Dear All, A quick further update on news for Frome College ward and surrounding areas in Frome, Mendip and Somerset. Please get in touch if you have any issues you need help with.

Evening 267 buses under threat – we need your help:  As the recent Frome Standard and Frome Times front page stories explain, Bath & North East Somerset Council are reviewing their support for the 267 evening bus services, to try and reduce costs. This affects the 9.10pm and 11.10pm Bath to Frome buses and the 8pm and 10pm Frome to Bath buses (Monday-Saturday). Frome Town Council meet this Wednesday (tomorrow) and will discuss the issue (see here and the Item 4 here) and decide whether they can help.  Town councillor Tricia Golinski needs to hear from everyone who uses the evening bus, so she can report to town councillors how important the service is, as some councillors will need persuading.  Please do email her briefly today at tgolinski@outlook.com to let FTC know how the loss of the 267 evening bus service would affect you.  Please come along to the meeting on Wednesday at 7pm at the Rook Lane Chapel to have your say if you can – we need as many people as possible.  Please see here for more on the issue and how you can help.

Fracking is cancelled: I was relieved to find out this week that South Western Energy have decided not to take up the Government’s offer of licences for unconventional gas exploration near Frome around Beckington, Rode and nearby Wiltshire towns – see here.

Frome Town Council’s meeting (see the agenda here) on Wednesday, 7pm at Rook Lane Chapel also includes items on: funding the restoration of the tower at the Cheese and Grain, Clean and Healthy Frome (reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2046), crowdfunding Frome projects, and updates on the Frome Town Hall, land acquisitions (including potential purchase of land next to Rodden Meadow, and the nearby Millennium Green) as well as the future of the 267 evening buses. The lease transfers of Packsaddle and Tower View parks to FTC are going well.

Any questions for Mendip District Council? MDC’s next full council meeting is on Monday – see here for the agenda – Do you have any questions for the council to answer? You can email them to me (cllr.boyden@mendip.gov.uk) or direct to committee_services@mendip.gov.uk. The meeting will also discuss the proposed regulation of street trading (and licence fees), and the Parliamentary boundary review, so please send me any comments you have on these too.

Fromefield Co-op delivery lorries: Earlier today I complained to Radstock Co-operative, Mendip District and Somerset County Councils about the Co-op delivery lorries blocking traffic and causing a safety hazard while they park outside the Fromefield Co-op and reverse in.  I witnessed the chaos myself this morning during rush hour when cars, vans, a police car and a bus going southbound on Fromefield all backed up waiting and partially blocked the busy junction, then navigated around the lorry on the wrong side of the road. One of the store’s planning conditions requires compliance with a Service Management Statement which states that lorries will always go in forwards as there is room to manoeuvre around to load/unload after the car park has been cordoned off in advance.  I have raised this with Radco before, and there is still clearly a breach of planning condition 28. I have now heard back from Radco that the delivery procedure is being revised and drivers retrained, so I live in  hope that this is being resolved – but can I ask if anyone sees this happen again please can you let me know, and send me a photo. I have also asked Radco’s management to meet about this and to witness a delivery come in the right way.

Town bridge closed next week: The footbridge between the Cattle Market car park and Westway shopping centre by the library will be closed next week for repairs – see here for details.

Frome Medical Practice news: The latest email newsletter from Frome Medical Practice includes news of their autumn fayre this Saturday 24^th at 10-3 with ‘dozens of stalls ranging from shabby chic bargains to jewellery and cakes’, new ‘flu vaccination clinics, a special Young Persons Drop-in Clinic, and new free Shingles vaccinations for the over 70s. Please let me know if you would like the newsletter and I’ll pass it on.

Lib Dem Conference news:  Lib Dems call for an ‘open, united and tolerant Britain’ and are prepared to raise taxes to fund an NHS “that meets the needs of everyone”, party leader Tim Farron told the party’s annual conference in Brighton this afternoon. He also put pressure on the government to spell out “what Brexit really means” and demanded a new referendum on the terms of the final deal – see here for Tim’s speech in full.

Lib Dems also voted to oppose the construction of the new Hinkley C nuclear power station in west Somerset, agreeing it represents very poor value for money for UK consumers – see here.

Please see the full early September newsletter online at http://adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk/2016/09/08/september-newsletter/

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