County Councillor Report for Frome Town Council,  15 March 2023, by Adam Boyden, Somerset County Councillor for Frome North, Mendip District Councillor for Frome College ward (Somerset Councillor for Frome North from 1^st April 2023)

This was for Frome Town Council’s meeting (see here).

Local Government Reorganisation

The last few weeks have seen the final ever Full Council meetings of both Mendip District Council and Somerset County Council, quite historic events. Mendip District Council has been with us since 1974, Somerset County Council since 1889 – both will be abolished at the end of March along with the other three districts to make way for the new unitary Somerset Council which begins operation on vesting day 1st of April 2023. The 110 current Somerset County Councillors elected in May 2022 (including the six of us for Frome North, East and West) will form the new Somerset Council. An incredible amount of work continues behind the scenes to get everything in place.

There will be a single phone number and website for the new council to access all council services, to be announced just before Vesting Day. People will also still be able to access the new council’s services in person (and supported to access services online) at the Council Access Point in Frome Library.

Somerset CC approved the new Somerset Council’s budget, the “most difficult budget setting any of us can remember” – see https://somersetnewsroom.com/2023/02/22/budget-approved-for-new-somerset-council/ and further links here.

The new Constitution, the legal cornerstone of the new unitary council, was also approved. The ten-part document, over 500 pages, sets out the new council’s commitment to public participation in its meetings, makes sure that the council meets its legal duties and supports decision-making and governance – see here and here.

The new adopted Council Plan highlights four key priorities for Somerset Council: a Greener, More Sustainable Somerset; a Healthy and Caring Somerset; a Fairer, Ambitious Somerset; and a Flourishing and Resilient Somerset. A further Business Plan will be developed in the coming months. See here.

An expert team from the Local Government Association (LGA) has commended work to create a new unitary council, and concluded that ‘everything is in place to ensure that Somerset Council will be a safe and legally functioning body from day 1, assuming the current progress and leadership is maintained’ – see here.

A calendar of meetings, Committee places and membership of outside bodies were also agreed on 1^st March. I will sit on the Planning Committee for Somerset East (which takes over from the MDC Planning Board), and will Vice-Chair the Climate & Place Scrutiny Committee.

Consultation on planning consultations

Reminder: The consultation on the new Statement of Community Involvement – how Somerset Council will involve and consult local communities in preparing planning policy documents and in determining planning applications – runs until the end of 16th March – please see https://somerset.inconsult.uk/sci/consultationHome.

New planning arrangements

The new planning arrangements involve one Strategic Planning Committee and four area-based Planning Committees (Somerset East will cover the Mendip district). Several issues were raised with the initial proposals at meetings of the Constitution & Governance Committee, but were all addressed in the final agreed proposals, see here for details.

Mendip’s Planning Board meets two more times – tonight Weds 15^th March and on Weds 29^th March (see here).

Local Community Networks

The Terms of Reference for the 18 new Local Community Networks were also agreed – see here and here. A parish (/Town) councillor from each of the Frome LCN’s 18 parishes will be members, along with the Somerset Councillors for divisions in the LCN (Frome East, West and North, Mendip Central & East, and Mendip South), and other specified organisations listed (which can be added to). The next and final meeting of the pilot Frome LCN on 28^th March will be important.

The end of Mendip

Mendip’s last Full Council meeting on 27^th Feb included a final update from Leader Ros Wyke and reflections from the Chair of Mendip Helen Sprawson-White, who has been a councillor for 16 years. It had an update on progress on climate and ecology, a report on mental health champions, and also passed a motion to support Proportional Representation for general and local elections (amended to include opposition to the Government’s new voter Id law), with support from a majority (Lib Dems, Greens and independents) of councillors – see here.

Mendip’s final Cabinet meeting on 6^th March saw a report on air quality, noted the strong financial position Mendip has been in, moved some reserves into active travel funding for multi-user paths (amongst other things), had a full report on performance on council objectives, and agreed to apply for a grant from Government to purchase or refurbish accommodation for resettled Ukrainian and Afghan refugees; see here.

