Fun at Sidney Garden Gala

An afternoon of free family fun, music, circus and spectacle is being held at Bath’s Sydney Gardens on Sunday 11 September from 1pm-5pm to celebrate the completion of the Gardens Restoration Project. £3.4m has been spent over the past three years restoring and conserving the historic buildings and gardens, improving the landscape and providing new visitor facilities at the former Regency Pleasure Gardens.

The project has been a partnership between Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Parks & Open Spaces Team and the Friends of Sydney Gardens, with the National Lottery providing the majority of funding. Councillor Mark Roper, cabinet assistant for Neighbourhood Services said: “Sydney Gardens is a real gem in the heart of Bath. It’s one of the few remaining Regency Pleasure Gardens in the country and the restoration project has been a true labour of love for all those involved. Historic features including the Loggia and Minerva’s Temple have been restored, lots of work to conserve wildlife has been carried out, the tennis courts have been refurbished and new facilities including a Community Pavilion and boules terrain have been created. Its’s now time to celebrate all that’s been achieved!”

Throughout the afternoon of Sunday 11 September, the Gardens will be alive with performances and activities in the true tradition of Regency Pleasure Gardens.

Visitors will be able to see the locally based Rainbow Steel Band and Turkish Folk Band, Chalguh Chengi. Sparklin’ Sorcha & Juggling Jim will entertain you with fire-eating, juggling and stilt-walking. You’ll be able to try your hand at tennis, petanque and hula-hoop and ‘Go to the Loo’ on a special tour of the rare and restored cast iron toilets (booking essential via Eventbrite: https:// www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/friends-of-sydneygardens-40890784773). There’s a new play area to explore and there’ll also be ribbon wand-making, cyanotype printing, donkey rides, a fire engine on show and a Forest School especially for children. There’ll be stalls with inventive activities for the whole family in archaeology, astronomy, beekeeping, climate action, local heritage and more. As the Gala coincides with the first weekend of the Jane Austen Festival, you can bring a picnic to mingle with ‘Jane Austen’ and her friends on the lawn and experience 'a whole camp full of soldiers', with authentic drill displays, music, and talks at the Holburne Museum.

If you need a breather, take part in a wellness workshop or wander the quiet areas of the Gardens and take a look at the new planting and works to preserve and enhance this special space for future generations to enjoy. Find out more about Sydney Gardens

The cladding scandal is affecting thousands of leaseholders and residents across Bristol. Fire safety is essential, yet the current system in place to identify and remediate cladding and fire safety issues including dangerous cladding is not only perilously slow, presenting significant safety risks but is also leaving thousands of leaseholders facing financial ruin. The complete lack of urgency and comprehensive action by the Government on this matter is unacceptable. The Elipse Tower in the town centre, one of the many buildings thought to be affected in Bristol

The Bristol Liberal Democrats support the 10 demands of the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign and are calling on both the Government and the Mayor of Bristol to work together to immediately ensure properties are made safe and none of the remediation or associated costs are passed on to leaseholders or residents in Bristol. We the undersigned are calling on both the Government and the Mayor of Bristol to work together to immediately ensure properties are made safe and none of the remediation or associated costs are passed on to leaseholders or residents in Bristol.

We are also calling on the Mayor of Bristol to support the 10 demands of the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign for Bristol and to set up a ‘Cladding Hub’ to provide information to local residents.

Based on the recommendations of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee and backed by a range of sector bodies and MPs from across the political spectrum, these are Inside Housing’s 10 steps to End Our Cladding Scandal:

The government must lead an urgent national effort to remove all dangerous cladding from buildings The Building Safety Fund must cover all buildings, regardless of height, and a range of internal and external fire safety defects, not just cladding.

The government should provide the money up front and then seek to recover it from any responsible parties or via a temporary levy on development. Social housing providers must have full and equal access to the fund.

The government must compel building owners or managers to be honest with residents about fire safety defects. The government should cover the cost of interim safety measures.

The government should act as an insurer of last resort and underwrite insurance where premiums have soared.

A fairer, faster process is needed to replace the EWS form and funding is necessary to ensure all buildings requiring a form are surveyed within 12 months.

Mental health support must be offered to affected residents.

Protecting residents from historic and future costs must be a key commitment of new building safety legislation.

SCRAP THE ENERGY PRICE HIKE

We need bold and urgent action to help families and pensioners pay their bills and heat their homes this winter.

There is no other choice.

Energy bills have already gone up by £700 this year, and Conservative Ministers have barely lifted a finger to help. We simply cannot afford more inaction in the face of another even bigger rise in October.

This is an emergency, and the Government must step in now to save families and pensioners £1,600 by cancelling the planned rise in energy bills this October. Click here

By Jos Clark, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr.jos.clark@bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 370429

& Andrew Varney, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr.andrew.varney@bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 183381