petition of 1305 signatures entitled “Protect South Stoke Plateau from 300 new homes”. In response to a question from Councillor Paul Crossley asking if Mr Herincx was aware that last year, Councillor Tim Ball had presented a housing strategy to Council which contained no extension into the green belt but which had been defeated by this Council, Gareth responded that he was aware of that, and was also aware of the significant pressure from central government to build houses.  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.  The statement was referred to the Cabinet Member for Homes and Planning and the petition was referred to the Core Strategy Planning Inspector.

·  Robert Hellard, Vice-Chair of South Stoke Parish Council, made a statement calling on the Council to recognise the statutory protections that exist on the South Stoke site. In response to a question from Councillor Tim Ball enquiring whether the Parish Council would consider part funding if consultants were brought in to expedite the South Stoke Conservation Area appraisal, Mr Hellard responded that although he couldn’t answer definitively for the Parish Council without a meeting, it was possible that they’d be able to contribute to achieve a prompt resolution of the problem.  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.  The statement was referred to the Cabinet Member for Homes and Planning.

·  Leonie Robertson made a statement and presented a petition from parents, carers and staff of St Andrews Church of England Primary school highlighting the problems crossing Lansdown Road at the junction with Julian Road and Guinea Lane and calling for a zebra crossing to be installed as soon as possible.  In response to a question from Councillor Caroline Roberts enquiring if Leonie was aware that the local Ward Councillors had been seriously lobbying for this and they hoped to include it in the budget, Ms Robertson responded that she was aware, but they’d had promises before so were really keen to see it being put into action.  The statement and petition were referred to the Cabinet Member for Transport.  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.

Concerning item 9 on the agenda

·  Lin Patterson made a statement as an independent former user of the CAB, concluding with a song!  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.

·  Dr Michelle Farr from the University of Bath spoke on behalf of a research team that had spent 2 years looking into the impact of the CAB in B&NES.  In response to a question from Councillor Eleanor Jackson about whether the research could be made available to Members, Dr Farr responded that it had only recently been submitted to the funders for a peer review and she hoped it would be available at the beginning of January.  She invited Members to contact her directly with any specific queries.  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.

·  Jillian Tempo, a volunteer advisor for 9 years, made a statement in support of the CAB.  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.

·  Lin Patterson read a statement from Emily Aseri about the support she had received from the CAB.  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.

·  Philip Knowles, a Bath resident for over 20 years and volunteer advisor and supervisor at CAB, spoke in support of the free impartial service that it provides.  He said that clients go to the CAB as they have nowhere else to go and he couldn’t envisage how it would work for clients to visit different agencies for each issue they faced.  In response to a question from Councillor Tim Warren about how many people volunteered for the CAB, Mr Knowles responded that it was more than 120 but he wasn’t the right person to have the exact figure. [This was subsequently confirmed by Richard Samuel as being 150.]

·  Joe Scofield made a statement in support of the CAB, expressing concern as to whether the level of service provided by the CAB could be replicated via other agencies.  A copy of the statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and linked to the electronic record.

·  John James, a volunteer advisor at the CAB for 13 years, made a statement highlighting that, in addition to the invaluable advice services provided by the CAB, they also played a key role in improving policies that affect people’s lives – an area of work that needed to continue.

·  Shelagh James spoke as a private citizen of Bath for 40 years who had witnessed the help and support the CAB had provided, particularly with the staff and students of Bath College.

·  Thomasin Gillow made a statement describing various difficult times in her life when she had called upon the CAB to help her through traumatic experiences.  Due to this support, her situation had improved considerably and she was now working and things were generally much better.  She called on the Council to continue funding the CAB.

·  A statement from Victoria Creeghan-Davies was read by Gillian Whitehead.  The statement described how her life had changed beyond recognition in the last 2 years through becoming disabled and a series of extremely challenging experiences.  She had received conflicting advice from the agencies she had approached and had had lots of problems with benefits which were not resolved until she went to the CAB who sorted it all out.

The Chairman indicated the above statements would be taken into account during the subsequent debate.

The Council noted the questions and responses from members of the public that had been circulated at the meeting.