Uncollected Waste & Recycling 18th March 2020

The collection vehicle was unable to complete today following staff shortage and unfamiliarity of the route by the staff available

A crew will return tomorrow (Thursday 19th) to complete collections.

COMMUNITY OIL BUYING SCHEME

A shrewd time to fill up your oil tank!

If you rely on oil for your heating and hot water, then now is probably the best time to top up your tank.

Demand for oil has dropped with the recent outbreak of Coronavirus. This in turn has led to a significant drop in oil prices. Kaz Adams, from the charity West of England Rural Network, says “Whilst we would generally advise all our members to fill up their oil tanks during the summer months (the time when most oil suppliers experience a quieter period and are therefore generally more willing to negotiate a lower price) it would appear shrewd to do so NOW”. Kaz runs a community oil buying scheme, which obtains cheaper prices for its members by placing a single large order once a month and negotiating with multiple local suppliers to get the best price. Members’ prices are on average 6 pence per litre cheaper than average oil prices, and was 35.50p per litre (plus VAT) in March 2020.

The West of England Rural Network is offering free memberships (*normally £20/year for domestic users) to domestic heating oil users aged 70 and over who may be struggling to pay their fuel bills, living in the West of England. This is thanks to a grant awarded by Quartet Community Foundation from their ‘Surviving Winter’ fund. The scheme is open to all residents of Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bristol. Local community buildings such as village halls, schools and churches can also benefit from the scheme, as well as businesses such as farms, shops and offices. If you are interested in joining the community oil buying scheme, contact Kaz Adams on Tel: 01275 333701, Email: karen@wern.org.uk or visit
http://www.wern.org.uk/community-oil-buying-scheme/

The oil buying scheme referred to is run by West of England Rural Network, a local charity promoting rural sustainability. One of its charitable aims is to reduce rural fuel poverty and the oil buying scheme helps many rural people to reduce their oil bills.

Planning Application – Bristol Airport North Side Road, Felton, Wrington BS48 3DP

North Somerset Council – Reference: 18/P/5118/OUT

North Somerset Council will be voting on a planning application to allow Bristol Airport to expand. If you wish to comment please follow the the link on this page to object (or agree) by latest 6th February.

Members of the public can make comments here

Outline planning application (with reserved matters details for some elements included and some elements reserved for subsequent approval) for the development of Bristol Airport to enable a throughput of 12 million terminal passengers in any 12 month calendar period, comprising: 2no. extensions to the terminal building and canopies over the forecourt of the main terminal building; erection of new east walkway and pier with vertical circulation cores and pre-board zones; 5m high acoustic timber fence; construction of a new service yard directly north of the western walkway; erection of a multi-storey car park north west of the terminal building with five levels providing approximately 2,150 spaces; enhancement to the internal road system including gyratory road with internal surface car parking and layout changes; enhancements to airside infrastructure including construction of new eastern taxiway link and taxiway widening (and fillets) to the southern edge of Taxiway GOLF; the year-round use of the existing Silver Zone car park extension (Phase 1) with associated permanent (fixed) lighting and CCTV; extension to the Silver Zone car park to provide approximately 2,700 spaces (Phase 2); the provision of on-site renewable energy generation; improvements to the A38; operating within a rolling annualised cap of 4,000 night flights between the hours of 23:30 and 06:00 with no seasonal restrictions; revision to the operation of Stands 38 and 39; and landscaping and associated works.

At a full Council meeting on 16th January, Bath and North East Somerset Council unanimously agreed to withdraw from the Joint Spatial Plan (JSP). This means that the 2500 houses proposed for Whitchurch Village will not go ahead.

Bath & North East Somerset invited Publow with Pensford Parish Councillor Sue Grimes and five representatives from the South Bristol Wrong Road, Whitchurch Village Neighbourhood Plan and Whitchurch Village Parish Council to make statements at the meeting.

Sue Grimes, made a statement about the potential detrimental effect of further housing and transport infrastructure with specific reference to the village of Pensford and on the already busy A37 to the south of Whitchurch.

Sue Grimes emphasised the following:

• Pensford is a “conservation village”. Our residents care about the environment and do not want to be absorbed into a “Greater Bristol” metropolis.

• High volumes of commercial and private vehicles already pass through Pensford village on the A37.

• The village already suffers from noise, pollution and bottlenecks on Pensford Hill and a large volume of commuter traffic uses the rural back lanes as rat runs.

• Pensford Hill is not wide enough for HGVs to pass side by side.

• It is also a potential health and safety hazard for pedestrians.

• The village centre and school also suffer from existing traffic hazards.

• Pensford could not cope with a huge increase in traffic especially more HGVs.

• The new ring road will act as a magnet to attract ever more through traffic to pass through Pensford village. The A37 would become the shortest satnav route from the South coast ports of Poole and Weymouth to the northbound motorways and the shortest satnav route to Bristol airport (which already has expansion plans) from the South. Extra vehicles especially HGVs would clearly increase the existing noise, congestion and air pollution levels on and around the A37 at Pensford.

