News

OK fellow residents, the South Gloucestershire traffic team seem to be concerned that we are not aware that for the next 3 months the A46 between our infamous Cold Ashton Roundabout and the city of Bath will be subject to overnight closures. So if you have not read the postcard sent by the National Highways people, the A46 will be subject to overnight closures – certainly this coming week (from January 19th) but also other periods over the next three months (at the whim of their work schedule). The practical upshot is that we are likely to have extra traffic overnight through Cold Ashton village as drivers try and be clever with by-passing the closure (if past experienced is a predictor). Keep your pets inside during these dark evenings.

Traffic management and closures 

 Traffic management in place from Sunday 18 January – Friday 20 March.

 Weeknight closures  

18 January – 20 March (Monday to Friday, 8pm – 6am)  

The A46 will be closed weeknights (Monday – Friday) in both directions between Cold Ashton roundabout and London Road junction roundabout.

Well signed diversions will be in place for both northbound and southbound traffic via:

•  the A420 (Marshfield)
• the A350
• the A4 (Corsham / Box)

Access will be maintained to properties on the A46 directly within the closure. Please speak to the site team at the nearest closure point to be escorted through the works.

Lane closures (from 18 January – 20 March inclusive) 

A lane closure will be in place on the three-lane section at Charmy Down. This will enable our teams to work safely.

One lane will be running in each direction with contraflow in place.

This will be in place on weekdays and weekends in addition to the overnight closures above. This is for the duration of the works.

Please plan ahead and allow extra time for your journeys.

Dates may change at short notice due to poor weather conditions or operational reasons. If we’re unable to complete our work as planned, we may need to continue beyond the dates stated above.

It is the dark time of the year – but that should not stop anyone exploring the mistier delights of the Cotswolds (as well as the glorious Cold Ashton Parish).  The Guided Walks offered by the Cotswold National Landscape Wardens are posted on the Parish Website – Walks February 2026 – CNL

Come on and get an eyeful in 2026

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at Eastwood Park Women’s Prison, Falfield, South Gloucestershire is currently recruiting new members.  If you would like to know more about the role of Independent Monitoring Boards in relation to UK prisons, you can click on this link: https://imb.org.uk/

It is a voluntary role.  If you are interested, contact Arthur Williams at arthur50williams@gmail.com

It might not be the most exciting stuff but at the Parish Meeting on Tuesday we completed the Annual Governance Review.  This is the annual check to make sure we are spending your precept properly.  All the papers are available to view on the Parish website (see https://coldashtonpc.org.uk/finance-2024-25).  All papers and accounts are available for review up until July 15th.  If you would like to be provided with paper copies you can contact me as the clerk.

Dear Residents of Cold Ashton.  I have been contacted by the mast operators of the Shaplands mobile phone mast – about their intentions to upgrade the kit on the mast to make it a 5G mast.  I am proposing that a part of the Extraordinary Parish Meeting on Tuesday June 3rd be extended to cover this issue – the meeting will start with some important financial governance stuff – but if you are inclined to attend we will then move onto the mast.  There was a lot of discussion via the whatsapp group.  So I am going to post the pre-application materials on the Parish Council Website.  I look forward to hearing more of your views as will the Council (who are the important part of the whole process).  If you want to see the pre-application documentation supplied by the mast operator go to: Pre-application consultation for mobile mast at Shaplands Farm site – Cold Ashton Parish Council

It appears we had a problem on the website with the “contact us” page.  That problem has been resolved.  But you can always contact the Parish Council via the pcc.cashton.gmail.com email account.

Parishioners, we have two meetings on Tuesday May 13th where we will discuss Parish Council business.  An ordinary meeting where we will talk about the everyday business of a rural Parish council (planning and the business operations of the Council) and we also have the Annual Parish meeting where we look back over the past year as well as looking forward to the upcoming financial year.  You are welcome to attend and listen to the proceedings – there are opportunities for you to contribute to the discussion.  The agenda for the meetings are posted under “council business”.

Please remember that there is a Mayoral Election in the West of England – the Parish sits within the Combined Authority area of the West of England.  Combined authorities (and their elected mayors) are responsible for delivering strategic roles such as transport planning and strategic planning (especially on economic development).

Your local polling station will be the Cold Ashton Parish Hall – so come along and vote.  In a democracy it is our duty to do this – even if you are going to write “none of the above”.  This time the election will be run with a “first past the post” system.

For more information, go to: https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/about-us/democracy-funding-transparency/2025-west-of-england-mayoral-election/

Cold Ashton might be busy on Saturday March 29th.  Cold Ashton is on the route for the Bath 50 Ultra Challenge 2025.  This is a charity event that is made up of a series of looped runs – the longest of which is a stonking 50km whilst the shorter route are merely 10km.  Cold Ashton Parish Hall will be a service point for eventers.  It all kicks off from the Racecourse at 7.30.  For residents of Cold Ashton Parish we may see a trail of eventers from the East coming up St Catherine’s Lane round to Fry’s Farm before turning right into the bridlepath behind Henley Hill before joining Slough Lane and climbing into the village (that slope will seem harsh to the eventers).  Eventers will be taking the route from the Parish Hall west following the Cotswold Way up onto Lansdown again.

Good luck to all participants and we hope you raise lots of money for your chosen charities.

For more information about the event click here: https://www.ultrachallenge.com/bath-50-challenge/

It might not surprise you to hear that the Royal United Hospitals Trust is very busy.  The RUH Trust currently states “the Trust is currently very busy and [the Trust] is working hard to manage demand and to maintain the quality of service to patients.   Help [the RUH Trust] to help you by using the right service for your needs”.  Here is the current advice from RUH Trust [as of January 11th 2025] about how to select the right service for your needs:

Accident & Emergency | Royal United Hospitals Bath

Keep well, keep safe and of course go to Accident and Emergency if you feel you are in an Accident and Emergency situation.