Bath & North East Somerset Council Reviews 28

The council tax department is certainly becoming a lot more tolerant. So thank you for that. But why has the Bath Marathon been organised on Mother's Day?? Surely counterintuitive ...more people would visit for Mother's Day to eat and celebrate...will be extremely difficult now with closed roads, etc. Bath, after all, is a tourist city, designed for visiting....

Bloody scammers, when given a fine by "coincidence" the first letter never arrives 35£ buy for some reason the 2nd one does 70£ and when try to appeal it they say they will come back to and never do untill the bailiff comes by and charche upto f#cking 425£ to go 300 yard by accident in bus only time restricted road.. i really hope we can shine a light on this!! The whole city is a joke but when you come you better be prepared..

Callous disregard of a persons situation.
Uncaring, not supportive, follow protocol even when they have discretion. Greedy, robotic in their approach. Kivk you when you are down. Depressing!

This whole council should be thrown out and replaced

Poorly trained staff in council rather revenues department. Appreciate the council needs funds but they have infringed GPDR and drmand information they don't need in order to process billing. An employee called David in council tax revenues was initially helpful, then extremely rude because he knew that I knew BANES had knowingly billed exempt occupants for non liable council tax AFTER they'd received the relevant exemption paperwork. This will scare a tenant and trigger them into paying over funds that they shouldn't have to. Their council tax exemption online form cannot be sent until, on the last screen, you 'agree' to how they use your private personal information. Very dodgy. It's also hard to reach any staff there. Council tax revenues is a busy department but it's hard to get hold of anyone at any time and, in even slightly complex cases, you are left to try and sort things yourself even, as they set bills, they should be on top of. The department has one member with no awareness of caller diversity needs. This employee, David, refused to give me his surname! All I wanted to do was sort out the bill. Other Banes departments are generally fine, but the council tax revenues man I spoke to obviously couldn't wait to get me off the 'phone. If other workers like teachers, doctors and police behaved like that and schemed to access private personal data, it would be a national scandal and all over the press. Banes have taken care to swamp any Google Search with their own content so its hard to see a clear staff list, which speaks volumes.
Predictably, the council complaints department is an online form and a number nobody answers.

Lying, Incompetent, useless, rude, untrustworthy.

If you are autistic or have any disabilities do not live in this area as the council are very uncaring and unfeeling.. they are definitely out of touch with people in this society, especially in my area! Everything has been a struggle and I’ve had to appeal more than two or three times to get everything. It’s so unfair especially on your children.
Update
I actually got a reply after they turned my child down with The. We’re sorry we didn’t check the email correctly. We have no reinstated it but it’s just depressing the fact that you have to keep appealing things to get it should be automatic when you’re a child has special needs it’s more upsetting to go through the process.

Guidance for Bath Residents on Planning Applications After Receiving Information Under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. How to Communicate Effectively with Your Case Officer.

When applying for a planning application, effective communication with your case officer is crucial, especially after receiving details under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Here’s how to approach your communication:

1. Firm Tone Approach
Use this approach if you have encountered issues with the thoroughness or responsiveness of case officers in the past:

Subject: Planning Application Review and Queries

Dear Case Officer,

I understand that every effort will be made to reach a decision by the target date [insert target date here]. If there are any delays due to a high volume of work, I would appreciate being informed in advance. My goal is to ensure that the process proceeds smoothly while complying with all relevant regulations.

Please address the following:

1. Response Time: Please respond within 14 days.
2. Thorough Review: Kindly conduct a thorough review of my application, which includes the proposed floor plans.
3. Queries Before Decision: Please raise any queries after thoroughly reviewing my application and only if clarification is needed before making a decision. This approach will help ensure that all aspects of my application are carefully assessed and any concerns are addressed, avoiding excessive back-and-forth or repeated queries and minimizing delays.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Yours sincerely,
[Your Full Name]

2. Soft Tone Approach
Use this approach if the process seems straightforward or if you are working with a new case officer:

Subject: Planning Application Review and Assistance

Dear Case Officer,

I understand that every effort will be made to reach a decision by the target date [insert target date here]. Should there be any delays due to a high volume of work, I would appreciate being informed in advance. My aim is to facilitate a smooth process while ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations.

