Swan Court entrance now safe
It took some time to persuade Gloucester City Homes that the paving in front of Swan Court was their responsibility, but Rebecca Trimnell's persistence paid off.
11 Aug 2020
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Cross-party cooperation needed for People Friendly Salisbury
"I really want People Friendly Salisbury to work. Closing roads and creating a pleasant city centre is lovely but it must come with proper cycle and pedestrian paths, park and ride on Sundays and a solution to the A36. The lack of buy-in from the city and the outer communities really concerns me. If this goes badly it will delay any opportunities for improvement in the future. It's ludicrous that a Conservative government, with a Conservative MP, a Conservative council cannot work together to come up with a holistic solution."
11 Aug 2020
Gwyliau Arhosiad Byr ym Mhortmeirion yr Wythnos Cyntaf Mis Awst. A Short Stay Holiday in Portmeirion, First Week in August
Rosemarie and Nick had a short break this year already with four days in Wiltshire, when we were very lucky with the weather, but then the rest of their holiday plans ( like those of everybody else ) were wrecked by covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown. Not that they're complaining - a friend of theirs lost his wife through covid in March. The disease must be taken seriously and very many families have lost multiple loved ones.
11 Aug 2020
148% increase in benefit claims - where do we go from here?
Last Friday the BBC broke the news that since March there has been an 81% increase in people claiming benefits. Sad, but unsurprising given that March marked the start of the coronavirus lockdown. However, a few paragraphs in, the stats from the BBC were even more devastating - in Guildford the increase has been a jaw-dropping 148%.
ZF
11 Aug 2020
Gwyliau Arhosiad Byr ym Mhortmeirion yr Wythnos Cyntaf Mis Awst. A Short Stay Holiday in Portmeirion, First Week in August
Rosemarie and Nick had a short break this year already with four days in Wiltshire, when we were very lucky with the weather, but then the rest of their holiday plans ( like those of everybody else ) were wrecked by covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown. Not that they're complaining - a friend of theirs lost his wife through covid in March. The disease must be taken seriously and very many families have lost multiple loved ones.
11 Aug 2020
Garden Waste Collections Back to Fortnightly Again from 17th August
From Monday 17 August, garden waste collections will be returning to fortnightly collections.
11 Aug 2020
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
