Background

In the beginning....

River view spring 2016

Many residents and visitors in Batheaston, although perhaps aware that the river Avon formed the southern boundary to our village, did not regard it as easily accessible or even visible. Most had not given much thought to the recreation potential of the area that surrounds the main car park which is located across the road from the shops and pubs on the High Street.

For a variety of reasons over recent years this area had received minimum attention from the Bath&nes District Authority with little work other than essential maintenance undertaken.

The picture above, which was taken early in 2016 just after the grass was mowed, shows bramble and nettles that completely screens the river Avon from view. The garden to the west was similarly neglected and hardly visited.

Public toilets within the site had been closed for several years after funding was withdrawn despite the opening in 2013 of a new cycle and foot bridge that brought many new visitors to our village.

River Avon and footbridge 2017

Members of the Batheaston Parish Council (BPC) who were elected in May 2015 agreed that the potential of this site should be examined and improved for the benefit of our community and visitors and that this should be a major objective through their first term and beyond.

The Community Asset Transfer

The Vision Plan Questionnaire in 2008 identified that many residents viewed the riverside area as an under utilised feature of the village and the previous council started discussions with Bath&nes to seek a solution to the impasse from funding reductions which were only foreseen to get worse in future years.

Approval was sought to bring the management of this area into the responsibility of the Parish by means of a Community Asset Transfer (CAT). This approval in principle was advised to BPC in August 2015 and negotiations commenced to make this a practical and deliverable solution.

An early priority was to re-open a public toilet on the site and a separate licence was agreed so this could happen ahead of a CAT. In October 2016 after major refurbishment by BPC (assisted by the Ward Councillors) a pay-to-use accessible unisex facility was opened and within the month was used by over 200 people.

Unfortunately the toilet had to be closed between April and September 2017 due to blocked drains caused by root penetration during the years of closure; special funding for this repair took a long time to be found.

A consequence of this delay was that the CAT would not be progressed until a long term solution to the drainage was completed to the satisfaction of BPC.
This solution, along with other issues, was finalised toward the end of 2017 and the CAT  was formally signed to commence 1st January 2018.

What is covered by this CAT agreement?

There are four main components of this asset transfer that now are the responsibility of Batheaston Parish Council under a contract that will last for 99 years at a peppercorn rent.

The Toilet Block
The Car Park
The surrounding Grassed Areas and Riverbank
The Secret Garden

Specifically excluded to remove financial risk to the Parish are the footbridge and its foundations and the high south facing wall that acts as a retaining wall to the high street road and pavement.

In addition a number of repair works were identified and made preconditions for the CAT and agreed to be undertaken by Bath&nes before the end of 2018/19.

The Riverside Assets Transferred to BPCare shown within the red line