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Freshford Surgery Update Meeting – Freshford Memorial Hall Wednesday 12th September 7.30pm
Those of you who use the Beckington Family Practice will have received a letter outlining the current position of the Freshford Surgery. Having clarified the extent of the works needed to Younghusband House and in the knowledge that the building is fundamentally unsuitable to act as a modern surgery premises into the 21st century, the Beckington Family Practice have concluded that it is not practical or viable to reopen the old Freshford surgery. The Beckington Family Practice are therefore applying to NHS England for their permission to formally close the surgery.
The Memorial Hall Development Plan includes plans for a new surgery, as defined in the current Community Right to Build process that is in progress. Whilst the Practice has found themselves unable to continue using the current surgery building, this does not prevent the development of the Hall from proceeding. One aspect that is extremely important is community support for a future Surgery in Freshford. This is a key indicator for the NHS when considering funding.
Evidence of Community support for the Surgery is being partly gained via a questionnaire that was provided with the letter from the Surgery. It would be very helpful if everyone provided written support for retaining a Surgery in the village whether you currently use the Beckington Family Practice or not. That support can be provided by completing the questionnaire, copies will be available at the Hall and the Galleries or by providing your written comments via the prescription drop point in The Galleries, or by email to the Practice Manager, Robert Slade on robert.slade1@nhs.net.
To help further understanding and to answer any questions, an open forum is being held by the Surgery at the Memorial Hall on Wednesday 12th September at 7.30pm.
This open forum is being fully supported by both the Memorial Hall and the Parish Council.
To understand more about the situation and hear directly from the Surgery please do come along to the meeting – especially if you have questions that you would like to raise.
Whilst these are difficult times, the question would seem to be more what can we, as a community, do to help retain the presence of a Surgery in Freshford. After all, this is not just a Freshford facility but a facility serving the wider community.
This is an opportunity to hear the facts, and also to move forwards. We are a community with a recent history of achieving success against massive odds – The Galleries – why should we not be successful in retaining a Surgery in the community? |
New Clerk to Freshford Parish Council
Freshford Parish Council is pleased to announce the appointment of Lorraine Montacute as its new Clerk. Jamie Colston was appointed Clerk in May 2018 but has subsequently decided that the role is not for him. Lorraine had shown interest in the position previously. Since then she has moved closer to Freshford, to Bradford-on Avon, and is now in a better position to keep an eye on responsibilities within the parish. The Parish Council is delighted to welcome her and looks forward to working with her for the benefit of residents. As Clerk, Lorraine will be attending her first Parish Council meeting on 10th September 2018. She can be contacted on Parish.Council@FreshfordVillage.com. |
Galleries Royal visit on Wed 26th Sept
What's happening? His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester will visit the Galleries Shop and Café on the afternoon of Wednesday 26th September. Why? As part of our fund raising strategy for the Village Pump, FLiSCA applied for a grant from Wessex Water's Watermark fund and they loved our plastic-saving initiative. As a consequence they not only gave us £500 but they also decided to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their Watermark Award by sponsoring 25 drinking fountains across their patch. The Lord Lieutenant of Somerset visited Galleries and was so impressed with our community enterprise that she invited the Duke of Gloucester to visit Galleries and inspect the Village Pump as part of Wessex Water's celebrations. What's involved? The Royal party will arrive in the early afternoon. They will be welcomed and shown around the shop and café (and will be offered one of Marilyn's gluten-free brownies) before being presented with a recyclable water bottle to fill at The Village Pump by two children from Freshford Primary School. The press will be present to take photos (and get us some free publicity). Afterwards the Duke of Gloucester will present the Chief Executive of Wessex Water with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development before returning to London via Freshford train station. Will the shop and café remain open? I'm afraid not. Given the numbers of people attending and the limited space inside Galleries, we have made the difficult decision to close the shop and café between 2.00-3.30pm. We are very sorry for the disruption to our customers and hope you will be understanding. Will the car park be open? No. Given the building work taking place at the Memorial Hall and the requirements of the Royal entourage and the press, we will also need to close the car park between 1.00-3.30pm. Again, we are very sorry for the disruption this will cause and discussions are taking place with the Pre-school and the Primary School about alternative pick-up options for school children. Are residents welcome? Yes, of course! and everyone is most welcome to attend and there will be plenty of room outside to watch the proceedings. We're crossing our fingers for good weather. How long will it last? The visit is expected to last less than an hour. What can I do to help? Whilst Freshford and Limpley Stoke are not known as hotbeds of radical activity, security for the trip is paramount. Please be on the look-out for packages, bags or other items in odd places, carefully placed (rather than dropped) items in rubbish bins and unusual interest shown by strangers. If in any doubt, dial 999 and ask for the police. We will also be sprucing up Galleries and surrounding environment for the visit and any help will be warmly appreciated. Questions If you have any questions, please contact Simon Coombe on 07966 027637 or simonhjcoombe@hotmail.com. |
Jumble Sale, Saturday 29th September
JUMBLE SALE SATURDAY 29th SEPTEMBER AT 14:00 FRESHFORD VILLAGE HALL HAVE A CLEAR OUT ! SUPPORT THE GALLERIES CHARITY OF THE YEAR SANITATION FIRST DONATIONS OF JUMBLE TO HALL FROM 09:00 on 29th PLEASE COME AND FIND A BARGAIN ..TEA AND CAKES QUERIES TO SHELLEY...01225 723425 or CANDY ....01225 723703 |
Update on Freshford Memorial Hall roof works
The Hall roof works are now being carried out by roofing contractor, Associated Roofing and Maintenance Ltd (ARM), starting on 6th September. The works are expected to take 3-4 weeks subject to weather, with no access to the main hall during the daytime during the works. Access to the playing field will be unrestricted, but a section of the car park will be fenced off, so parking will be limited. When visiting the Memorial Hall or Galleries Shop and Cafe, please walk, lift share or park elsewhere during the works if possible. |
