Agenda item

The Democratic Services Manager will announce any submissions received. The Council will be invited to decide what action it wishes to take, if any, on the matters raised in these submissions. As the questions received and the answers given will be circulated in written form there is no requirement for them to be read out at the meeting. The questions and answers will be published with the draft minutes.

Statements were made by the following people;

Bob Hollindale addressed the Council and referred to a recent Transport for London report on Uber, raising various points of concern.  In response to a question from Councillor Caroline Roberts about whether all Local Authorities follow the same procedure for licensing drivers, Bob responded that they did not and explained that B&NES required enhanced DBS checks, but that individuals who have been refused a badge in B&NES, could obtain one in another Authority area with less rigorous requirements and then operate in B&NES.

Geoff Seymour, a taxi driver in Bath since 2003, made a statement to Council outlining his view that Uber did not effectively support disabled customers.  A copy of Geoff’s statement has been placed on the Minute book and is linked to the online minutes.  Councillor Caroline Roberts asked Geoff if he had heard that Uber would not carry blind people with guide dogs, to which Geoff responded that he had indeed heard that.  Councillor Liz Hardman asked Geoff about future taxi provision for disabled people in the area, to which Geoff responded that, if Uber took all the trade then it would be very limited.  Councillor Colin Blackburn asked Geoff to clarify the point in the second paragraph of his statement stating that it wasn’t possible to contact Uber, as he had experience of doing so and there was choice about which vehicle to select. Geoff replied that he had meant that you can’t contact an operator.

Darth Speed made a statement against Uber, stressing a number of safety concerns.  Councillor Caroline Roberts referred to Darth’s comment about the area being swamped with drivers from elsewhere and asked if that meant there weren’t enough drivers here.  Darth replied that that wasn’t the case as the existing licensed drivers were left waiting for business.

Paul Roles made a statement against Uber, highlighting a number of concerns and examples of alleged illegal practices.  He countered the term ‘non-contentious’ in the context of issuing the Uber licence and described a series of errors in the accompanying report.  Councillor Caroline Roberts asked Paul to explain the term ‘greyball’ to which Paul responded that it was a device that hides a car from detection when it is banned in an area.

Andy Halliday made a statement requesting the Exhibition room at Bath Central Library be re-opened, and setting out a number of reasons to support his request.  A copy of Andy’s statement has been placed on the Minute book and is linked to the online minutes.  In response to a question from Councillor Dine Romero about any indication of when the room might be re-opened, Andy responded that he has recently been told it will be in the autumn.  He added his concern that opportunities for summer activities such as the Summer Reading challenge were being passed up due to lack of space, which could be made available right now.  Councillor John Bull asked if Andy knew the reason for closure and whether he considered it justified; Andy explained the reasons but reiterated that arrangements could be made to open it up immediately.  In response to a question from Councillor Sarah Bevan about the organisations that used the Exhibition room, Andy responded that it was used by a wide range of organisations including artists, photographers and charitable organisations.

David Redgewell made a statement calling for clear focus in working with the West of England Combined Authority.  A copy of David’s statement has been placed on the Minute book and is linked to the online minutes.  Councillor Neil Butters asked about smart ticketing and David responded that smart cards were being introduced on the Severn Beach line and then rolled out more widely, but pressure needed to be maintained on First Bus.  Councillor Sarah Bevan asked for more information on the Buses Bill so David outlined the powers given to the Combined Authority.

Adam Reynolds addressed the Council about 20mph zones and calling on the new Cabinet Member for Transport and Highways to re-think the Council’s policy on this.  A copy of Adam’s statement has been placed on the Minute book and is linked to the online minutes.  Councillor Tim Warren asked if the criticism to which Adam referred was only from the political campaign group, 20’s Plenty, to which Adam responded that was the only group who had complained that he knew of.  Councillor Neil Butters asked Adam to say a little more about the health and community benefits he had mentioned and so Adam referenced a Bristol City Council report from 2012 which highlighted the increase in people walking and cycling.  He also explained that 20mph gave more design freedom to Highways Officers to work within a space.  Councillor John Bull asked about the method that had been used to seek the views of Bath residents in 2011, and Adam responded that he wasn’t sure, but knew that a consultation had taken place.  Councillor Sarah Bevan asked Adam what he considered were the main flaws in the report he had mentioned, to which he responded that it was that inaccurate comparisons were made to support the findings.

Andrew Mercer addressed the Council on behalf of the Bathampton Meadows Alliance and called on the Council to finish what they had started and take steps to safeguard the meadows in perpetuity.  He advised that a proper traffic census was needed.  Councillor Dine Romero asked Andrew if he thought the Cabinet still felt a Park & Ride was necessary to the east of Bath, to which he responded that the exact nature of the problem needed to be established through a traffic census, before a solution could be devised.

The Chair thanked all the speakers for their statements which would be referred to the relevant Cabinet Members.  The Chair informed Councillors that some members of the public had chosen to make their statements later in the meeting when the relevant item was reached.

The Chair made reference to the questions and responses which had been circulated and are linked to the online minutes.