Meetings
Autumn Meeting 27th October 2011
Chairman Paddy Doyle opened the meeting and gave his report which covered progress to date with the Two Tunnels project, concentrating on the planned access to the pathway in Lyncombe Vale, and reiterating the WA view that we were broadly supportive of this access, subject to certain provisos about signage and construction. He also mentioned the revamped voluntary one-way system in Lyncombe Vale, our work with FoBRA, particularly with respect to localism , and replanting by the Widcombe loos to deter rough sleepers and street drinkers. Sarah Lewis was thanked for great work over the years, particularly in her role as events organiser, and Chris Rogers was welcomed to the role, where he has already established an events sub-committee of 12. Alex Nash was thanked for her organisation of the superbly successful WA Garden Club. Paddy also made a plea for more committee members, and thanked Rob Morley for coming forward to revamp the website.
Julian Williams gave a short presentation on progress on Rossiter Rd to date. Paddy pointed out that Julian was soon to move out of Widcombe, and thanked him for his hard work on the Committee.
The meeting concluded with an entertaining and informative talk by Bath artist Peter Brown who told us how he set about creating a picture.
Minutes of the Meeting are available here
Annual General Meeting 14th April 2011
Chairman Richard Wales opened the meeting, his final AGM, and reported that the current Council Cabinet, led by Francine Haeberling, was committed to proceeding with the Rossiter Rd scheme. The public consultation had resulted in figures showing 60% for the project and 40% against. Richard felt that we needed further details on how these figures were arrived at so that we could formulate a proper interpretation and response.
He also reported that Sustrans had agreed that there should be a single public consultation, held in Widcombe, to determine the type of access to the Two tunnels Pathway from Lyncombe Vale. Sustrans will undertake all aspects of that consultation, including a leaflet drop.
Richard concluded his remarks by thanking, in their absence, Mayveen Blackwell for her long, varied and excellent service on the committee over many years and to Ro Emsley for five years very efficient work as secretary. Both ladies had been presented with flowers at the committee meeting on April 5 th .
Following the Treasurer's report, the following officers and committee members were elected:
Chairman Paddy Doyle
Vice Chairman Julian Williams
Secretary Liz Littlewood
Membership Secretary Ann Ashworth
Member Chris Rogers
Member Ozzie ffield
New Chairman Paddy Doyle paid tribute to Richard's years of service on the committee, initially as Treasurer, where he was responsible for introducing the Direct Debit scheme, and then as Chairman where he set about the task of arranging the redrafting of the WA constitution. He then took over the Rossiter Rd sub-committee, and his under his leadership this committee has become a powerful force which has never taken no for an answer, but has always conducted itself on cordial terms with councillors and council officers alike. That the Rossiter Rd scheme came to public consultation in February was a tribute to Richard and his team and Paddy was pleased to say that Richard had agreed to retain his chairmanship of the sub-committee until the scheme was brought to fruition. In response, Richard said that many others had been involved in bringing the scheme to fruition - including past chairmen and the expert and hard-working members of the sub-committee.
Following the meeting proper there was a hustings
involving the six candidates for the local election -
from L to R below (Chairman, Paddy Doyle, standing) :
Ian Gilchrist sitting Lib Dem councillor
Don Wallace Conservative
Peter Martin Conservative
Saiful Islam Labour
Sue Bradley Green party
Ben Stevens Lib Dem
Each candidate spoke for three minutes on the subject “What I will do for Widcombe if I am elected”. This was followed by a lively question and answer session from the floor.
The evening concluded with the conversation over refreshments. (photo by Phil Bendall)
2011 AGM Minutes available here
Summary of Accounts for year ending 31 Dec 2010 available here
Autumn Meeting 18th Oct 2010
Approximately 60 members attended the Autumn meeting, held at Widcombe C of E Junior School on 18th October 2010, where the highlight was a presentation on the Rossiter Rd scheme by the Mayor of London's Commissioner for Transport, Widcombe resident Peter Hendy.
Chairman Richard Wales opened the meeting.
