Covid restrictions and lockdown support

Covid is still restricting our lives. Information on what we can and cannot do, the support available and information on vaccinations and council services, is all here. Help is at the end of a phone – the Somerset-wide Coronavirus Helpline will connect to county and Mendip district council services 0300 790 6275 and open 8am-6pm every day. Frome Town Council is on 01373465757.

If you have a business that is required to close due to the national restrictions, please see the support grants available via Mendip here.

Mendip supports vaccination rollout

From now until March or beyond Mendip District Council will focus on new priorities – saving lives, delivering statutory services, and economic recovery, to help support the vaccination rollout at its offices. The Council has been asked by Government and the NHS to play its part in the medical response, fight COVID and save lives. Some Mendip staff have offered to be temporarily redeployed into a variety of vital roles, supporting NHS professionals in the roll-out of vaccinations at medical hubs, and with community testing programmes. A number are also volunteering in their own time to do shifts at the weekends or in the evenings. As of last week, over 4000 vaccinations had been given to people at MDC’s offices, quite an achievement – see here. This inevitably means that some non-priority services will receive less attention during the national crisis. Please see here for more.

Saturday Market temporary closure

Partly as a result of this, Mendip’s markets opening times were reduced for several weeks – please see here. Update – on 9th February Mendip District Council extended its outdoor market opening times and reinstated its Saturday markets in Frome and Wells, following feedback – please see here.

How you can help

Frome has several volunteering opportunities for people able to help others during the pandemic – in schools, being community drivers, shopping for people, and helping children – please see here.

Across Mendip and Somerset, the rush from residents to volunteer has been so popular that recruitment is currently on pause, but you can sign-up at www.sparkachange.org.uk/nhs-vaccination-support to be added to a ‘volunteer bank’. Thank you.

Earlier rubbish and recycling collections from next week

Somerset Waste Partnership has announced that recycling and rubbish will be collected from 6am (instead of 7am) from next week, to help collectors cope with Covid-related pressures. Residents will need to put recycling and rubbish out by 6am or the night before, from now on until further notice, to avoid collections potentially being missed – please see here for more.

Police funding consultation

The Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner is running a consultation to ask how much you would be willing to support an increase in the policing part of the Council Tax in the new financial year. It only takes between five to eight minutes to complete, so please click here.

Mendip considering free short stay parking

Mendip District Council is considering improvements to its car parking experience for both residents and visitors, after reviewing the results of an initial round of consultation at Cabinet in January. The report (see item 9 here, draft minutes and news article) discussed a number of suggestions from residents, local organisations and councillors for how parking could be improved, including better signage, free short-stay parking, more car park spaces and electric vehicle charging. Several of you contributed to the questions I emailed in July, so thank you for your contributions! MDC is also working on a plan for electric vehicle charging points in its car parks. Further decisions will come later this year.

Saxonvale scheme approved, with more affordable housing

At the end of a three and half hour meeting, Mendip District Council’s Planning Board voted to approve the Saxonvale development by 11 votes to 3 (to ‘Delegate to Permit’ the development ‘subject to conditions and completion of a section 106 agreement to cover the matters set out’ in the report here), with the amendment by cllr Garfield Kennedy that requires MDC officers to negotiate further to get to a higher % (up to 24%) of affordable housing, which was a key concern. This is the biggest planning decision in Frome since, well, the last time this came up (in 2010). Please see details here.

MDC’s response to the decision is here. Councillor Barry O’Leary talked on BBC Somerset radio about the opportunities for Frome (here from 1:36). In it Acorn’s Development Director committed to providing a ‘policy compliant’ level of 72 ‘affordable’ dwellings (agreeing to the 24% requested by Planning Board), and that, should there be demand for more commercial uses than the minimum 45,000 sq ft, there will be flexibility in the phased development to ‘create more space’. This is discussed again at 2:35 here, including a response from Frome Chamber of Commerce. Frome Town Council issued a statement on the decision here.

Mendip pauses Easthill

In November, Mendip District Council’s initiative to build social and affordable housing on land under its ownership progressed at three sites in Street and Glastonbury (see here). However, Mendip’s Cabinet agreed to ‘pause’ the sale of the site at Easthill, Frome, due to ecological concerns, and the pause was clarified in December here. This is after I and other Frome and Lib Dem councillors raised concerns and called in the sale of Easthill into Scrutiny Board, which unanimously agreed to ask Cabinet to reconsider its inclusion, and Cabinet agreed to reconsider and then to pause consideration of the site (as explained here). Easthill was also discussed at Frome Town Council meetings and December’s Full Council. The pause is ‘likely to be months rather than weeks, will enable the Council to identify and gather additional information, allow time for the commissioning of any reports, and the collation and publication of said reports.’ The decision will also not be taken behind closed doors. It is good to see the Scrutiny process working. Alternative approaches and sites for social housing are also being looked at.

