BathNES Liberal Democrats

Bath Lib Dems Select Steve Bradley for 2015

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Written by Andrew

Liberal Democrats in Bath have selected local campaigner Steve Bradley to take over from Don Foster MP as their next General Election candidate for Bath.

On Saturday evening it was standing room only at The Salvation Army Citadel as a candidate to replace Don Foster MP was selected by more than 180 local members. Don has represented Bath as an MP in Westminster since 1992, and his term in office will continue until May 2015.

Upon receiving the nomination Steve said : "I am immensely proud and humbled to have been selected by local Liberal Democrat members as their candidate for the 2015 General Election. Don Foster has been a tremendous champion for this city for 22 years. I look forward to working closely with him in his remaining year as our MP. And I hope the people of Bath will place their faith in me to continue Don's hard work in parliament on their behalf."

Steve first moved to Bath in 1991, to study at the University of Bath. On graduation he spent two years as elected President of the Students' Union where he campaigned on a variety of issues including public transport. Steve has in the past worked for major multinational companies like Procter & Gamble and Walt Disney. More recently he has run his own business as an Environmental Consultant, whilst campaigning with a variety of community groups.

Following the announcement of the new Lib Dem candidate, Don Foster said: "I am delighted for Steve. He is a hard-working, energetic and determined individual who I am convinced will be an exceptional candidate, especially given his local links and campaigning experience.

"I look forward to working closely with Steve and wish him success in the future. I have every confidence that, if elected, Steve would be a fantastic MP for Bath."

Steve has already expressed his desire to continue campaigning & meeting local residents,  starting this Sunday. Local Party Chairman Shaun McGall welcomed the news of Steve's selection by saying "It was a well fought campaign between excellent candidates, all of whom I believe would have been a great choice for Bath.

What tonight has shown is that Steve is the local members' choice and that is what our Party stands for. We're a grassroots party, run for and by our members."

You will be able to meet Steve on May 19 when he will be out campaigning with Sir Graham Watson MEP as part of the party's European Election Campaign.

Lib Dems propose Committee for Bath

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Written by B&NES; Lib Dems

B&NES Liberal Democrats have proposed the creation of a Committee for Bath.

This proposal was tabled at the Council AGM yesterday evening. The Liberal Democrats called for a working group to prepare draft 'terms of reference' for the Council to consider later in the year. Councillors from all parties spoke in support of the proposal, which was then agreed unanimously by Council.

Councillor Ben Stevens, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Widcombe, has commented:

"Ever since the creation of Bath and North East Somerset Council in 1995, there have been calls for a particular voice for Bath. The democratic deficit in B&NES stems from the additional layers of representation found in North East Somerset – the Town and Parish Councils – which are not present in Bath.

"We envisage that a Committee for Bath could be a Council committee with a clear role for residents and stakeholders, as is the case for other Council committees. The Committee could consider a wide range of issues from a Bath perspective and feed in advice to the Council's policy process. In the future, this could lead to more devolution of decision-making.

"We feel this could be a very cost effective means of enhancing democracy in B&NES. The Council's existing facilities could be used and there would be no need for an additional precept for Bath tax payers – as would be the case if we were looking into Parishing or other similar arrangements."

Councillor Dave Dixon, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Oldfield, added:

"The success of the annual Bath City Conference – another Lib Dem initiative – shows that there is a real appetite amongst the residents of Bath for a forum in which the focus is squarely on our fantastic city."

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The proceedings of the Council AGM may be viewed by webcast here: http://www.bathnes.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/135188

“Your Kindness Can Kill”

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Written by B&NES; Lib Dems

Giving cash to homeless people risks making their situation worse, not better, says Councillor Manda Rigby who launched a campaign called “Your kindness can kill” this week.

Manda, who is the Liberal Democrat Councillor for Abbey ward – in Bath city centre – has said:

“People think giving money to beggars is being helpful, but it is not, particularly as many people begging are not homeless and the money given to them is spent on drugs and alcohol.

“There are people who are genuinely homeless and who need support in a compassionate manner and we have established charities with the skills in place to support them.

“With this campaign, we aim to encourage people to donate to these charities – and to make it easy for them to do so through a text message donation number.

“The idea for this initiative came from a city centre PACT (‘Partners And Communities Together’) meeting at which the growing problem of aggressive, professional beggars, many of whom use large dogs to intimidate potential donors, was repeatedly raised.

“I am very pleased that we have been able to bring this campaign together using Ward Councillor Initiative funding from the Council.”

The campaign is backed by locally by Julian House, the Genesis Trust, the Big Issue and the Police, as well as local Big Issue vendors and homeless people.

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To find out more about the “Your kindness can kill” campaign, please visit www.yourkindnesscankill.co.uk.

To donate £3 to the organisations who support homeless people in Bath, please text KIND”) to 70070.

The campaign was also featured in this week’s Bath Chronicle.

Towards a Transport Strategy for Bath

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Written by B&NES; Lib Dems

This week saw the launch of a consultation on a Transport Strategy for Bath. The consultation paper – prepared by transport experts Mott McDonald – is entitled "Getting Around Bath" and is intended to lead to more detailed policies on:

(1) A walking/cycling strategy to make Bath the UK's most walkable city;
(2) A parking strategy to support the economic growth but at the same time reducing the amount of off-street spaces within the city centre;
(3) Supporting greater use of buses and rail to reduce the number of cars entering the city;
(4) Continuing to expand our existing P&R sites, where we can, to reduce the number of parking spaces within the city;
(5) Better management of HGVs within the city;
(6) Finding a new location for coaches to park once they have dropped off visitors in the city centre.

The consultation paper was launched by Transport Cabinet member Councillor Caroline Roberts at the Bath City Conference held on 30 April. Caroline commented:

"This launch document is the start of a process where we will gather the view of residents and businesses from across the area, in order to design a long-term strategy for Bath's transport issues."

Dorian Baker, the Liberal Democrat Candidate for the Bathavon North by-election this month (polling day is 22 May – the same day as the Euro elections) commented:

"I am particularly keen that the emerging proposals for a discreet Park & Rail at Bathampton railway junction should be included in the Transport Strategy. This would help reduce the number of cars entering the city centre from the East, alleviating the poor air quality in the city centre and offering locals and commuters a 4 minute direct line to the city centre."

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Note: the Council's consultation page will be published after the Cabinet meeting of 14 May – this article will be updated with a link to the consultation documents.