Issues and SWOT

strength

Maintain Bath’s completed riverside path improvements

The first River Line stage is complete.

Residents have a route that can already be used.

Evidence

strength

Keep Radstock’s reused arts building useful locally

A former printing building now hosts arts activities and skills development. It is one completed reuse within a wider town-centre programme.

This is a local delivery priority; the wider authority totals cannot establish this project’s effects.

Evidence

strength

Bring support closer to people in poor health

4.1% of people reported bad or very bad health in Bath and North East Somerset council area (21 March 2021). Across England, the figure was 5.2%. People reporting bad or very bad health ranged from 2.1% in Westmoreland to 7.1% in Twerton & Whiteway — a gap of 5 percentage points.

This is how residents described their health in the census. It can reveal differences between neighbourhoods, but does not diagnose illness or measure current waiting times. Age profiles differ between places, so these shares do not measure service quality.

strength

Connect local skills to local opportunities

39.8% of people aged 16 or over had a degree or equivalent (21 March 2021) in Bath and North East Somerset council area. Across England, the figure was 33.9%. People aged 16+ with no qualifications ranged from 4.4% in Bathwick to 24% in Twerton & Whiteway — a gap of 19.6 percentage points.

Qualifications show one part of the skills available locally. They do not show whether people have secure jobs or work that uses those skills.

weakness

Finish the missing links along Bath’s riverside

Green Park Road works are progressing, but the Lower Bristol Road section is paused. The first Bath River Line phase is complete.

Proposed response: Join the completed riverside improvements to safe, continuous routes across the surrounding roads.

Evidence 1 · Evidence 2

weakness

Make room for homes people can afford

Average private rent is £1,885 a month (August 2026) in Bath and North East Somerset council area. This is £426 higher than the England average for the same month. Homes rented privately ranged from 8% in High Littleton to 50% in Westmoreland — a gap of 42 percentage points.

Housing costs matter most alongside earnings and the number of affordable homes available. A local average cannot tell us whether a particular household can afford its home.

opportunity

Match new homes to affordable housing and services

The draft Local Plan is under consultation. Western Riverside has preparatory funding, while its next-phase approvals and delivery still need separate evidence.

Proposed response: track affordable homes and supporting services together, without treating site allocations as completed homes.

Evidence 1 · Evidence 2

opportunity

Give Midsomer Norton’s next projects a clear sequence

The joint council plan proposes High Street improvements and better community spaces, building on earlier work. Adoption and future funding are separate steps.

This is a local delivery priority; the wider authority totals cannot establish this project’s effects.

Evidence

opportunity

Plan homes and care around an older population

19.4% of people in Bath and North East Somerset council area were aged 65 or over (21 March 2021). People aged 65 or over ranged from 8.5% in Westmoreland to 28.1% in Timsbury — a gap of 19.7 percentage points.

Age alone does not mean poor health or a need for care. Accessible homes, reliable transport and support close to home matter as people get older.

opportunity

Target safety work where problems repeat

Mapped police records are available for neighbourhoods in Bath and North East Somerset council area.

Published locations are approximate and some crimes are not mapped. Counts show recorded incidents, not the chance of an individual becoming a victim.

opportunity

Turn published plans into visible progress

6 named local projects or plans have official evidence in this collection.

A published plan makes responsibilities and intentions easier to inspect. It does not prove that funding is secured or that promised benefits have arrived.

opportunity

Target support where disadvantages overlap

Households facing two or more measured disadvantages ranged from 7.6% in Bathavon South to 31% in Twerton & Whiteway — a gap of 23.4 percentage points.

These households met at least two census conditions covering education, employment, health and housing. This is not an income or poverty measure.

threat

Manage the paused Bath Quays link openly

Lower Bristol Road paused after contractor problems while Green Park Road progressed.

Different stages can leave an incomplete journey.

Evidence