Homelessness and rough sleepers

Mendip District Council’s housing team work to prioritise preventing homelessness, so if you or anyone you know is at risk of being homeless please contact the Housing Options team (see here). If you see or know of anyone who is sleeping rough, please do refer them to Streetlink so that the Council’s outreach team (Elim Connect) can establish contact with them – see here. During very cold nights the Council’s emergency accommodation is available in Wells and Frome – please see here. Mendip’s Lib Dems are committed to ending rough sleeping in Mendip and the next budget includes more money for temporary accommodation, investment in social housing and a rent deposit guarantee scheme to help homeless people secure permanent accommodation. 

Climate and energy action

Mendip residents have until 9th February to sign-up and switch energy providers, to help lower your energy bills. This year, for the first time, the Big Community Switch auction has the option of 100% renewable energy tariffs from wind, biomass and solar for electricity, at competitive market prices. Please see here.

With the lockdown and freezing weather outside, Mendip are encouraging all residents, particularly the most vulnerable, to pick up the phone to get free personal advice to keep their homes warm, reduce energy costs and save money, and to apply for the many grants and loans that are available – please see here for more. Mendip is also encouraging residents to get advice on getting rid of damp and mould here.

MDC has also selected a national consultancy to pursue energy investment opportunities to help support its climate emergency objectives. The next Cabinet meeting will also discuss scenarios to reduce climate changing emissions here, and the council is working on a plan for electric vehicle charging points in its car parks. In November, a climate emergency strategy was agreed (see here) by all Somerset’s principal councils.

Stronger Somerset bid moves forward

The Government has made it clear they want Somerset’s district and county councils to be replaced by one or more ‘unitary’ councils that cover both county and district functions (like in Wiltshire, and Bath & NE Somerset). In the autumn, Mendip and the other districts endorsed the ‘Stronger Somerset’ proposal which would see two new unitary councils created – East and West Somerset. Somerset County Council’s Conservative administration is promoting its ‘One Somerset’ plan. All of Somerset’s councils responded to an invitation from the Government to submit their business cases for change in November. The government will decide in the next few months how our local government will be reformed, and whether there will be local elections to Somerset County Council in May or not. Please see here for the Stronger Somerset proposals and here for news.

Other Mendip news

• Leader cllr Ros Wyke’s weekly columns, which appear in the Frome Standard, are all here: https://www.mendip.gov.uk/leaderscolumn;
• Supporting Somerset’s visitor economy here;
• A new service has been launched to make it easier for people with disabilities in Somerset to make their voices heard, the Disability Engagement Service here.

Mendip District Council meetings

Mendip Council meetings are all online at the moment. You can view the live stream of every meetings by clicking the relevant link and selecting ‘Watch on the web instead’. To speak at any meeting you need to register, please see here.

• The last Full Council meeting in December presented a review of the Safe and Healthy Homes policy, and a motion on supporting the Local Electricity Bill.
• Scrutiny Board on 25th January had presentations from Citizens Advice and Spark Somerset (to discuss how MDC’s funding helped their operations this year), and Somerset Waste Partnership, focusing on the rollout of Recycle More, as well as Covid-funding and budget reports, and reports from the Deprivation and Access working groups.
• The next Cabinet meeting on Monday 1st February here will discuss capital investment, the budget for the next financial year, and climate change emissions. Mendip’s part of the Council Tax will increase by less than the rate of inflation, by 1.7% this year.

Somerset County Council news:

• The latest Somerset-wide information on coronavirus can be found here, with the dashboard of data here.
• Please don’t drop your guard when vaccinated.
• Travel sensibly, if you have to, and find out which roads are being gritted by SCC.

Frome Town Council news:

• FTC’s work programme and budget for the year ahead – as well as looking after 65 acres of parks and open spaces, 7 play parks, and the Town Hall, a substantial portion of the budget will continue to be spent on supporting local communities and local organisations.
• Walking into Spring…
• Window Wanderland is back in February/March
• Temporary footpath and road closures, including at the Willow Vale railway underpass
• Free workshop to help Frome’s retailers, creators and makers thrive
• Volunteering in Frome

Several coronavirus claims made by MP are inaccurate

Our local MP has been found by an independent fact checking charity Full Fact to have made several inaccurate claims about coronavirus, in his recent letter in the Frome Times and online, when he set out his reasons for voting against the latest lockdown – see here.

Any Questions?

Please let me know if there is anything I have missed, or if you have any questions, by email to aomboyden@gmail.com or cllr.boyden@mendip.gov.uk and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

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