Parks and Recreation

Thank you for supporting the spending of Section 106 agreement funds from local developments on improving two playgrounds in Stonebridge (Hawksworth Close and Blackbird Way) despite some concerns, as this will really benefit local children, see here. We await the date for when the improvements will start. I will also be supporting FTC’s refresh of the Old Showfield play area using Section 106 funds.

A few weeks ago a Mendip District Council Panel approved an application by the residents group People for Packsaddle to list the Packsaddle Fields site as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), as the primary use of the land is the informal recreational use of green space by the local community. This has some implications for any future land sale or planning application for development. I advised the group to gather information form local residents on their actual use of the land, and supported the application – see here.

The Packsaddle Fields site together with Selwood Crescent green are also now officially identified as open spaces in the Mendip District Council Open Space Audit, after so many residents responded to the consultation. The update to the audit was presented to Mendip’s Cabinet on 6th February (see item 8 appendices 2 and 3 here).

Environment Scrutiny

The Environment Scrutiny Committee on 28th February considered an update on the flexible plastic recycling pilot project, work towards a Local Energy Plan for Somerset, and governance of the work to address the climate emergency – see reports here.

The next meeting on 29^th March will scrutinise a Tree Strategy for Somerset and the Nutrients Management (phosphates) task & finish group’s early findings. A ‘climate actions tracker’ is being put together to combine the actions from the County, Mendip (including the Scrutiny Climate and Ecological Emergency Working Group’s work) and the three other district councils, and should be coming to the Climate & Place Scrutiny Committee in May.

Mendip Chair funds talking benches

Mendip District Council are installing new ‘Talking Benches’ to encourage people to sit, share and connect with each other, including two in Frome, paid for by the Chair’s Fund (cllr Helen Sprawson-White), to help the mental health and wellbeing of residents – see here.

Silent crossings

Earlier this year SCC replaced the pedestrian crossing traffic signals in the town centre, at the Vine Tree crossroads and elsewhere as part of a county programme (see here). Concerns were raised by some residents about the lack of audible signal. The Road Safety Team pointed out that ‘tactile cones’ are in place under and to the right of the push buttons, which vibrate when the ‘green man’ is lit, so people touching them will know it is safe.

SCC have moved away from the audible system partly due to concerns over noise pollution. The use of tactile cones has been around for some time, and groups such as the RNIB are aware of their application, and have promoted their use on social media.  

Active Travel (walking and cycling)

Mendip District Council has just opened another new section of The Strawberry Line at the Shape Mendip Campus in Shepton Mallet – see here.

Somerset County Council has just been awarded more than £410k from Active Travel England’s Capability and Ambition Fund, to support its aim of making streets more cycling, walking and wheeling-friendly. The funds will be used to support capacity building and behaviour change, see here.

SCC is starting to prepare its Local Transport Plan (LTP), and is encouraging people to feed back ideas and concerns on transport in rural communities – see here.

SCC’s Place Scrutiny Committee also recently considered how the County Council can promote active travel, including through local cycling and walking improvement plans (LCWIPs), promoting Frome as an Active Travel Town, and bids for Government funding. LCWIPs currently being prepared in Frome and Beckington will form part of the LTP – see here. I look forward to being able to help publicise the Frome LCWIP when it goes public (comments on the document to follow separately).

Residents in Fromefield will welcome any plan to lower the speed limit to 20mph there. SCC speed monitoring in Fromefield in January showed existing average speeds are over 24 miles an hour, so some form of physical intervention may be needed to achieve a 20mph limit. SCC councillors are having a briefing on 20mph limits soon, which will inform the way forward.

On the buses

It is good to see the extension of the Bus Recovery Grant for another six months, which helps SCC secure the D2 Frome-Bath evening and Sunday services, and Frome 30 service, and an extension to SCC’s £2 bus fare scheme, and the new fast D2X bus service and extended D2 services from April.

