Newsletter 18 June 2016

Dear All,

How can I help? As ever, please get in touch if you have any issues you need help with.

Tributes to Jo Cox MP:  After the terrible fatal attack on Labour MP Jo Cox on Thursday, tributes are flooding in, including a message from Tim Farron. “… Jo Cox was a wonderful MP. Much will be written about her and she deserves all the tributes that are being paid.  Very few politicians had her vision and courage when it came to standing up for Syria and for refugees. … She came to the Commons to make a difference, for something she believed in.  … It will be quoted many times over, but Jo’s words in her maiden speech couldn’t be clearer and couldn’t be more poignant – ‘we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.’  … We must turn a corner.  Let this be a turning point for our country. When the world around us is fearful, confusing, and clouded, let us be the beacon of tolerance and hope. Tim Farron”

The terrible attack on Jo has been a huge shock to me too. By all accounts she was a wonderful human being, one of the best of us. Our country is much poorer without her.  I cannot imagine the pain her husband, children and family and friends are going through. Politics must become kinder, less hateful, passionate but more positive and respectful, as a result. I hope to help make that happen in Frome. Thank you.

Old Showfield improvements – Outdoor gym: Frome Town Council inform me that a selection of outdoor gym equipment has now been confirmed for installation at the Old Showfield. Discussions with local people, FROGS, town and district councillors and Frome Medical Practice have all influenced the final choice. Installation will start from the end of July and a launch event will take place on Saturday 3^rd September. More details about the event to follow, but for now please save the date! Contact Emma Parker at Frome Town Council (01373 465757, email  parkere@frometowncouncil.gov.uk for more details). This is all part of the Old Showfield Management and Improvement Plan approved by Frome Town Council in March, which also includes a fence/hedge around the playground, more tree planting, benches and bins, and possibly more play equipment in future. To sign up to direct email updates from Frome Town Council (and join a future Residents Action Group) please email Chris Stringer (Environment Manager) at admin@frometowncouncil.gov.uk. Previous Showfield news can be found here.

Frome Leisure Centre open day 1st July: Fusion have now reopened the revamped Frome Sport and Fitness Centre, after over 7 months of work and £2.5 million invested, and are holding an open day on Saturday 2nd July with FREE sessions including Swimming, Gym, Group Exercise, Personal Trainer fitness assessments, Indoor cycling, Soft play and Health checks.  Please see here for a timetable, and the story in the Frome Times. Please let me know what you think of the changes, and if you have any issues for me to raise – I am due to meet Fusion at a Mendip District Council Leisure Board meeting at the end of the month so would appreciate your feedback. Please see my previous news on this here.

Community Grants: Frome Town Council has announced the next round of community grants are available for clubs, groups, community acticities and events that benefit local people. Small grants of up to £300 and large grants up to £3000 are now available to apply for, with the first deadline on 27^th June – please see here for details.

Somerset County Council budget consultation today (Saturday): Somerset County Council is holding a public engagement event coming to Frome on 18 June, one of its ‘Listening, Learning, Changing’ roadshows, asking people to try their hand at balancing its budget on a giant set of scales and seeking their views on its priorities and other key issues. Anyone is welcome to share their views and chat with county staff at the Saturday market in the Market Yard car park where they will have a stand from 9am-1pm.  Previously this has been at the Frome Show, but at least this time there is no entrance fee. I will be going along to see what it’s all about.

Flytipping: the 18 month closure of Gypsy Lane to through traffic remains in place as part of Mendip District Council’s action plan against flytipping. Please do keep letting me know whether you see any flytipping in the area.

Frome’s Green Community Energy Tariff is coming soon: The UK’s first community owned green energy tariff is to be launched by Mongoose Energy in July / August and Frome is planned to be one of the first trial areas. Please contact Anna Francis at FTC (email francisa@frometowncouncil.gov.uk) for further information. 

Catch the Bus Week, 4-10 July: Catch the Bus Week is aimed at getting people who do not normally catch the bus to give it a try – to get involved please see the Catchthebus website.