Please consider the following:

1. Response Time: I would appreciate a response within 14 days.
2. Thorough Review: I kindly request a thorough review of my application, which includes the proposed floor plans.
3. Queries Before Decision: If any clarification is needed, please feel free to raise any queries after thoroughly reviewing my application and before making a decision. This will help ensure that all aspects are carefully assessed and any concerns are addressed, and will help avoid potential back-and-forth or repeated queries.

Thank you very much for your understanding and assistance.

Yours sincerely,
[Your Full Name]

The guidance provided has the potential to positively influence the process and encourage better practices, preventing confusion and time consumption.

28/12/2024 Still no response about how this happened.

Absolutely awful. My current address was removed from the electrol register and I was registered at an address I'd never heard of. This meant when I went to vote, I was told I couldn't as my details weren't correct.

I emailed them the following day as I'm worried about my details and I still haven't had a response. Truly shocking.

Sat on hold for over an hour until I had to hang up. Your direct debit fails and misses one payment and you’re threatened with a court order but can’t get through to anyone to discuss - seems like an evil way to scare people and cause unnecessary anxiety. Absolutely no need to threaten people in such a way. Call them and speak to them like a human rather.

I completely agree with the many 1 star " reviews" regarding the Clean air zone. Surely this must be illegal; to have a clean air zone without signs on entering the place to warn visitors who will be unaware. I was caught the same way, no idea, no signs, no phone number, just a treatening letter two weeks later. I should really do something and get my solicitor to contest on the basis of entrapment to start with. This will impact severly on the Bath economy as I for one will not be back.

Run by bunch of criminals. Bath and Somerset council same story anywhere you go. No clear car parking signs, take longer than 10 minutes to get ticket you will get £120 fine. Today got a clean air zone fine £120 no signs to say you actually entered a clean air zone. Was driving to Portsmouth so amazed to see bath has charged me clean air zone hardly drove through the jail of a city.

RUN BY BOARD TORY PENSIONERS.

NO CLUE OR BASIC EDUCATION. RUNS LIKE A CHIMPS TEA PARTY

While I used to visit Bath 5 or 6 times a year I no longer visit Bath or Bristol since they introduced the clean air zones . I now prefer Cardiff as my go to city. I hope that many businesses go under as a result of these clean air zones , motorists are an easy target for councils. Hopefully these jumped up pompous wannabe politicians will realise the impact they're having on the local economy.

BANES Council (good god y'all)
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing

(they chop down trees* they eat their lunch and go to the lavatory)

(*at Odd Down Sports Ground)

Entiendo el esfuerzo y el interés por la comunidad, Siempre sé puede mejorar y siempre ay que dotar a los jóvenes de herramientas. Para que no se sientan al margen. Lo bueno es que estáis en el camino.Correcto.

Treatment of adjacent neighbour in “Party” wall act appalling. I was told more than one person objecting to the plans was usually needed to stop works going ahead. As there is only myself living in my property and the property being developed is an end house, then more than one person objecting is not possible.
One neighbour further down did want to complain about an aspect of the development but was told only adjacent neighbours are invited to do this and only adjacent neighbours are notified of the development.
Many people don’t like to object as their names are included so threats, bullying and intimidation are possible. This situation with the development has changed (10.03.2023) but it is ongoing.
As the adjacent neighbour I don’t exist. Hounslow council have it right; BEFORE any development plans are made involve the adjacent neighbour. This has never happened in my case. A well respected, experienced, local architect I brought in was shocked by one aspect of the original plan and said “….how did they get planning permission for that.”

No clean air signs, got fined £69.

The British way of PUNISH PUNISH people the moment they make an honest mistake it part of the reason so many people are depressed these days.

I don't see why people can't get a warning the first time they do something.

Tried to pay online twice, it won't work.

I wouldn't even give this joke of a council 1 star I have never come across a council like this in my life they are a joke worst council out there

I live in Bath, and this joke of a council treat its residents with total contempt. Its a case of " We know what best for you so just accept we are right". Neither Liberal nor democratic.