Cancellations and disruption to timetables hitting bus routes have been flagged with the region’s main operator by SCC’s Executive Lead for Transport cllr Mike Rigby – see here.

Street lighting

Work is underway to replace conventional street lighting with more energy efficient LED equipment across key towns – see here.

The faulty lighting at the A361 Berkley roundabout is due to an electrical supply fault on SSEN’s network, and is to be repaired by SSEN in the evening of Thursday 16^th March.  

Cost of living help

A new leaflet has been produced by the Somerset councils to help people find help with the cost of living and direct people to sources of advice – please see here. Let me know if you would like some to distribute locally.

Increasing Citizens Advice services

A Key Decision has been taken by the SCC Executive Lead Member for Public Health, Equalities and Diversity (cllr Adam Dance) to increase funding for Citizens Advice services in response to Cost of Living Crisis, by approving a grant of approximately £199,000 from the Government’s Covid Clinically Extremely Vulnerable funding. This will support a fixed term advice response team through Somerset’s five local Citizens Advice branches, operating at community level with extended opening hours to offer evening access; see  here.

Acquiring Homes for Looked After Children

A Key Decision has been made by the SCC Executive Lead Members for Children and Families (cllr Tessa Munt) and for Development and Assets (cllr Ros Wyke), to pursue the purchase of suitable children’s homes across the county for children looked after by the Council as their Corporate Parent, up to a value of £3.4m. The Council currently purchases a large number of placements from external providers, so the development of an in-house estate aims to increase the capacity to provide local homes and better outcomes for looked after children, reduce reliance on external (sometimes distant) provision, and provide value for money: see here.  

Turning empty properties into homes

Mendip DC has been working with social enterprise Lendology to help turn vacant properties into rental or homes for owners to sell or occupy, by making low-interest council-funded loans of up to £25,000 available to help owners make renovations or repairs – see here.

Supporting refugees

Somerset County and Mendip District Councils marked a year since Russia’s brutal invasion and called for more sponsors to come forward under the Homes for Ukraine scheme – here and here. Some 1,417 Ukrainian guests have arrived safely in Somerset through the Homes for Ukraine scheme, with 745 Somerset hosts. There are also currently 6 resettled Afghan families in the SCC area, evacuated in 2021. SCC has pledged to support another 10 families in the next 14 months.

Homes are now needed for moving refugees into private accommodation. Landlords could receive a one-off payment of up to £4000 by providing a home for a Ukrainian family – see here. Any private landlords who have vacant, or soon-to-be vacant, properties for rent, are encouraged to contact housing.admin@mendip.gov.uk. Please see www.somerset.gov.uk/Ukraine about support. I met with Town Council, SCC’s resettlement officers and Mendip’s housing officers about the potential to offer rent guarantees, and this is being discussed at SCC. I also attended the Ukrainian cultural awareness session in the Library last month.

SCC’s Executive meeting on 15^th March is considering allowing the District Councils to enter into agreements with the Government and using Government funding to obtain and refurbish 31 properties to deliver additional housing in support of the Ukrainian and Afghan refugee resettlement schemes, for those unable to secure their own accommodation – see item 7 here.

Debate Not Hate

The new council will take a zero-tolerance approach to any abuse of councillors or officers, and has pledged to uphold exemplary standards of public and political debate: here.

In other news

For other Mendip District and Somerset County Council news please see https://www.mendip.gov.uk/news, https://somersetnewsroom.com/ and https://newsomersetcouncil.org.uk/news/

There is a lot more going on of course. Do let me know if there is anything I can help with or if you have any queries.

Best wishes,

Adam

Adam Boyden

Somerset County Councillor for Frome North division, Mendip District Councillor for Frome College ward (Liberal Democrat)
Mobile: 07809 284817
Email: adam.boyden@somerset.gov.uk
Web: newsletters and articles at: https://adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk/

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