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 members of the public;

Martin Thomas made a statement about Residents’ parking zones (RPZs).  He commented that the views from the consultation had not been taken properly into consideration, and partial support had been taken to mean full support.  He expressed the view that the RPZs appeared to be a means of increasing revenue regardless of them being very unpopular in the community and suggested there were other ways to limit traffic that would have less of a negative effect on local families and businesses.  Councillor Vic Pritchard referred to Mr Thomas having proposed 3 hour parking zones as an alternative and enquired if this had the support of other residents.  Mr Thomas replied that quite a few comments he had received had expressed a wish for something along those lines.

David Redgewell made a statement about bus services, in particular those serving the rural communities, acknowledging they are the responsibility of WECA but noting that WECA do not have precepting powers.  He called for longer term planning to be in place so passengers could rely upon these services and investment could be made.  He concluded by saying that the transport infrastructure needed to be handed to WECA.  Councillor Guy asked if Mr Redgewell was aware of WECA’s proposal for the 522 service through Paulton and other villages, to which he replied that he was.  Councillor Pritchard referred to the mention of the 672 service from Blagdon through Chew Valley to Bristol and that subsidy would be required from the 3 unitary authorities and asked if Mr Redgewell was aware if there had been any negotiation yet on this.  He replied that he understood the Mayor had been trying to achieve this, but as Bristol City Council were cutting their bus budget, this was a serious problem.  Councillor Moss asked if Mr Redgewell was aware if an equalities impact assessment had been carried out by B&NES regarding the cuts in rural buses, and Mr Redgewell replied that he was concerned as this had not taken place by any of the councils, despite him trying to push for this and it needed to be re-visited.  A full copy of the statement has been added to the Minute book.

Rosemary Naish made a statement expressing her concern about the future of rural bus services.  Councillor Guy asked Ms Naish if she agreed that the £50 million Dan Norris has to spend should be used to supply bus routes in North East Somerset, to which Ms Naish replied that she did not know about that.  Councillor Pritchard asked Ms Naish to clarify her comment that all rural transport had been removed, to which she replied that it was all rural subsidised transport.  Councillor Hardman asked if Ms Naish agreed that Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) was not a substitute for a regular service; to which she responded that she did agree.  A full copy of the statement has been added to the Minute book.

Bob Goodman made a statement touching on a number of aspects about Bath, including remembrance events funding, gull prevention measures, the commercial estate, city centre security measures, Residents’ Parking Zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.  Councillor Guy asked Mr Goodman if he was aware that the Royal British Legion and the military will get exactly the service they asked for with no difference in cost, to which Mr Goodman replied that it was only from Bath paying for it.  Councillor Pritchard asked if Mr Goodman would agree that Bath residents feel they’re living in a completely different city than they did 4 years ago, to which Mr Goodman replied that he wholeheartedly agreed.  Councillor Blackburn asked if all the positive gains against the plight of the gulls will be undone by the cutting of the prevention measures, to which Mr Goodman replied that he had no doubt that was the case.  Councillor Moss asked if Mr Goodman was aware that residents in North East Somerset pay for remembrance events through the additional parish precepts and would be unhappy to subsidise Bath as well as their own, Mr Goodman replied that they were already subsiding Bath.  A full copy of the statement has been added to the Minute book.

Graham Pristo made a statement stating that low traffic neighbourhoods were pitting neighbourhoods and businesses against each other at a time when the city needed a chance to recover.  He also commented on the commitment from Councillor Guy to build 100 new affordable homes, in the context of 6000 households on the waiting list for such accommodation, but having looked for where these were, had not yet been able to identify this, as those he was aware of were earmarked for specific groups.  Councillor Guy referred to Mr Pristo’s comment that he had never seen the city so diverse and asked if he considered this a problem, to which Mr Pristo replied that was not his intention and he had probably used the wrong term.  Councillor Pritchard asked, with reference to the Councillor Guy interview that Mr Pristo had mentioned, whether he now found the interview to be misleading and giving a false sense of security, to which Mr Pristo replied that he did.  Councillor Blackburn asked if a BBC listener should expect to hear factual information from broadcast interviews and, if that had not taken place, whether an apology should be issued by the Leader.  Mr Pristo agreed that it should.

A statement from Ann Perry who was unable to attend the meeting at short notice was read out by Graham Pristo.  Ms Perry’s statement set out her concerns regarding the RPZ programme.  A full copy of the statement has been added to the Minute book.

Louisa McFarland addressed the Council about the former land site at Entry Hill, raising concerns about its safety.  Councillor Pritchard asked what sort of assurances Ms McFarland would expect from the Council, to which she replied that she would like the Council to test the water in Lyn Brook for certain pesticides plus an assurance that all mitigating measures would be carried out before any development on the site.  A full copy of the statement has been added to the Minute book.

David Pye, a business owner in Moorland road and Chair of the Moorland Road Association, explained his view that the RPZ proposal for the Oldfield Park area was a disaster for the High Street and asked for it to be reconsidered.  He reported survey results that demonstrated local residents and businesses were opposed.  A Monday – Friday enforcement would be better.  He stressed there was still time to make changes before July and hoped that local businesses could expect the support of their local Council.  Councillor Rigby asked if Mr Pye would be prepared to meet him to which he replied that he would.  Councillor Pritchard referred to Mr Pye’s comment in his statement that their requests to meet Councillors had not been successful and asked if he knew why that might be the case, to which Mr Pye responded that he assumed it was because decision makers did not want to discuss it.  Councillor Blackburn asked Mr Pye if he agreed that the community engagement had been a waste of time if the outcomes appeared predetermined, to which he replied that he did.

The statements were referred to the relevant Cabinet Members.