Friday, March 27th, 2026
Bath Mayor Suspended | Bath City Floodlights Funding Secured | Somerset Fossil Rewrites Pet Dog Timeline
🟡 Dr Bharat Pankhania, the first Indian-origin Mayor of Bath, has been suspended by the Liberal Democrats following his sharing of social media posts, according to the BBC.
📱Dr Pankhania apologised "unreservedly" after sharing several posts on X, two of which claimed the burning of ambulances run by a Jewish charity in north London on Monday was part of an insurance fraud. Another called the suspected arson attack an “Israeli false flag operation,” reported John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter on the BBC.
“I am of course very upset and heartbroken,” Dr Pankhania told the Bath Bee by email on Thursday evening, saying he made a mistake. “I do not hate anyone or any religion.”
🔎 Liberal Democrat policy says national party membership is suspended and a councillor is usually removed from the party grouping at local level while an independent investigation takes place. Suspension can be lifted if the complaint is dismissed. Further action can also be taken, depending on findings.
🗳️ Dr. Pankhania’s position as a Councillor for Combe Down remains intact, as it’s the result of a public vote.
⚡️Contentious renewable energy proposals including 30 solar farms and 10 wind turbines in the parishes of Batheaston and St. Catherine have been abandoned, reports the Bath Echo.
⚽️ Bath City FC says it has secured funding for new floodlights for its Twerton Stadium. And the club announced the appointment of a new manager, Scott Bartlett.
🚌 WECA has extended a £1 child bus fare cap across the region until spring 2029, reports the Bath Echo.
🦴 A bone found in a Somerset cave has rewritten the timeline of how early dogs became our best friends, reports the BBC.
👒 The Other Bennet Sister, a drama based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, is increasing interest in the author, says Theresa McDermott, founder of Bath’s Strictly Jane Austen Tours, reports the BBC.
Weather
💨 True to form, March’s windy weather has returned and dominates the weekend forecast.
🎶 Fancy some live music this weekend? The Nearfield has a listing of gigs for Green Park Brasserie.
🤣 And listings for Bath Comedy Festival which goes on until April 19th.
📷 Read Nearfield’s original journalism on the latest exhibition of work by the documentary photographer Martin Parr.
📖 Read Easy Bath, a voluntary organisation, is celebrating the graduation of two of its students, two adult men who didn’t learn to read at school, reports the Bath Echo.
📌 Bath Bee Noticeboard
🎞️ Exhibition: Worlds Apart: explores early photography through rare images of Bath and China.
📆 28 March – 26 September 2026
📍Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution
💬 Talk: Reading the Records of Enslavement
📆 2 April 2026 ⏰ 6:00pm - 8:00pm
📍Beckford’s Tower
🎫 Book here
🎨 Bath Contemporary Art Fair
📆 12 April 2026 ⏰ 10 am - 4 pm
📍Green Park Station
🔬 Pint of Science returns 18-20th May:
Researchers from @uniofbath will be coming to @stjameswinevaults @bathbrewhouse and @saracensheadbath to tell you all about their latest research! 🧐🧫🏉📡
🎟️ Ticket sales live on 13th April 👀 ONLY £5!
City & Region
🍌 All homes in BANES can now recycle food waste, reports the Bath Echo, with 350 city-centre flats provided kitchen caddies and on-street communal bins.
❤️ Young carers across Somerset can access emotional and academic support at schools thanks to a charitable initiative, reports BBC News.
🪴 The Urban Garden, a social enterprise training local adults who are unemployed or struggling with mental health, marked its fifth birthday this week, reports the Bath Echo. The garden centre occupies part of the council nursery in Royal Victoria Park.
🗺️ Bath council has approved a new Cultural Development Plan, reports the Bath Echo. ⤵️
👀 Our thanks to journalist, Bee subscriber and Bath resident Josiah Mortimer, Chief Reporter for Byline Times, for delving into the council’s plan and sharing these other nuggets:
🎓 “[B&NES] will continue to offer free admission to schools where 30% of pupils receive free school meals. The Service will introduce a £1 ticket for those in receipt of Universal Credit and will continue to provide tickets through Tickets for Good. These measures are designed to attract new audiences, who we have not traditionally been welcomed to our site, from outside of the local authority area.”
📺 “Bridgerton series 1 was viewed in 82 million+ households worldwide and generated an estimated £8.4m for the local economy in the financial year 2023-2024, £3.4m from filming and £5m from Bridgerton tourism.”
🎥 “The Council will actively state that its policy is to encourage location filming and outdoor events in the City with the express benefit of immediate and down-stream economic activity.”
🏆 The Council’s Charity of the Year Award, decided by public vote, went to a charity begun by a Bath teenager who died from cancer in 2020. The Ben Saunders Foundation helps support young people with cancer and has raised more than £760,000 and provided 351 families with a free holiday. Bath Area Play Project and Bath Mind were both highly commended.
Crime
🚨 A 58- year-old man has been convicted of choking a Bath marina worker over a wobbly mooring, reports the Bath Echo. “In the end I blew a fuse basically,” he said in court.
👮🏻 The police are asking for the public’s help to identify two men pictured in an image released as part of an investigation into a burglary in Twerton in February, reports the Bath Echo.
Transport
🚛 From May 1st, trucks weighing 18 tonnes or more will no longer be permitted to use the route between the Globe Roundabout on the A4 Bristol Road and the Red Lion Roundabout on the A367 junction with Wellsway, reports the Bath Echo. This includes Pennyquick, Whiteway Road, Rush Hill and Frome Road.
Sweet stuff 🍯
🎈 A female balloon pilot is on the verge of breaking a world record for taking off from the most countries around the world, reports the BBC.
🌷Forgive me! Instagram links are really playing up - instead of being able to share a delightful video of the cast of The Choir of Man serenading Bath pubgoers outside the Theatre Royal… which you can watch here… I CAN share this non-local, but gorgeous reel that speaks to my Indian gardener’s heart❤️:
😎 A shorter Buzz is headed your way next week as we take a mini-break to compensate for the chaos of Easter half-term duties!
🎩 Top posts from last week’s Bee:
📣 A former councillor diagnoses reasons for the lack of trust in local politics.
🪧Signs shame owner of old KES building left empty for 35 years.