Column | Councillor Kevin Guy – 06/06/2023

AS you may know, my own Liberal Democrats won an historic second term at the council elections on May 4th.

I would like to thank everyone who voted and congratulate all the councillors elected.  Serving our constituents is an honour and privilege,

I have wasted no time in establishing the new cabinet and setting our direction, building on what we have achieved over the previous four years and now ploughing ahead with the massive mandate you have just given us at the ballot box.

We will use this mandate to continue to improve people’s lives.  We are ambitious for Bath and North East Somerset. We want to see the right houses in the right places; we will be doing even more to tackle the climate emergency; and we will be extending transport choices and improving communities through our liveable neighbourhoods programme.

This is a community-led programme which will see public realm improvements in 15 residential areas of Bath and North East Somerset over the next few years. It aims to improve residential streets and encourage safe, active and more sustainable forms of travel, such as walking, wheeling and cycling.

Improvements suggested by communities include better crossings on busy roads and walk-to-school routes and wider footways to help children and people with buggies and mobility aids get around. We will work closely with local communities as we develop our proposals.

In addition, we will shortly be implementing two new Residents Parking schemes- in the Walcot, Snow Hill and Claremont Road zone, and the Oldfield Park and Westmoreland zone.

Residents will be kept informed of these changes, with the “go live” date expected to be 31st July.

The decision to  go ahead with these schemes follows extensive public consultation. We have listened to and talked with residents, businesses and organisations. Many residents said they found it challenging to park near their homes because of commuter parking, but businesses have raised concerns about the impact of the final design on trade. We are working with the Oldfield Park Community Alliance and Genesis Trust about how we can mitigate any potential impacts, using this information to inform any future reviews of the schemes.

The 5 Resident Parking Schemes we introduced earlier this year have proved highly successful and are supported by local residents and businesses alike.

Finally I would like to thank everyone who reads these columns. A thriving local press contributes to a healthy democracy and adds to the various ways that we inform our residents. If you would like weekly updates on what the council is doing please subscribe to our e-connect newsletter.

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