Some local issues I have been working on or am aware of:

Securing the future of Frome Leisure Centre: Mendip District Council is part way through the process of choosing a private sector company to take on the leases of all 5 leisure centres, including Frome, Wells, Strode, Tor (Glastonbury) and Shepton Lido)  for between 25-99 years, if that is considered to be the best way forward. I am involved in shadowing that at Steering Group meetings, and so much of this is commercially confidential. If I see any threat to the future of a leisure centre and swimming pool in Frome (or others) I will press the panic button. The plan is that Mendip’s Cabinet will meet in late November to decide the future of our leisure centres. Members of the public will be able to review the proposals (apart from commercially sensitive information), and come to the meeting and ask questions before a decision is made. This will be the only limited opportunity for public consultation. I will publicise details of that meeting when they are available. See here for previous articles.

Improved plans for Stonebridge shops and flats: Revised plans for the extension to the shops, and construction of new flats above them, at Forest Road, Stonebridge, have been submitted to Mendip District Council, after I asked the developer to review their plans for parking and the loss of trees, and lighting. I also insisted that a public notice be erected on site this time so more local people can be made aware of the plans, and got the story onto page 3 of the Frome Standard today. Consultation on the revised plans has begun and you have until 13th October 2014 to comment. Please see here for details and links: http://adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk/2014/09/22/have-your-say-on-revised-stonebridge-development-plans/.

Bath Road Heights:  The planning application for 8 new 4-bedroom detached homes at the remaining part of the former Mendip Lodge Hotel site (Bath Road Heights, (ref 2014/0981/FUL). was refused by MDC’s planning officer largely due to the impacts on the large trees on site, and a lack of affordable housing in the proposals.  See here for the previous article on this.  I am asking for a new pedestrian crossing here across Bath Road when any new development is apprpoved.

Delays to recycling collections: see here for news on this – http://www.fromestandard.co.uk/Frome-homes-face-delays-waste-collections/story-22970465-detail/story.html

Supporting new public offices and community spaces for Frome: Last week, I and other Lib Dem councillors, voted for Frome Town Council to purchase the SCC building (former Frome Rural District Council office) on Christchurch Street, for new town council offices, offices for businesses to rent and meeting rooms for community groups to use, after we received reassurances on finance (Council Tax will not need to go up, as the scheme will mostly pay for itself), and the availability for community groups. Interestingly the two Conservative town councillors voted against, despite their parliamentary candidate being supportive. I think this a fantastic opportunity for the town which should not be missed. Please see here: http://www.fromestandard.co.uk/Frome-Town-Council-buy-Somerset-County-Council/story-22978825-detail/story.html

Devolution for Frome: I was inspired by the political engagement in Scotland recently, so what about England, what about Frome? Councils need more powers. But Mendip’s drive to centralise its decision making has continued over recent years with the suspension of the area committees (Community Partnerships) in 2011 (which may be unconstitutional!) and the failure to replace them, and the reduction of numbers of councillors on the Planning Board. I will ask at next Thursday’s full Mendip council meeting, how more decisions and powers can be devolved to local areas like Frome, and allow local people to have more say in decisions that affect the area.

Flytipping: After the public meeting I organised in April about the flytipping problem at Gypsy Lane, the media attention to that, Mendip officers installed warning signs along the lane and flytipping stopped for a few weeks/months, but now the tippers are back. I am pressing for Mendip’s ruling party to deal with this problem properly, as they promised at the meeting in April and previously in May 2013, including to allow officers more time to tackle it, to install surveillance cameras, and have a reward scheme for information on flytippers as part of a wider more effective strategy, but I am afraid that little has been done. I will be asking why, again, next Thursday at Mendip’s full council meeting. I have also asked Mendip officers about the flytipping in fields off Cuckoo Lane and asked them to press landowners to clear up.

Showfield: For years I have been arguing for a fence to be installed in the playground at the old Showfield, so children are no longer worried by dogs and what they leave behind, along with other improvements to footpaths and more benches and bins, as the money is there, and you have all had your say on what you want to happen (in autumn 2012!). However the legal wrangles between Mendip, the landowners and FROGS and delays by Somerset County Council (in deciding on the Village Green application) still mean that the improvements scheme and transfer to Frome Town Council remains stalled. I took a report to Frome Town Council in May and since then, some positive discussions are actually happening. I will let you all know when this is all sorted out, when I can.

