County Councillor Report for Rode Parish Council meeting, 7 February 2023 by
Adam Boyden, Somerset County Councillor for Frome North (Lib Dem)

Rode roads

In mid January I heard back from Somerset County Council’s service manager for engineering projects and programmes, she said they have a solution for the new sign at the Rode H/ Bradford Rd crossroads which was proving difficult to position on the Bradford Rd approach, to finalise the Small Improvement Scheme there. The plan is being updated and we will receive a copy as soon as it has been signed off.

The Traffic Engineer (East Mendip) reports that the Glasdon gates, village name plates and terminal signs, the TRO for the 30mph extension and the 20mph speed limit, are all on track. The public consultation should begin in the next few weeks. Please let us know if there are any current concerns.

Gritting

In December I raised the concern about parts of the D2 bus route in and around Rode (and Beckington and parts of Frome) not being in the precautionary gritting network (Gritting – Travel Somerset) with Somerset County Council’s Service Manager for Highways. He agreed to review the potential for including the whole D2 route into the programme as a principal public transport route under the county councils criteria, in the Spring as part of the annual review of the gritting network.

I did have some success in persuading the County Council to add part of the D2 bus route – Frome Road and Bath Road to and from Beckington – this winter, after residents sent me testimonies about several road accidents and near misses, a school bus full of pupils skidding and nearly coming off the road, and bus passengers being stranded waiting for the bus or having to walk along the busy hazardous A36 which the buses got diverted onto.

If the review of the D2 route is not successful this year, there may be a potential for parish councils to buy additional roads that do not meet SCC criteria into the countywide gritting service next winter through an arrangement that are yet to be made. Please let me know if you could be interested, and which routes in the parish you might be interested in including.

Citizens Advice Mendip needs new volunteers

Citizens Advice Mendip is now looking to recruit new volunteers to help people struggling with problems ranging from benefits and tax credits, debt and Universal Credit to housing. Last year saw an unprecedented demand for its services from over 3,600 people with more than 16,000 problems across the District. It can only do this work thanks to its 44-strong team of volunteers. The charity is looking mainly for volunteer Advisers to handle incoming calls on its Adviceline. No experience is necessary as full training will be provided, but basic IT skills are essential. Above all it requires a non-judgemental attitude and a desire to empower local people who need help. Trainee volunteers will be expected to successfully complete self-study modules, supplemented by online sessions with a supervisor, and to commit to a minimum of two half-day sessions a week. To find out more and apply people should visit https://www.citizensadvicemendip.org.uk/Volunteering.html and the charity will be in touch to talk about next steps.

Somerset’s local government reorganisation and budget consultation

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) work has reached a crescendo as all district and county services and staff teams have to be combined into a new functioning Somerset Council for Vesting Day, 1^st April 2023. There are meetings galore on the new arrangements including the Constitution and Governance Committee, Scrutiny for Policies and Places, then Executive and finally Full Council on 22^nd February.

At the same time, the new council budget has been drawn up (see here), to protect and improve public services, but has been more challenging than usual due to high inflation and the rising demand for care services after the pandemic, as well as the challenges and opportunities of LGR. A public consultation on the budget runs until 10^th February – please see https://somerset.inconsult.uk/budget/consultationHome to find out more and have your say. The new Council Plan also sets out clear priorities against which the council will be judged in coming years.

Local Community Networks

The formation of 18 new ‘Local Community Networks’ aims to disperse power away from the new larger council. The terms of reference and LCN boundaries were set out at Constitution and Governance Committee CGC on Monday 30th January (see item 9 reports here) after a public consultation last year – all the parishes around Frome including Berkley (see list below) are in the ‘Frome LCN’. The next CGC meeting on 14th of February (see here) includes of review of the full constitution of the new council, and LCNs arrangements are set out in section E 5.

These will initially not be formal committees of the council but will be advisory, making recommendations to the Executive and others, which could make them less formal and more engaging. Either the Chair or Vice-chair will be a Somerset Councillor, and the other could be a parish councillor or other local stakeholder. Developing the current ‘pilot’ Frome LCN into an effective and engaging partnership with local people, parish councils and other local organisations to achieve positive local outcomes across all issues is the aim. The next Frome pilot LCN meeting is on Thursday 9th February at 7pm in Frome Town Hall.

Planning arrangements for the new council

Item 8 at SCC’s CGC meeting on 30^th January on the proposed new planning arrangements for the new council (see report and Appendix 2 here) announced Area Subcommittees for each district area – Somerset East (Mendip), South (South Somerset), West (Somerset West & Taunton) and North (Sedgemoor) – and a county-wide Strategic Planning Committee. The proposals raised a few concerns, including that any decisions on major developments at the Area Subcommittees that are contrary to officer recommendations would be automatically referred up to (and reheard at) the Strategic Planning Committee. So the paper was revised and brought back to the next C&G Committee on 14th February (see here).

Currently, minerals and waste applications are determined by the central Regulation Committee, but it is proposed that these are decided first by the area committees and then referred to Strategic Planning Committee under certain circumstances to help ensure that decisions are consistent under the countywide Minerals and Waste Local Plan.

The Area Subcommittees have been renamed as Area planning Committees, and the previous automatic referral system has been removed. How much time is allowed for public speakers on each application remains to be debated and decided. I was happy that concerns raised on the 30th of January have largely been addressed, although some further tweaks may still be needed to the system.

Consultation on Somerset’s Statement of Community Involvement

The Somerset Councils are now also currently consulting on a new Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) for the whole of Somerset, until 16^th March 2023. The new SCI sets out how Somerset Council will involve and consult local communities, organisations and other interested parties in the planning process, including in preparing future planning policy documents such as a county-wide Local Plan, and in determining planning applications for new development. To view and comment on the document please visit https://somerset.inconsult.uk/sci/consultationHome

Other county news

Other SCC news including on the domestic abuse service support for young people, a recruitment campaign for social care workers, improvements in SEND services, smoking in pregnancy, a business mentoring campaign, fostering, helping patients leave hospital, and the council’s new branding, can be found at https://somersetnewsroom.com/category/press-releases/  

Best wishes,

Adam Boyden

Somerset County Councillor for Frome North and
Mendip District Councillor for Frome College ward

Mobile: 07809 284817

Email: adam.boyden@somerset.gov.uk

Web: https://adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk/

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