Three new committee members were proposed, seconded and unanimously elected. Our plea for volunteers has been heard and Ann Ashworth is now our assistant membership secretary, Helen Peter is in charge of Streetscape and Maggie Turner has joined as chair of the newly formed Church Street sub-committee, which is looking at the problems of traffic and parking in that road. Anna Morgan is helping the treasurer with direct debits but has not joined the committee.
Paddy Doyle was thanked for an excellent newsletter and Jan Robertson and her helpers for stuffing envelopes and delivering by hand, which saves a significant amount of money.
The Chairman pointed out that since publication of the newsletter, there has been a meeting with SUSTRANS and Greenway! and Lyncombe Vale Residents about the Two Tunnels Scheme. For the Lyncombe Vale access, SUSTRANS is obliged to try to meet their normal standards. A formal application to purchase allotment land has been refused so they are now free to go ahead with a stepped access and ramp, which will allow local people access but is unlikely to encourage outsiders.
Another issue is tunnel lighting. The police want the tunnels unlit during hours of darkness which we think will encourage antisocial behaviour. At SUSTRANS request, the WA has written a letter to them which they will share with the police.
Treasurer Jeremy Boss assured the members that we are in reasonable financial shape. We have around £7,000 in the bank and £700 in the Abbey cemetery fund. We have raised extra money for things such as new equipment and the Holloway Horse Trough, and spent money on consultancy for Rossiter Road.
Guest Speaker Peter Hendy gave a presentation on the Rossiter road scheme, followed by questions and answers. The substance of his presentation will shortly be reflected in an updated Rossiter Road page on the website, and will be available with the meeting minutes when published (following approval at the next committee meeting).
The evening concluded as usual with drinks, nibbles and conversation.
Annual General Meeting 29th April 2010
The 2010 AGM took place at Widcombe C 0f E Junior School on 29th April. In his welcome speech Chairman Richard Wales thanked Paddy Doyle for his work on the Association Newsletter and expressed a great debt of gratitude to Sarah Lewis for her extraordinary efforts in organizing events - one of the great attractions of the Widcombe Association. Richard pointed out that in the absence of a Parish Council, the Association did its best to represent the views of Widcombe people to B&NES, and with our local councillors Ian Gilchrist and Brook Whelan, lobbied on issues that affect us, not least the Rossiter Road scheme where it seems after 30 years success might be in sight. He also talked about highways issues (handled for the Committee by Julian Williams) and planning, where we were fortunate to have Andrew Gordon-Duff to navigate us through this difficult minefield. The Two Tunnels scheme was another difficult area for the Association as the views of various sectors of the Widcombe community differed. The debate on the Two Tunnels continued.
Finally, Richard appealed to members to ensure that their subscriptions were up to date, and to sign a direct debit form to ease the 'nightmare' job of membership secretary Mayveen Blackwell. He concluded by asking for new volunteers to serve on the Committee - 'even those who claim to detest committees' he said 'find our gatherings relatively painless'.
Full text of the Chairman's address here.
We then had a short presentation from Lorinda Coombes, Campaigns Manager for Waste Services in B&NES, on the new weekly food waste collection from October 4th this year.
Adrienne Baptiste then asked members to sign the Widcombe 20 on-line petition to lower the speed limit in Widcombe to 20mph. She is a mother of two young children who has become involved with Safe Routes to School. She asked people to sign the petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/widcombe20/
Sam Holliday, Editor of the Bath Chronicle, gave an informative and entertaining talk on the subject of newspapers in general and the Chronicle in particular, and the meeting concluded with wine, nibbles and conversation.
2010 AGM Minutes available here.
Statement of Accounts at 31 Dec 2009 here.
Autumn Meeting 21st October 2009
The Widcombe Association's Autumn Meeting was held on Wednesday, 21st October 2009 at St Matthews Church. Minutes of the meeting are available here. During the meeting Mayveen Blackwell paid tribute to past chairman and secretary of the Widcombe Association and indefatigable campaigner for Widcombe, the late Don Lovell. The text of her tribute is here.
A Song for Widcombe
The Autumn Meeting was followed by the Grand Final of the competition to find a Song for Widcombe.
