Ambitious for B&NES: A positive vision with the Liberal Democrats

We are proud of our track record running B&NES Council for the last four years. Hard-working Liberal Democrats have been listening, staying in touch and getting things done for their communities.

  • We are a Council that listens to residents and takes action.
  • We stand up for all of B&NES: our towns, villages and all areas of Bath.
  • We are leading the UK in Climate Action, and delivering safer and cleaner streets, with more travel choices.

We have started to deliver on our ambitious vision for B&NES and will deliver even more over the next four years. With the Lib Dems in charge B&NES council has balanced the books every year and, through prudent financial management, we have reversed years of cuts to front line services while investing in what you’ve told us matters to you.

Whether that’s creating the first Council Houses in a generation, planting 100,000 trees, investing in fixing and cleaning our streets or doubling renewable energy in the district, we have delivered and are ambitious to go further.

Standing up for all of B&NES: our towns, villages and all areas of Bath

  • We recognise the distinct needs of the different parts of B&NES and will ensure each area has its own plan, responsive to local needs.

  • Bath city centre is thriving and has bounced back after Covid with new shops and restaurants opening all the time and footfall that’s beating the regional average. We will continue to invest in regenerating Bath and improving the look of the city centre.

  • We stand up for all communities in Bath and have made sure all parts of the city have benefitted from money to improve local high streets, investments in play parks, street cleaning and road repairs.

  • We are investing heavily in our towns. We brought £49m investment to Keynsham, including a new recycling centre, and have made it our main base of Council operations.

  • We are investing in the regeneration of Radstock and Midsomer Norton including high street investment.

  • We are making sure the Somer Valley Enterprise Zone works for local communities.

See "Championing Economy, Heritage and Culture" and "Listening and Putting Residents First" for more detail.

Leading the UK in Climate Action

  • We are the first Council in England to require all future housing developments to be net zero and generate their own energy

  • We’ve doubled renewable energy in the district and by 2025 we will install enough renewable capacity to power 48,000 homes

  • We’ve hit our best ever recycling rate of 60% and will go further, building new recycling centres and recycling more materials

  • We’re reaching our stretching 100,000 target for tree planting and will double woodland cover by 2050

See "Leading the UK in Climate and Nature Action" for more detail.

Safer and cleaner streets, with more travel choices

We will continue to fight for our bus services and make it easier and safer to walk and cycle around. We will further invest in fixing pavements and in road safety to encourage walking, including requesting powers from government so the Council can support the Police in enforcing speed limits.

  • We will cut congestion in Bath and resist plans to increase HGVs and cars cutting through North East Somerset.

  • We’ve reversed years of cuts to frontline services and will continue to do so, investing an extra £2m a year in fixing our roads and an extra £1m a year in cleaner streets.

  • We will continue to work with residents on designing and delivering meaningful improvements, such as reduced rat-running and speeding, through our Liveable Neighbourhoods programme.

See "Cleaner and Safer Streets" and "Enabling Travel Choices" for more detail.

Affordable houses in the right places

  • We have a crisis in housing with local people unable to afford to rent or buy. We will stop developers dodging their affordable housing obligations and building only expensive houses which will not solve that crisis.

  • We will accelerate our programme of general-needs council house building.

  • In Bath we will build on brownfield sites to protect our greenbelt, making sure blocks of student flats are built on campus, so those brownfield sites can provide more affordable homes for local people. We will reduce the number of family homes being turned into HMOs and convert upper floors of city centre buildings to flats.

  • In North East Somerset we will not force housing allocations on unwilling villages, our presumption will be that houses should be built close to jobs to reduce the length of journeys.

See "Delivering the Right Houses in the Right Places" for more detail.

More things for people to do

  • We will build on our investments in parks and open spaces across B&NES, including reopening the Approach golf course and creating the Chew Valley Recreation Trail, to provide more for local people and visitors to do.

  • We are helping Cleveland Pools to reopen.

  • We will invest in youth facilities in rural areas and continue to invest in our parks.

See "More Local Things To Do" for more detail.

Supporting vulnerable children and adults

  • We are bringing social care back into direct Council control, reversing Conservative privatisation.

  • We have developed houses for homeless people and made sure no-one has to sleep rough in B&NES.

  • We will improve access to mental health services, extend community services and develop local accommodation for people with complex needs so they do not need to be placed out of our area.

See "Supporting Vulnerable Adults" and "Delivering for Children and Young People" for more detail.

Balancing the books to invest in your priorities

  • Through careful financial control we have balanced the books every year, something the Conservatives did not manage, in spite of challenges including lost income from Covid and increasing inflation.

  • We will continue this prudent management enabling investment in frontline services and your priorities.

See "A Firm Financial Foundation" for more detail.