What FoBRA does for the residents of Bath
FoBRA is the main representative voice for residents' groups in Bath.
We meet regularly with Council leaders, elected members, officers, the Police and the business community to make them aware of the views of Bath residents and to try and ensure that they take our concerns into account.
Widcombe Junior School
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Widcombe Junior School
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Observers are welcome to attend FoBRA committee meetings. Click here to view the arrangements for observers.
Foxhill Development Proposals - are they in line with Council Policy?
FoBRA is extensively quoted on page 4 of the Chronicle dated 14th Sept, questioning whether Curo's plans for the Foxhill estate (which recently received Council Planning approval but which are currently stopped by an order from the Ministry) are in line with Council policy. We point out that the amount of social housing would be significantly reduced, through Curo's citing a get-out clause in the Placemaking Plan. See 'Papers' tab on this website for full text.
Council's New Refuse Policy
FoBRA wrote to the Council Leader on 27th August about the perils in view when the Council's new Refuse Policy goes live in November, such as where to stow wheelie bins outside street-fronted Georgian and Victorian terraces and crescents; and what to do about the problem of 'side waste'. See 'Papers' on this website for full text.
Party House Fire Danger
The Online version of the Bath Chronicle dated 24th August has a story "Group raises 'serious fire issues' of 48 party houses in Bath". That Group was FoBRA. The story continues "The [Fire] Service was contacted by FoBRA with 48 addresses the group believed were being offered to visitors to Bath as short term accommodation. These 48 houses offer a total of 666 beds, FoBRA said, which created 'serious fire safety issues.'" FoBRA's full statement can be seen through a link in the story, and also at the 'Papers' tab on this website.
Bath Polluted - Official!
B&NES has been named in the Government's new Air Quality Plan for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) as one of 29 local authorities with illegal NO2 pollution. See Table 3, page 31 of the DEFRA Air Quality Plan July 2017 (see "Papers" tab for weblink). They will now be required to produce a local plan to rectify this by next year, which is likely to involve the introduction of a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) for Bath, with access to funding promised. FoBRA wrote to the Council Leader on 4th Aug, calling for urgent action - see 'Papers' tab. This letter was published in the Bath Chronicle 17 Aug.
B&NES' data show there are excessive and unlawful levels of NO2 across the entire main road network in Bath, and that these are not reducing. See "Papers" tab for the relevant data: the Bath air pollution map; Bath air quality data 2016; and Bath NO2 graphs 2016.
Party Houses again!
FoBRA Chairman, Robin Kerr, took part in a discussion about Party Houses on BBC Radio Bristol's Emma Britton show on the morning of 19th July.
Placemaking Plan - Chairman's address to the Council
See 'Papers' tab for text of the Chairman's address to the Council, 13 July, followed by questions and answers.
Party Houses
The Chairman spoke to camera about the increasing scourge of Party Houses last week. It can be viewed at: https://bathnewseum.com/2017/07/10/its-no-party-for-us-say-residents/ . It's not long and covers all the points. In the background is the latest Georgian treasure to become one!
Eastern Park and Ride again!
The Chairman wrote an opinion piece about the Eastern Park and Ride, following the Council's 11th July cancellation announcement, which was published in the Chronicle on 13th July. The text can be seen at the "Papers" tab.
Eastern Park and Ride
The Chairman's letter supporting a Park and Ride to the East was published in the Chronicle on 25th May. See "Papers" tab for text.
Radio 4's Today Programme
Radio 4's Today Programme on Monday 15th May came from The Edge, at the University of Bath. Several FoBRA members were in the audience. A panel of South West politicians was quizzed about the probity of the young, working population's having to fund elderly care; the cost of housing for young people; the diversity of skills needed for jobs in the future; and maintenance of environmental and employment standards post-Brexit. The FoBRA Chairman took part in a separate discussion with politics student, Alex Mulchrome, which covered pensions triple-lock; voting being a civic duty; the financial consequences of being a student today; the iniquity of the rise in housing costs in UK, compared to other parts of Europe; and the need for the Government to build housing on its own account, as developers cannot be relied upon to build enough, despite there being plenty of land and planning approval.
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) - Liability for Business Rates
FoBRA has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the Chairman of the Local Government Association, our MP, Ben Howlett, and the Leader of B&NES Council, Cllr Tim Warren, about the liability of the owners of HMOs for taxation, following a resolution agreed at the AGM of the National Organization of Residents' Associations recently. See 'Papers' tab for the text.
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in Bath
Chris Beezley, FoBRA's lead for Universities, wrote to the Chronicle about HMOs and the fact that, if they housed students, no Council Tax was being paid by these houses, nor were BusinessRates being charged - a great loss to the Local Authority, exacerbated by the large proportion in Bath. This was published on 23rd Feb and the text can be found at the "Papers" tab.
Placemaking Plan
FoBRA's comments on the Council's Main Modifications to the Placemaking Plan, following the Inspector's Report, can be found at the "Papers" tab.
Council Parking Strategy
FoBRA has responded to the Council's Parking Strategy consultation. See 'Papers' tab for text.
