Unlike most other cities, Bath does not have its own city council or even have a network of parish councils to discuss local issues.
There are a very small number of BANEs Councillors who are elected to represent the City.
The rest of BANEs is of a very different character to the City and has very different issues and priorities.
Bath is the economic power house of BANEs and this combined with the assets transferred on the creation of BANEs supports and subsidises other parts of the region.
We therefore welcome a discussion of these issues as proposed by the BANES Conservative Councillors.
However, unless central government embark on a re-organisation of local government in the region creating a Bath based authority with real power it is unlikely that any of the proposed local fixes would offer anywhere near the control of Bath by its resident’s that would deliver meaningful change.
Most of these local fixes envision the creation of local forums or authorities which would have little effective power beyond some moral authority but which would all come with very real costs which would have to be borne by local tax payers.
We wold argue that if local Councillors really what to address these issues they should first look to their own policy processes and budgeting strategy’s and accord Bath the priority its economic and cultural status deserves.