Category: News

BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL

(THTTC4127 PUBLOW LANE, PUBLOW)
(TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF USE BY VEHICLES) ORDER 2026

Notice is given that Bath and North East Somerset Council in exercise of its powers under
section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 intends to make an order the effect of
which will be to temporarily introduce a road closure in that length of Publow Lane, Publow
from a point outside the property known as Brambledene, 5 Publow Lane. USRN: 47917502.

This order is required because works are being or are proposed to be executed on or near
the road to enable Bristol Water to replace a leaking stop tap from the 24th March 2026
for a maximum period of 6 months. The road will only be restricted as and when traffic
signs are in position and may not be effected for the whole of the period but only for so long
as is necessary to execute the works.

Works are anticipated to be for TWO DAYS.

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE: Publow Lane (remainder) – Parsonage Lane – A37 – High Street
– Publow Lane – Vice Versa.

Link to One.network: https://one.network/?tm=GB148241662

Applicant Details: Emma Osborne
Telephone: Bristol Water – 0345 702 3797
Email: Emma.Osborne@bristolwater.co.uk
Dated: 5th March 2026
Traffic Management Team
Lewis House
Manvers Street,
Bath
BA1 1JG
Chris Major
Director of Place Management

 The map below may be helpful:

Publow with Pensford Parish Council is conducting a housing needs survey to help us identify and understand the current and emerging levels of local housing need within the parish.

All homes within our parish should by now have received a housing needs survey form through their letterbox. All householders are reminded to complete and return the survey to the Parish Council via Pensford Post Office by 31st March. 

The Parish Council will analyse responses and publish our findings in due course.

All Parish residents may submit a form but a valid address within this Parish is required to take part.  Any personal details provided in conjunction with this survey will be used strictly for the purposes of this survey; treated as confidential and used only in compliance with our published Privacy Policy.  

If you have not received a form or if you need additional or replacement forms you can download and print a copy here.

At the Parish Council meeting on 8th February, Dan Brunton from Avon Wildlife Trust Beaver Advice and Support Team gave the councillors a very interesting presentation about the return of beavers to the Chew Valley.

There have been many Beaver sightings along the River Avon and River Chew, although no sightings have yet been reported in our Parish. However, it is very likely that they will be returning to our Parish soon.

In March the Trust will be carrying out a detailed survey of the River Chew. There are many positive impacts of beaver activity, but they can cause problems too, Beavers are a protected species and so landowners are encouraged to contact the Beaver Advice and Support Team if they see signs of Beavers on their land.

Avon Wildlife Trust’s Beaver Advice and Support Team provides free guidance to farmers, landowners and communities who are living alongside wild beavers in the Bristol Avon, Somerset and Frome area.

Please help Avon Wildlife Trust monitor the beaver population along the River Chew and its tributaries. As the plant life dies back over the winter, it becomes easier to spot tell-tale signs of beavers, like gnawed wood and woodchips. If you see any of these signs while out on the river, please fill out the sightings form on their website: www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/beavers. There’s also a handy spotter’s guide on there with tips on what to look out for.

If you are a landowner and you need free advice and support with managing the impact of beavers on your land please contact alex.preston@avonwildlifetrust.org.uk.

The Parish Council has received advance notice from Bath & North East Somerset Council of upcoming drainage works on the B3130 Stanton Road, specifically, in the Belluton Narrows area. The work is programmed to begin 7 April and is scheduled for up to 3 weeks.

Bath & North East Somerset Council is closing this road to all through traffic. A signed diversion will be in place, and advance warning signs will be put on the road two weeks prior to work starting. Local residents will receive a letter shortly.

There is a culvert beneath the carriageway which has been surveyed, and it is deemed necessary to replace. The aim of this work is to replace the culvert through the narrow section. The outcome will not immediately resolve the drainage issues through here, but it means that BANES will be able to return to undertake future works under a less disruptive form of traffic management.

Belluton, Bath and North East Somerset, England, United Kingdom

Local people will always need housing if our community is to develop and thrive.

Publow with Pensford Parish Council is committed to understand housing needs within our parish. We believe that having a good knowledge of local housing needs is vital to help us understand the necessity for future developments. We last conducted a housing needs survey in 2011, since when there have been many changes in our community. We are now conducting a new housing needs survey to help us identify and understand the current and emerging levels of local housing need within the parish.

