Friday 30th September 18:30 at St Mary’s Hall, Bathwick
AGM Sydney Gardens Restoration Project
Keith Rowe gave an excellent slide presentation to the membership at the recent AGM.
He was in charge of a £3.4m. budget to restore a number of features and to landscape a huge play area of activities for the youngest upwards.
The rescheduled Gala Day at the Gardens is now: Sunday, October 23rd 2022
1st Photo: Keith Rowe
2nd Photo David Quine: Chairman leading the applause
6.30 pm for a PROMPT 7.00 start ! The meeting will start with a short presentation by Keith Rowe, Project Manager of : THE SYDNEY GARDENS RESTORATION PROJECT. Do come along to see and hear about this exciting project!
A note to remind everyone that the first Sunday is coming round quickly again, this weekend.
We will do a gardening session at 10am on Sunday 4 September. It’ll be light trimming of brambles etc so pls bring snippers – and a mug!!
For those of you who helped at the big rake, the council would like to use one of Zu’s photos as an example of a successful community project. I think it will help us in the future. Pls let me know if you object.
The need to upgrade the tow path from Bathwick Hill to Widcombe has been clear for some time. This January, the committee of SBHA resolved to highlight the importance of this to both the Canal & River Trust [CRT] and also the local council, B&NES.
A document was written to make the case for the resurfacing of the tow path. We then identified the key person at CRT who is the Enterprise Manager, Mike Youe, based at Gloucester. He fully backs the project and sent a short description which was added to the document.
“ The works will include construction of a high-quality surface with suitable crossfalls and a spray chip finish, hedgerow enhancement and the creation of a wildflower meadow to the north of the site”.
Mike was so pleased to receive our document that he requested that it could be used for funding applications. We agreed to this and undertook to gather local support for the project.
When we asked SBHA members to send in messages we were delighted to receive 21 responses in a 5 day period! All of them were extremely positive about the prospect of the path being restored to a year round usable condition.
In addition we invited local associations and groups to contribute. Again, the response was most impressive. We forwarded these to Mike Youe to show the overwhelming desire of local people to get this project underway. At the end of this article you can find links to most of the documentation that we sent. To preserve confidentiality we have not at this stage included individual comments.
We understand that a sum of £215k is needed to fund the project and that if this sum is realised and council approval is given, work could take place in the winter of 2022-2023.
SBHA is committed to work to maintain the momentum in this project! This is not just a group of residents upset about a local muddy path! This is a project to make good a route used by many people for different purposes. It is a link between city and countryside. It is in an area of great beauty. It fits four square within every local policy and initiative for healthy exercise, well-being, environmental enhancement and alternatives to transport.
We will update the SBHA website information on this project as appropriate. We will be pleased to forward ideas about possible funding to the Canal & River Trust.
The carol singing along the length of Sydney Buildings on December 21st last year raised a record £1527.25 for Bath-based charity, Designability. Sarah and Richard Pooley visited their workshop on 10 February and were shown round by Martin Rouse, Workshop Manager, and Gemma Harvey, Senior Fundraising Officer (pictured above). Gemma sent this message to all those in our street who donated to this worthy cause:
Designability are honoured to be the long-standing charity beneficiaries of the Sydney Buildings annual carol singing. The vital funds raised for our Wizzybug loan scheme allow young disabled children to have their very own Wizzybug, opening up a world of fun, exploration and independence. Over 1000 children – enough to fill a secondary school – have received a Wizzybug through our loan scheme since 2011! We receive no statutory funding, so this amazing achievement would not be possible without your help. On behalf of everyone at Designability, thank you for singing for Wizzy smiles each Christmas!
This year June Ward will take back the organisation of the carol singing which she has run so effectively for many years.
As those of us who have been litter-picking in the last two years can attest, the amount of rubbish left behind by people picnicking or walking on Bathwick Fields has grown enormously during that time. Several residents, via the SBHA committee and with the support of the National Trust, pushed for a litter bin to be installed by the gate from the Fields on to the southern end of our street. We are grateful to Councillor Yukteshwar Kumar for asking the Council to allocate money from his Ward Empowerment Fund for this.
While litter-picking the street on Monday, 20 December one resident found 1 rugby ball, 9 drink cans, 2 bottles, 1 bag of dog-poo and several masks. Of these the bottles, 2 cans and the bag of dog-poo were within a metre of the gate where the new litter bin has now been placed. We hope that the new bin will put a stop to this!
SBHA is keen to ensure that our immediate surroundings are kept in good order.
This includes our road, the canal path and Bathwick Fields.
Action has been taken to clear paths, steps and gullies
Jan 2022
In January a small group of volunteers cleared the pathway and steps leading down from the Canal to Pulteney Road. This work also involved clipping the hedge-way.
Further work has also been done to clear the road gulley opposite houses 23-29.
We plan future working groups and the next will be during Keep Britain Tidy Fortnight [March 22-April 5].
Volunteers are always welcome to join, normally for 1-2 hours maximum!
We will keep you informed of dates and times.
Collected rubbishTeam at workWork in progressClear steps
Taking advantage of the lack of movement of boats on the canal, the CRT dredged the K&A from the Bath bottom lock through Sydney Buildings to Cleveland House.
Sydney Buildings Householders' Association 