New ward boundary for Bathavon South from May 2019
The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published its final recommendations for new ward boundaries across Bath and North East Somerset. This follows three phases of public consultation and draws new boundaries for each council ward across Bath and North East Somerset. The Commission’s final recommendations - which can be viewed here - propose that Bath and North East Somerset should be represented by 59 councillors in the future: six fewer than the current arrangements. The recommendations also propose that those councillors should represent twenty-six two-councillor wards and seven one-councillor wards. The proposals mean that 28 current wards will change with nine staying the same. In response to local feedback during the latest phase of consultation, the Commission has changed some of the proposals it put forward in May. Freshford is in the current Bathavon South ward. As a result of the consultation, the Commission has added Claverton, Monkton Combe and South Stoke parishes to Bathavon South ward. Camerton parish also argued that it should be part of Bathavon South ward rather than Radstock ward. The Commission has agreed with the evidence presented to it and has changed its recommendations as well as adding Marksbury parish to Bathavon South ward so that it is included with other rural areas. This means that, subject to parliamentary approval, from May 2019 Bathavon South ward will comprise the current six parishes - Freshford, Hinton Charterhouse, Monkton Combe, Shoscombe, Southstoke and Wellow - plus Camerton, Claverton, Combe Hay, Dunkerton and Tunley, Englishcombe, Marksbury and Priston. The new ward will be roughly twice the size of the current ward. It is forecast to have an electorate of 4407 and will be represented by two councillors. |
Amended Plans and Visualisations for Freshford Village Memorial Hall Community Right to Build Order
Following community feedback on Freshford Memorial Hall's draft Community Right to Build Order, Hewitt Studios have reduced both the height and the projection of the proposed 2-storey Pre-school wing. They have also prepared visuals showing the impact of the proposals from various locations around the surrounding neighbourhood. The amended plans and new visual impact assessments can be viewed at http://www.freshfordvillagehall.co.uk/the-future management@freshfordvillagehall.co.uk |
Bath Sculpture Trail - Minerva’s Owls
Message forwarded from Gitte Dawson:
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Changes to Bath city centre car park meters
Motorists are being advised about payment changes to off street parking meters in four council-run Bath city centre car parks. And they are being encouraged to sign up for an easy-to-use app called MiPermit to make payments easier and more flexible. Bath &North East Somerset Council is changing the card payment pads on meters in Charlotte Street, Manvers Street, Avon Street and Kingsmead Square car parks. Due to current Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security compliance standards the council is required to remove the existing chip and pin facility and replace it with contactless payment. From Monday July 30 work will start to change the payment pads, which will take up to three days to complete. Once finished, it means there will be two meters in Avon Street which will accept cards (contactless), one in Manvers Street, one in Kingsmead Square and two in Charlotte Street. The remaining machines will still accept coins but not cards. All updated machines will have cash and contactless card payments and because of an upgrade to the network the contactless payment transactions will be quicker using 3G which means they should be successful first time. However the council is encouraging drivers to ditch cash and card and switch to the MiPermit app which means drivers can even pay for their parking before setting off or pay from the comfort of their own car when they pull into a space – avoiding having to queue at a meter. On Monday July 30 B&NES residents with a MiPermit account will be able to add the Residents’ Parking Saver discount to their account. This means that residents will be ready to take advantage of the 10% reduction in daily parking charges when the new Residents’ Parking Saver discount is launched on 13th August. More information about the Residents’ Parking Saver discount is available at www.bathnes.gov.uk/ residentsparkingsaver. MiPermit also allows drivers to top-up their parking, up to the maximum time available, if they think they are about to run out of time and risk a parking ticket. People using the app will see a 10p transaction charge, to cover administration costs. The fee is in line with most authorities and cheaper than others. To help members of the public Bath & North East Somerset Council car park staff will be available from Thursday to Sunday during the peak times for card transactions in Avon Street and Charlotte Street car parks to help motorists if they have any payment issues and to show them how easy the MiPermit app is. The changes mean chip and pin won’t be available in those four car parks until later in the year when the option will become available. Councillor Mark Shelford, (Conservative Lyncombe) cabinet member for Transport and Environment, said: “The card payment method is changing partly because we need to meet PCI compliance but also to help speed up transaction times for drivers. There is still the cash option, however we are recommending people sign up to MiPermit which is by far the quickest, most convenient way to pay for parking. There are lots of benefits to it not least that it is cashless, no queueing at a meter and it is flexible so you can even add time on to your stay if you need to park for longer without having to run back to a machine and put more money in". |
Resurfacing works - B3110 Midford Road, Midford, week commencing July 30th 2018
This is to inform you of forthcoming resurfacing works, week commencing July 30th 2018 on the B3110 Midford Road. The works will extend from the junction with Southstoke Road to the junction with Old Midford Road (Hope & Anchor). Work will be carried out under a road closure from 1900hrs to 0700hrs and is anticipated to take up to one week to complete. Diversion routes will be in place for local traffic and advance notices positioned along the route to warn drivers of the road closure and to inform that any cars parked within it may be removed from site so as not to delay works. At the end of each night's work the road will be re-opened to traffic. Vehicle access will be maintained for residents within the road closure whenever possible, however, this will be only when safe to do so and as site operations allow with access being controlled by Traffic Marshals; who will also be able to provide advice on likely access windows as the works progress. Unfortunately there will be periods when this will not be possible so please be prepared for delays and disruption. Bus operators have been informed and will be re-routing services where required during the works. |
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