Both Mathew and Francine live in Saltford. Labour and the LibDems fielded candidates from Radstock, Keynsham and Peasedown.
(click here)B&NES says ‘No’ to Green Belt development
Councillors in Bath and North East Somerset have voted to recommend that plans for 99 houses on Greenbelt in Saltford be rejected.
However, the final decision on whether or not the plans will go ahead now rests with an independent planning inspector, who will hold public hearings on the application in August.
Cllrs Mathew Blankley and Francine Haeberling oppose the plans
Jacob will stand again
Local MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has been re-adopted as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for North East Somerset at the General Election in May 2015.
Jacob meeting with Saltford Green Belt campaigners
Anger as Manor Road housing goes to appeal
Plans for a 99-home development on Green Belt land on the edge of Saltford are to be decided by an independent Planning Inspector after the developer chose to take the application to appeal on the grounds of non-determination by Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Local councillors Mathew Blankley and Francine Haeberling (Cons, Saltford), who have been opposing the application, have said they are angry that Crest Nicholson has chosen to go to appeal rather than allow the Council’s democratic process to run its course.
The proposed site is opposite Manor Road’s entrance to Saltford School
Calls to investigate alternative locations for Saltford Station
Conservative councillors are calling on Bath and North East Somerset Council to look into alternative locations for a reopened train station in Saltford.
The village’s local councillors Mathew Blankley and Francine Haeberling have backed the idea of reopening a train station in Saltford as part of the planned Greater Bristol Metro project. However, local residents have raised concerns that the site of the former station, closed in 1970, is no longer suitable due to the lack of space for parking and problems with access from the busy A4.
The initially proposed site has a narrow entrance on to the busy A4
Conservatives protect Saltford from 5000 homes in Green Belt
Greenbelt surrounding Saltford has been saved from the prospect of large-scale development in Bath and North East Somerset Council’s new planning blueprint.
Local Conservative councillors Mathew Blankley and Francine Haeberling led the fight to protect Saltford’s Greenbelt in the Council’s revised Core Strategy, which could have seen more than 5000 new homes being built to the south of the village.
Francine and Mathew hugely value Saltford’s Green Belt
LibDem Budget throws money at High-earners – Saltford ignored
The number of senior Council staff earning in excess of £50,000 a year has gone up in Bath and North East Somerset, despite the authority making sweeping cuts to public services.
Salford will receive NO capital spending in the LibDems budget for 2013 onwards.
Despite the Leader of the Council, Cllr Paul Crossley (LibDem, Southdown), visiting Saltford’s Brass Mill last year to see how B&NES can help fund vital repairs, not even a penny has been set aside for Saltford Brass Mill.
Cllr Mathew Blankley gave £1000 of his Councillors’ Ward Initiative Fund to the Saltford Brass Mill Project
Hundreds object to Manor Road housing plans
Over 360 objections have been submitted against plans for a 99-home housing development on the edge of Saltford.
The objections have been lodged by local residents after developer Crest Nicholson submitted a planning application seeking permission to build the new houses on Greenbelt land off of Manor Road in the village.
Residents in Saltford have raised concerns over damage the development would cause to the area’s Greenbelt, as well as the impact of additional traffic on nearby roads and the lack of capacity in village’s already over-subscribed Primary School.
The site is opposite Manor Road’s entrance to Claverton Road Play Area
New Saltford to Bristol Airport bus service
Saltford’s Conservative councillors Francine Haeberling and Mathew Blankley, have welcomed the announcement that a new bus service between Bath and Bristol Airport will stop in Saltford.
An announcement from the Bath Bus Company last week stated that the new hourly service will start from the end of March. The new service’s route will begin on Dorchester Street in Bath with stops in Saltford and Keynsham before arriving at Bristol Airport.
Photo from bathbuscompany.com/airport-service
Local LibDems pessimistic about Manor Road Houses
At the Parish Council’s public meeting in early January, the LibDem candidate who lost to the Conservatives in 2011 announced to the 160-strong audience that he believed the proposed 99-home development on Manor Road will be approved on appeal. Saltford’s two Conservative Councillors were shocked to hear that such a pessimistic outlook was being adopted by the local LibDem, and vowed not to make assumptions, but to keep up the fight against the plans.
The proposed site on Manor Road
Give us your views on 20mph speed limits
B&NES Council is currently spending £0.5million of council tax-payer’s money on a scheme to reduce the speed limit on residential roads. Saltford is at the very end of the consultation period; however Francine and Mathew want to hear your views now.
20mph is the limit throughout Saltford’s Conservation Area