Air Pollution in Bath - letter to the Council Leader
The Chairman wrote to Cllr Tim Warren on 15th Dec 16 about the need for a fully resourced Transport Plan, about air pollution in Bath, and about encouraging the Government to create a link for traffic between the A36 and the A46 as one way of addressing this. See the 'Papers' tab for text.
A better system for Freight Delivery in Bath - Chronicle letter
On 22nd Dec the Bath Chronicle published a letter from FoBRA's Transport Lead, Patrick Rotheram, about the need for Freight Consolidation as one element of a workable Transport Plan for Bath. See the 'Papers' tab for text.
West of England Joint Transport and Spatial Studies- FoBRA's consultation responses
FoBRA responded on 9th Dec to the consultation on the West of England Joint Transport Study and on 22nd Dec to the one on Spatial issues. See the 'Papers' tab for texts of both.
Foxhill Estate Outline Planning - Objection and Chronicle letter.
FoBRA objected on 29th Nov to Curo's outline planning application for Foxhill Estate, principally on grounds of density, extent of demolition and the reduction in affordable housing. On 22nd Dec the Bath Chronicle published a letter about this from the Chairman, encouraging Curo to return to the drawing board. See 'Papers' for texts of both.
A36/46 Link
FoBRA wrote to our MP on 24th November about recent news on a link between the A36 and the A46. See the 'Papers' tab for the text.
New Constitution
FoBRA adopted a revised Constitution at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on 15th Nov 16 - see 'Papers' for the text.
Air Pollution in Bath
FoBRA wrote to our MP on 7th November about the recent High Court ruling that the Government was not doing enough about air pollution in cities. Specifically, we asked that small cities which suffer badly from pollution, like Bath, should be included in this work, not just big ones. See the 'Papers' tab for full text and graphs.
Student Housing Policy
A letter from FoBRA entitled "City Needs a Student Housing Policy" was published by the Bath Chronicle on 25th Aug and again on 8th Sept 2016: www.bathresidents.org.uk/cms/uploads/student-housing-letter-to-chron-19-aug-16.pdf .
Petition "New Threat to Cycling Infrastructure, London Rd, Bath"
Members can read more about this and sign a petition by visiting this site:
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/new-threat-to-cycling-infrastructure-london-rd-bath
Extension of the Bath Christmas Market
At the Development Management Committee (DMC) meeting in the Guildhall on 1 June 2016, FoBRA (having cleared this with its membership) took the opportunity to object to the planning application by Bath Tourism Plus to extend the Bath Christmas Market 2016 from 18 to 25 days.
We did not question the principle of the market and recognised that the extension would bring some marginal economic benefits to the City, but we expressed our concern at the socio-economic cost to so many residents and small businesses, not just in the market footprint area: but to our health, well-being, equilibrium and peace of mind leading up to Christmas. FoBRA did not wish residents to have to endure the additional noise, pollution, pedestrian congestion, extra traffic, additional parking problems and general disruption generated by the market for not just 25 days but actually for up to 39 days, including 10 setting up and four take down days.
FoBRA was joined in objection by the Walcot Trading Association representing about 300 small traders from Broad Street, Margaret's Buildings, Widcombe High Street, Bartlett St, London Rd and Walcot Street itself, and by a City Centre Councillor, who also spoke against the proposed extension. The DMC's refusal of this planning application (8:1 with 1 abstention) was a small victory for common sense and the ability to look beyond short term economic viability in favour of a long term vision to create a successful city for everyone. Teaming up with the Walcot Trading Association was key to FoBRA's success - bringing together Bath residents and small businesses whose lives would be disrupted by the extension showed how working together brings results.
The Rec and the Rec Trust
News on the Rec situation has been sparse recently, but the following has come from PERA, and is of Bath-wide importance - hence its publication here. In PERA's current newsletter the following is written about the Rec and the Rec Trust:
"Bath Rec
Following the Trustees' successful appeal that the Rec does not have to be kept as open space, and can be sold, PERA representatives (excluding N Websper) have met with the Trustees to agree certain measures. At present the Trustees will not agree to anything that restricts their ability to hold any number of events, use the whole of the Rec for a stadium, with no limit on height or size, and no minimum amount of open space for amateur sport. They will also not agree to anything that restricts their ability to sell the Rec in whole or in part."
By way of clarification:
• Nigel Websper (PERA Chairman) did not take part in the above meeting with the Rec Trustees simply because he is still involved in the Lower (Charity) Tribunal legal negotiations about the precise clauses and wording by which the Rec Trust will be bound in the future (the higher (appeal) court having returned the case to the lower tribunal for decision by negotiation).
• The statement "....use the whole of the Rec for a stadium, with no limit on height or size....." would, of course, be subject to planning permission, which is exclusively the territory of the Local Planning Authority and the Planning Inspectorate, not the Trust.
It is significant that little, if any, of this has appeared recently in the Press.
Air Pollution in Bath - letter published in the Chronicle 7th Apr 16
See "Papers" for the text of a letter by our Transport Lead, Patrick Rotheram, published in the Chronicle 7th April, giving the true situation on air pollution in Bath, and its consequences. The editor declined to include the "Corridor of Death" map as well, but it can be found under "Papers" too.