All the songs featured in the final and the Beechen Cliff School Folk Band's 'Widcombe Suite' are on a CD sold in aid of the Widcombe Rising street festival. If you would like to order a copy, send a cheque for £10 (incl P&P) made out to 'The Widcombe Association' to Paddy Doyle, 86 Greenway Lane, BA2 4LN or email BJ.Doyle@btinternet.com.
Annual General Meeting 30th April 2009
At the AGM, the new constitution was formally adopted by the Association. Rupert Rhymes and Rosemary Emsley were unanimously re-elected as vice-chairman and secretary respectively and newly co-opted committee member Sue Dawson was unanimously confirmed. Sue will be taking over the Streetscape portfolio from Brenda Beeton, who was presented with a bouquet in recognition of her hard work on the committee, particularly in regard to Abbey Cemetery. Once the business of the meeting was over the guest speaker, Brenda's husband, David, shared with the meeting his views on the World heritage city in which we are fortunate enough to live.
David Beeton is Chairman of the Bath World Heritage Site Steering Group. To an attentive audience he explained that there are only two complete cities in the world designated as World Heritage cities; namely Venice and Bath. Unfortunately, however, the designation carries carries no legal status and no money. The delegation last November from UNESCO was concerned about the impact of Western Riverside and the Dyson Building on our city and will report in June this year. The Dyson building has of course now been dropped, but in any case our status is not in danger. Bath is a very challenging site for the following reasons:
- Lack of cash. A low spending Council doesn't spend on conservation. One solution might be to raise the parish council tax in Bath itself. We only pay £6.62 per resident compared for instance with Norton Radstock's £87.55.
- The state of the local economy. We have two universities with world class young professionals but there are few opportunities for them to stay in Bath and work. We export rather than attract talent.
- Traffic: the biggest threat to our heritage. 24,000 people a day commute into Bath from new housing outside the city centre.
- Low priority afforded by the Council to Heritage. Most Councillors live outside the city. Only one Cabinet member lives in Bath. Our World Heritage status is not mentioned in the 'Vision of Bath.' There is even talk of moving the Council Headquarters to Keynsham.
- We have a great problem in developing modern building styles. Most people like the new Spa and Pulteney Weir but there is great controversy over the bus station, the Holburne Museum, the Rugby Club and particularly Western Riverside.
What can we do? There are huge challenges: not enough money, no easy answers and a polarised citizenry. We need to take action to raise pride in our city. David had four proposals for action:
• Setting up a charity to raise funds for conservation work with a contribution from the Council.
• Volunteer working parties
• Extend the National Trust's ownership of Bath Skyline. It already owns over 2 square miles When they acquire land, it is safe.
• Start an annual Heritage Festival - national and international.
WA Chairman Richard Wales thanked David for an excellent presentation and questions were taken from the floor.
(WA members please note: Formal minutes of the meeting available here).
The Two Tunnels - Public Meeting 22nd April 2009
This meeting was convened by the WA in conjunction with the Greenway Lane Area Residents' Forum (GLARF), and was chaired by WA ChairmanRichard Wales; the GLARF Chairman, Martin Broadbent, being unavoidably unavailable. The meeting was well-attended not only by residents, but by Adrian Roper, Regional Director of Sustrans, who gave the formal presentation and fielded most of the questions; Malcolm Shepherd, Chief Executive of Sustrans; local councillors Ian Gilchrist and Brook Whelan; B&NES director for Planning and Transport Development David Trigwell, and police representatives Inspector Stephen Mildren and PC Malcolm Webley.
Main points raised by concerned residents concerned security, and increase in traffic and parking in the Lyncombe Vale area. These concerns were addressed by Adrian Roper, who said that the tunnels would have mobile phone reception, and in answer to a request from the floor, that the Devonshire tunnel would also be fitted with a cctv system, as well as the main Combe Down tunnel. Lights in the tunnels will be on all day, and have infra-red sensors at night. The tunnels would be gated during the construction phase , and in response to a query from the floor, Adrian said the gates could be retained, and moreover, on being pressed by Councillor Whelan, promised that there would be a written undertaking that the tunnels would be closed if necessary.
Most attending felt that the meeting had been a constructive one, with many residents' fears addressed. The WA and GLARF will continue to monitor progress and hold regular meetings with Sustrans.