Other playgrounds: Mendip’s Play Strategy (which cost a fair bit to produce) to improve important playgrounds and downgrade smaller ones into open spaces without equipment (after consultation with local people), is also not being implemented by Mendip due to lack of staff time, and all that is happening is that in some areas (e.g. in Glastonbury) it seems that play equipment is just being removed without consultation.  The Packsaddle Community Group’s plans to improve Packsaddle park for the whole local community, with a boules pitch and tree planting have now been delayed so long by Mendip DC for various reasons, so I am now trying to arrange the park to be transferred to Frome Town Council, who from recent experience will be much more responsive and will work with local people to manage and improve the park much better.

Fracking and the environment: The motion I helped prepare and get agreed at Mendip District Council last autumn commits the Council to seek to control and seek to prevent harmful effects from fracking on the environment in Mendip (including to Bath’s hot springs). I have been involved on the cross-party Fracking Working Group since.  At a recent meeting, we discussed the situation with the 14th licensing round issued by the Government, the assurances given by Government, Somerset County Minerals Plan policy (being examined shortly) and the likelihood of any industrial operator applying to explore and exploit unconventional gas here given the likely marginal returns, the significant environmental risks and local opposition.  I asked MDC’s Chief Exec to write to support B&NES Council’s request that the Government to withdraw the licences from the 14th round in order to protect the Mendip environment and Bath’s hot springs from the risks, and he did. A Government Minister replied that they have introduced stricter environmental requirements generally (requiring a Statement of Environmental Awareness to be submitted with licence applications) and that this will need to be detailed in or near AONBs and World Herotage Sites (e.g. Bath). If no potential operator applies for the 3 Government exploration licences in Mendip by the end of October, and if UK Methane do not exploit their retained licence (PEDL area 227), there will be nothing to be concerned about. I and other councillors are certainly keeping a close eye on this one.

Keep Frome Clean and safe: Both I and Damon Hooton have take requests from residents recently for new litter and dog waste bins to help reduce litter and dog mess in the ward, and also for new grit bins to be installed which would be used by volunteers to keep pavements safe from ice in winter. Some paths are also becoming overgrown and need cutting back.  I will be raising these issues with all our councils and hope to see some action soon.

Planning policies and new development:  In July, Mendip issued a ‘call for sites’, asking local landowners to help the council update its information on sites across the district that could potentially be suitable for housing, commercial and community use, in order to inform the next stage of the Local Plan (Part 2, Site Allocations) later this year. I am keeping an eye on what this will all mean for Frome and the area. The villages in Frome North have had a lot of planning applications for housing in the last year, most of which have been approved during the delay to Mendip’s Local Plan being examined.  Earlier in the year,I was pleased that the objections, including mine, to 107 new houses on the end of Packsaddle Way helped lead to the plans being withdrawn, as I did ask them to in my objection – see here.

Frome’s Neighbourhood Plan has recently been completed by Frome Town Council, after the first consultation stage. It now passes to Mendip to consult on and assess, then an inspector will examine it, before local people are asked to adopt it at a local  referendum (in May 2015?), see here for details of the draft plan, the evidence base and the changes made in response to consultation. A ‘yes’ vote at the referendum will lead to the Plan becoming part of the Development Plan for Mendip District and it will have to be taken into account when planning applications are received. A yes vote will enable the community of Frome to take greater control of the type and scale of development and land use in the future, so this is important.

Looking at lowering speed limits to make our streets safer: I have previously asked for a review and reduction of the speed limits at Cuckoo Lane, Gypsy Lane and Oldford Hill coming into Frome, a review of the traffic calming and speed limit in Stonebridge Drive, for a pedestrian crossing opposite the College to Thomas Bunn Lane (Bath Road Heights), and the planned pedestrian crossing at Welshmill park to be done. I hope to discuss how all these issues can be progressed, with the new county councillor in the near future.

Tackling local parking issues: After residents at Briar Close told me of a problem arising from parked cars during rugby matches, I raised this with the Rugby Club, and the chairman agreed to arrange marshalling to guide cars better in their car park and away from residential streets. I also informed the rugby club how to apply for council funding to improve the surface of their car park in order to mark out bays, which would increase capacity by 30%, and we await the outcome later in the year.

Fair Frome: I am helping support Fair Frome, the new charity set up to help people bounce back from poverty (see https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fair-Frome/677910922247073) by helping buy a large storage container in which to store food for the food bank, out of my MDC ward Community Environment Fund allocation. As others have said, this is an excellent charity tackling a problem that really should not be there.

 

 

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