A message from Cllr Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset CouncilAs you are aware the council provides hundreds of different high-quality services, but not everyone will encounter them. Nevertheless these services are essential for a safe, functioning and prosperous society. Such services range from the first moments of life, when our award-winning registrar service supports residents in officially registering the newest life to bless our community, right through to our bereavement services. Hence this week I took the opportunity, along with Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, to visit our Bereavement staff at Haycombe Cemetery and Crematorium, who manage the only crematorium in Bath and North East Somerset. Our incredibly dedicated and hard-working staff play an important role within our community, offering a dignified and sensitive service to people of all faiths and beliefs. The visit was timely following a recent inspection report from the Federation of Burial & Cremation Authorities which has described our service as being both excellent and having one of the highest environmental scores they have seen for quite some time. This is a really well-deserved acknowledgement and is down to an exceptional team whose hard work, commitment and care supports families as they plan their final goodbyes to loved ones. Many of you will be delighted to know progress is being made on reducing the large number of HGVs and traffic travelling through Bath using the A36 and A46. A detailed M4 to South Coast National Highways study is making recommendations that the primary strategic route will be the A350 from the M4, passing via Chippenham, Melksham and Westbury, before connecting to the A36 at Warminster and continuing south. This is great news our area and it has also been welcomed by Wiltshire County Council. Once implemented Bath will no longer been seen as the preferred route for HGVs between the M4 and the South Coast and we are looking forward to working alongside National Highways and other key stakeholders to ensure this happens. Today a panel of councillors upheld a decision to make an experimental through-traffic restriction in New Sydney Place and Sydney Road permanent. A specially-convened meeting of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Climate Emergency and Sustainability Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel met to review a Single Member Decision (SMD) taken by Councillor Mark Elliott, cabinet member for Resources, that the New Sydney Place and Sydney Road scheme be made permanent. Thank you to all who took part, the panel heard from residents and councillors with a range of views on the scheme. I am pleased that the panel dismissed the call-in, having heard that the decision had been made after careful consideration, with the right processes in place and following wide consultation. People have different views but as councillors we always take a balanced view by considering objections alongside the specific evidence of what is actually happening. This weekend sees the much-loved Bath Half – the first one which is under the management of London Marathon Events. We want to welcome both London Marathon events and the thousands of runners to our beautiful city. It’s going to be busy with runners, their supporters and the many charities, who benefit from this fantastic annual event, enjoying Bath. I wish everyone taking part the very best. Have a good weekend. | 