• The proposed Park and Ride at Whitchurch will not only destroy existing green belt land but will attract further large volumes of commuter traffic to pass through Pensford to get to it.

• The ring road plus an increase of 2500 more houses would create an unsustainable transport situation on the A37, which could only be alleviated by building a by-pass for Pensford.

Sue requested Bath & North East Somerset Council to carry out a transportation study to evaluate the likely impact of the proposed ring road on all the villages on A37 corridor to the south of Whitchurch; namely Pensford, Clutton, Temple Cloud and Farrington Gurney. Farrington Gurney and Temple Cloud villages are already Air Quality Management Areas as their air pollution (NO2) levels already exceed the government’s legal maximum.

Bath & North East Somerset Councillor Tim Ball explained that further work would be done on these issues over the coming months and asked all the people who made statements if they would be prepared to meet the relevant Cabinet members to discuss this.

Below is the link to all the statements:
https://democracy.bathnes.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=272&MId=5735&Ver=4

Read more in Bath Echo here 

DEFIBRILLATOR AWARENESS EVENING
WEDNESDAY 5TH FEBRUARY 2020
6.30 FOR 7PM
AT BARBARA HATHERELL’S 2/3 PARADISE ROW, WOOLLARD

• COME AND REFRESH YOUR SKILLS
• EVERYBODY WELCOME
• YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MAY BE NEEDED TO SAVE A LIFE
• REFRESHMENTS AVAILABLE

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
JANETTE STEPHENSON AT 01761 490352

DEFIBRILLATOR AWARENESS EVENING
MONDAY 27th January 2020
6.30 FOR 7PM
PENSFORD MEMORIAL HALL

• • COME AND REFRESH YOUR SKILLS
  • EVERYBODY WELCOME
  • YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MAY BE NEEDED TO SAVE A LIFE
  • COFFEE, TEA AND BISCUITS AVAILABLE

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT JANETTE STEPHENSON AT 01761 490 352

The Parish Council has reviewed and approved revised standing orders and complaints procedures.

The documents have been posted on the website for reference and they can be accessed from the Policies and Procedures tab on the top menu bar.

Standing Orders

Complaints Procedure

While electricity supplies are very reliable, bad winter weather can cause damage and disruption. As the nights get colder and darker, the chance of experiencing severe weather becomes more likely. Storms, floods and other extreme conditions can cause damage to the electricity network and disrupt energy supplies.

Know your free emergency numbers – in a power cut call 105 or, for a gas emergency, dial 0800 111999.

Prepare your home – keep a torch handy and get your appliances serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

Keep your eyes open – keep an eye on the weather forecast and, if you have a power cut or a gas emergency, check on your neighbours.

Vulnerable households can also get extra support by signing up to the Priority Services Register.

The Priority Services Register

The Priority Services Register is a free service provided by Western Power and is eligible for anyone who is of a pensionable age, disabled, has children under 5 years old or relies on medical equipment. 

As part of the service, customers are kept informed as much as possible of power cuts affecting their home and are given special help, if needed, through the British Red Cross.

The Priority Services Register offers peace of mind for vulnerable customers and their families and we do our very best to ensure that their needs are met at all times. 

Western Power already has 1.8 million customers on  the register. 

To find out more information or to register, please call Western Power on 0800 096 3080 or visit www.westernpower.co.uk/psr.

LITTER PICK

SUNDAY 3^RD NOVEMBER AT 9.30 AM

MEET AT THE MEMORIAL HALL

EQUIPMENT WILL BE DISTRIBUTED THEN

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING AS MANY OF YOU AS POSSIBLE

HOPING FOR A DRY MORNING!!!

 PUBLOW WITH PENSFORD PARISH COUNCIL

Urgent message from Clover Taylor,  Senior Trading Standards Officer,  Public Protection,  Bath and North East Somerset Council

Caller pretending to be from ‘Bath Council’ information from Trading Standards

I am the Trading Standards Officer. On Tuesday I received two similar complaints from elderly residents which are of particular concern. Today I received a third one.

On Tuesday, one resident received a call from a lady saying she worked for ‘Bath Council’ and the other resident received a call from Susan at ‘Protect Your Home UK’. Both callers said they were contacting residents aged between 50 and 70 to offer home security systems. One resident was offered an ID wrist band for £1, along with a quote for floor sensors which would alert the wristband if there was a flood or fire. The other resident was offered free security equipment, £1 for installation and ongoing maintenance costs to be agreed. Both residents say the caller was extremely convincing.

Today, I received a report from a resident who had a similar call from ‘Safe and Secure’ offering her a security system for £1 followed by a monthly fee. The caller guaranteed that police, ambulance or fire would attend an incident.

The telephone number provided to residents does not work. We believe this is a SCAM!

The advice for anyone affected by a similar telephone call is to report it to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 04 05 06 or online at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/consumer-service/

Kind regards

Clover Taylor
Senior Trading Standards Officer
Public Protection
Bath and North East Somerset Council
Lewis House
Manvers Street
Bath. BA1 1JG