The survey is designed to collect information about the profile of our community, its current housing supply and types of people resident here, people wishing to move home in the near future and the nature of their housing needs.

Our Parish councillors have delivered a housing needs survey form to all households within the parish. Householders are being asked to complete and return the survey. Please return your completed form to the Parish Council via Pensford Post Office by 31st March. The Parish Council will analyse responses and publish our findings in due course.

All Parish residents may submit a form but a valid address within this Parish is required to take part.

Any personal details provided in conjunction with this survey will be used strictly for the purposes of this survey; treated as confidential and used only in compliance with our published Privacy Policy. 

If you do not receive a form or if you need additional or replacement forms you can download and print a copy here

Sue Grimes
Chair
Publow with Pensford Parish Council

On 20th November; Bath and North East Somerset Council issued the following Traffic Regulation Order reducing the speed limit to 20MPH on a section of Charlton Road, Keynsham, Woollard Lane, Whitchurch/Publow and Redlynch Lane, Chewton Keynsham.  The restriction will come into operation on 9th March 2026.   

Bath and North East Somerset Council has introduced a further temporary closure on Public Byway CL17/41 running between Bristol Road and Blackrock Lane in Publow with Pensford Parish due to the likelihood of danger to the public by a large fallen tree. The emergency closure will last for 21 days and is likely to be further extended due to it taking longer than originally anticipated to clear the tree. If you have any queries please contact the Public Rights of Way Inspector for the area, Eddie Procter, at eddie_procter@bathnes.gov.uk or on (01225) 394943.

An 18-tonne weight restriction is being proposed between the Globe Roundabout on the A4 Bristol Road past Rush Hill and Whiteway Road up to the Red Lion Roundabout on the A367 junction with Wellsway. 

According to an article in Bath Echo; Bath & North East Somerset Council says there would be “no defined alternative” route, but there are “options”. “For example, a driver passing through the Radstock area heading towards Bristol could choose to follow the A37, and vice-versa.”

https://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/politics/weight-restriction-proposed-steep-hill-114537/

This suggests that very heavy vehicles travelling to Bristol and the wider motorway network from Radstock and the A367 could move to the A37 through Temple Cloud, Clutton, Pensford and Whitchurch. 

The A37 already experiences problems with HGVs being unable to pass each other on the narrow sections of the A37 particularly the narrow section of the A37 on Pensford Hill where two large vehicles cannot get through if they meet on the narrow section of the road. The additional HGVs could also add to the problems in Temple Cloud, which historically had a significant issue with traffic fumes (specifically nitrogen dioxide leading to the declaration of an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) along the A37. The largest heavy goods vehicles travelling to Bristol, would move from the much wider A4 through Saltford onto the A37 through Pensford, where they would pass immediately in front of the village school. 

This proposed new weight restriction is completely separate from the existing 18 tonne limit on Cleveland Bridge, but combined they will seemingly result in the diversion of all the largest HGVs away from Bath and the surrounding area on to roads like the A37.

Anyone wishing to comment on the proposals has until 1st January. Representations with respect to the proposal, together with the grounds on which they are made must be sent by 1st Jan 2026 either in writing to the TRO Team at the address below, or by email to TROs@bathnes.gov.uk Please quote the title of the scheme; (25-042) (Pennyquick 18t, Bath) (18t Heavy Vehicle Weight Limit) Order 202* with the reference TRO 25-042.

 https://publicnoticeportal.uk/notice/traffic-and-roads/693a7aa5348f4dedfbf5de25

 

The Parish Council has received advance notice from Bath & North East Somerset Council of traffic lights and work to be expected on Pensford Hill. The work will commence on 12^th January 2026 and all going well will conclude by 6^th March 2026. 

A scaffold and portable traffic light licence on the A37 Pensford Hill area, approximately 160 metres south of the Station Approach junction has been granted to enable essential wall repair work. Due to the requirement of scaffolding to carry out the work, lights will be required 24/7.

Due to the sensitivity of the location, delays are anticipated. To help spread awareness, the licensee will deploy advanced warning signs two weeks before, and an electrical variable messaging sign one week before works start. The lights will also be manually operated each day between 07.00 and 19.00 to ensure queues remain balanced and queuing times help the network to function.

Prior to the start date, Bath & North East Somerset Council will also share messaging via digital platforms to raise awareness.