B&NES Council’s communication with Town and Parish Councils and local residents has recently been called in to question by Peasedown St John’s Ward Councillors, Karen Walker and Sarah Bevan (Independent). In a recent meeting with Louise Fradd, B&NES Council’s most senior officer responsible for transport, environment, cleansing, planning and the public realm, the pair asked for better communication between Ms Fradd’s staff, Councillors and residents.
Issues raised included poor communication by the Council over the location of new bus shelters in the village, the consultation regarding traffic calming measures in Orchard Way, the feasibility report for further safety measures at the Bath Road/A367 junction and lack of information from the Council over planning applications and enforcement.
“The Council is committed to maintaining a dialogue with local communities and ward members, and continually reviews how best to achieve this,” said a Council spokesperson this week.
“As part of this approach, the Director for Place recently met with the Peasedown Ward Councillors to hear their views and to clarify how the Council is currently communicating.
“Through our Connecting Communities Forums we work very closely with Parish and Town Councils. At the next Parishes Liaison meeting, we will be providing an update on a new online system to improve communications between parishes, the Council and local communities. This will be further developed in partnership with our Parish and Town Councils, including Peasedown St John.”
Cllr Bevan said: “With almost 7,000 residents in Peasedown St John, we have a large number of people on a regular basis contacting us to ask for help. Unless there are clear and direct lines of communication between Council Officers and Councillors, we won’t be able to address some of the most pressing issues.”