Apologies for the radio silence, I have been taking some time off since my mother sadly passed away at the end of February, only a few weeks after I had moved her to Frome to be closer to me and my family here (and so she could experience the wonders of Frome and Somerset).

At the same time I have wanted time to grieve and recover, and to sort out Mum’s funeral and all the arrangements, while realising that keeping active and in touch, and just talking to friends, is really essential to maintain good mental health. If anyone else is experiencing grief, I would say reach out, talk to friends, seek help if you need it, and try and remember your favourite things. It has been a traumatic and sad time, but I will continue as one of your councillors as best I can. 

Road safety

I am supporting calls by Sarah Dyke MP and other councillors for Somerset Council’s highways team to take urgent action to reduce speeds and improve safety on the Frome Bypass and the A361/A362 junction, after another terrible tragic accident. The speeds that vehicles can travel on the long straight roads, difficulties in judging the speed of oncoming traffic, and the overall safety of the road and junction, need looking at carefully, but urgently. Somerset’s road safety team have also highlighted that the number of fatalities on our roads is at its highest since 2014, and that three quarters of collisions involve one of the ‘fatal five’ bad behaviours: drink driving or driving while on drugs, careless driving, excessive speed, mobile phone use, and failing to wear a seatbelt –  so if we all avoided these, that would help keep everyone safe (see Somerset Road Safety team’s website here).  

Big decisions

There will also be several big decisions that will affect our part of Somerset in the next few months. It looks likely that planning applications for Selwood Garden Community at the southern edge of town (for up to 1,700 new homes, employment sites, and other facilities), and Acorn’s resubmitted and revised plans for Saxonvale, could come to Somerset Council’s East Planning Committee, of which I am currently a member, in the next few months. The large solar farm proposed near Rode village should also be determined this week (see here, item 8). I only hope that the economic, community and environmental merits and impacts of each will be thoroughly examined, and the best decisions reached.

Saxonvale

Somerset Council is also exploring options for the future of the Saxonvale site, including by seeking bids (see here) from the current interested parties (Acorn and Mayday) or others, to buy the site, so that the successful bidder can proceed to develop the site (subject to planning) for housing, commercial and community uses. I understand that this will culminate in a decision by the Council’s Executive on which bidder to go with, in a public meeting in Frome this summer. This decision will be huge for Frome, and should finally lead to the site being transformed into a vibrant, high quality and sustainable place to live, work and play, so please stay informed and get involved.

Please do get in touch with me at adam.boyden@somerset.gov.uk if you need help with anything. 

Thanks, Adam

Spring Bank Holidays revise rubbish and recycling days:

The two bank holidays in May mean that there will be changes to waste collections at the beginning and end of the month. Next week there will be no collections on bank holiday Monday (6 May). Collections of recycling, rubbish and garden waste will be one day later than usual. If your recycling and/or rubbish is usually collected on a Monday (as in Frome), then it will be collected on a Tuesday, if your usual day is a Tuesday it will be collected on a Wednesday and so on. The same will happen at the end of the month following the bank holiday on Monday, 27 May.

All 16 recycling sites will be open as usual at weekends, 9am to 4pm. And, if opening on a Monday is part of their normal opening pattern, they will be open on both Bank Holiday Mondays (6 May and 27 May), from 9am to 6pm. For opening times and to find a full list of what can be recycled please see here.

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