New hope for Weston post office

As we all know, the post office failed to open on 11th February.
In their recent communication to Bath MP Don Foster at the Liberal Democrat office, Post Office Ltd said:
“The Post Office alarm system that was installed in the premises at 7 High Street Weston has been badly damaged by the landlord's builders. This was not notified to anyone on Post Office Ltd's side nor to the temporary subpostmaster in her discussions with the landlord and hence was only discovered when we visited last week to get the branch ready for re-opening.”
We have called on Post Office Ltd. to rectify the situation as soon as possible although it seems that they are now waiting for staff to come and fix the alarm system.
Meanwhile, Bath MP Don Foster has learnt that there is now an official application in to run the post office branch in Weston in the long-term.
For commercial reasons, Don has been asked not to name the business that has applied, but can reveal that they have been involved in the process for a while.
We are delighted to learn that they have got this bid back on track and now have a formal application in. This is promising news for the future of the service in Weston.
The bidder will now go forward to an interview process.
The application, if successful, would involve a change of site for the branch, and so there would be a period of public consultation before opening could be confirmed.
A short deadline has now been set on another interested party to complete the application, and then the interview stage will follow soon after that.
Don is still pressuring Post Office Ltd to get the temporary service on the current site open as a top priority, but it is important to sort out the long-term future of this branch.

Conservatives say 'no' to one way proposals

The Conservative council has again blocked Liberal Democrat plans to make part of Eastfield Avenue one way in the direction of bus travel. They have again ignored local resident’s wishes to investigate the situation.
In a recent street survey, 69% of those who replied were in favour of the one-way option.
I am very disappointed that the views of local residents have again been ignored. The results of the street survey indicate the strength of feeling in the area regarding traffic flow in Eastfield Avenue.

Temporary re-opening of Weston post office

The Weston post office is scheduled to re-open on the original premises on February 11th.
This is great news for all Weston residents and something they have long been waiting for. This will be a temporary arrangement until the long term future of the post office is sorted out.
The sole applicant interested in running the service - Nigel Chaplin, owner of Chaplins newsagents - is waiting to hear if his application has been successful.

Planning application

App Ref: 10/00039/FUL
Registered: 15th January 2010
Expiry Date: 12th March 2010
Location: 27 Vernslade, Upper Weston, Bath, BA1 4DN
Proposal: Erection of a lean to extension on side of dwelling following demolition of existing conservatory, erection of an replacement garage and widening of driveway
Officer: Victoria Griffin
Applicant: Miss Susan Scoble
Agent: Slade, Smith And Winrow

Weston post office update

Weston residents are getting increasingly frustrated at the length of time it is taking to get the post office re-opened. There is currently just one applicant in the selection process - Mr Chaplin, owner of High Street newsagents Chaplins - but this application has been delayed.
Bath MP Don Foster continues to be in regular contact with Post Office Ltd and has put pressure on the company to provide a temporary licence for the post office.
A spokeswoman for Post Office Ltd said that she was concerned that local residents were frustrated at the time being taken. However, she said that it is important for the long term interest of any local service to ensure that the applications they receive are thoroughly assessed so that ultimately the right candidate is appointed.

Southland's residents hopeful of resolution to TV aerial problem

Residents in Southlands are hopeful of a resolution to the problem of faulty TV aerial boosters in their homes. Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, Don Foster, has written to Somer Housing in an effort to resolve the situation.

The fault has persisted for over a year and is denying residents access to terrestrial television channels. Residents have been repeatedly told that the firm which manages the equipment on behalf of Somer has claimed that it is awaiting replacement parts.

Local resident Mian Bashir said “This problem has persisted for over a year but at last it seems we may be able to get our TV aerial booster repaired thanks to Don's intervention".

An update on Weston post office

Bath MP Don Foster continues to be in regular contact with Post Office Ltd over the situation in Weston.

Don reports that:

There are two applications on the table. There is a deadline of this Friday to complete applications and submit them. If this deadline is met, interviews will take place shortly after.

Neither application relies on taking over the current site, which would mean a consultation period for the preferred venue. This means late April before any re-opening.

There is very real hope of opening the previous branch on a temporary basis. Hopefully more on this in the near future.

To view this article and other news go to Don Foster's website at http://www.donfoster.co.uk/newsarticle.php?id=434