Frome Half Marathon, 10k, 5k and 1k races will be held on July 17th. All races start at the Frome Town Football Ground at 10:00 am and make their way through the streets of the town and surrounding countryside returning through the town centre to the Frome Town football Ground for the finish line. Sign up now to guarantee your place or to volunteer to marshall the event. Please see the official website for details, and here for the route through Stonebridge. Once again I will aim to complete the 10k in fancy dress superhero costume (without a tail this time!).

Mendip Community Credit Union:  I and Frome Town Council are encouraging people to join the Mendip Community Credit Union (see http://www.mendipcommunitycu.org.uk/ for more information. You can join and save a little every month and this means you will have the opportunity to take out a low interest loan in the future. If you let the MCCU take a photo of you joining, you’ll provide them an opportunity to put across the message that it’s a great thing to do. All you need to is gather some ID (Passport, utility bill and NI number) and drop into the Library on a Saturday morning (10-12) or the Key Centre on a Thursday morning (9-11.30). The MCCU were instrumental in helping get Mendip District Council to improve how it handles people struggling to pay Council Tax, as I explain here.

Other issues: I am currently looking into a few other things in and around the ward, including:

• car parking at the Health Centre and Hospital;
• traffic calming and road safety on Bath Road, in Fromefield, Stonebridge Drive, and around Welshmill Park;
  
• complaints from neighbouring residents about scrambler bikes at the Commerce Park;
• improving the design and impact of the Fromefield Co-op.

Planning and development news:

New planning applications have recently been submitted for:

• 45 Packsaddle Way: Conversion of two-storey annexe to 2 No. 1-bed flats, and formation of annexe/games room as ancillary accommodation (ref 2016/1322/FUL).
• New household extensions at:
  • 2 Brunel Way (MDC planning reference 2016/1100/HSE);
  • Three Acres, the Copse (2016/1131/HSE);
  • 15 Packsaddle Way (2016/1162/HSE);
  • 14 Acacia Drive (2016/1237/HSE).

Planning permission has been granted recently for:

• Change of use from physiotherapy clinic to residential, at 14 Bath Road (2016/1000/FUL) (after James Hatt Associates opened a new premises on Christchurch Street East near the railway station);
• Tree works at Red Cottage, 35 Fromefield (2016/1009/TCA), to reduce and trim 3 trees back from the highway.
• Household extensions at 25 Wellow Drive (2016/1027/HSE) and 75 Pedlars Grove (2016/0577/HSE); and
• Advertising banners at Frome Leisure Centre (2016/0188/ADV).

At the Commerce Park:

• a planning application has been submitted for a commercial building for the production of dust and fume extraction equipment, at plot J6C (ref. 2016/1158/FUL).
• a planning application has been submitted for the erection of a new factory (Class B2) and associated access and landscaping works, at Unit J6a (ref. 2016/1302/APP).
• planning permission is being granted for Acheson & Acheson’s factory expansion, as reported here.
• the planning application for the removal and variation of planning conditions 30 and 32 at the Commerce Park following grant of outline planning permission 108277/005 (ref. 2015/1946/VRC), which I and over 30 residents objected to (see here) has been withdrawn.

Details of all these planning applications can be found here http://publicaccess.mendip.gov.uk/online-applications/.  Please let me know if you have any concerns or issues.

EU Referendum: Please do not forget to vote on the EU Referendum on 23rd June.  Please let me know if you have any questions, or can help the Remain campaign. My thoughts on the referendum, who to trust, and why I will be voting to Remain, are here. Information about the Remain campaign can be found here: the fact-based case to remain: InFacts – http://infacts.org/ and Britain Stronger In Europe campaign: http://www.strongerin.co.uk/

Frome Town Council news: Please see here http://www.frometowncouncil.gov.uk/news/

Mendip District Council news: please see http://www.mendip.gov.uk/resident.  MDC’s meetings calendar is here – http://www.mendip.gov.uk/calendarmeeting.

Somerset County Council news: please see here https://somersetnewsroom.com/.

Lib Dem news: See here

Thanks for reading,
Adam

Adam Boyden
Mendip District Councillor for Frome College ward (Liberal Democrat) www.adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk

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