Council meetings you may be interested in: Mendip District Council’s Full Council meeting 6.30pm Monday 22 February: This will cover the Council’s capital investment, financial plan, annual budget and Council Tax setting, and a report on the Council’s climate and ecological action plan. We will also debate motions on Universal Basic Income, and using local planning policy and guidance to […]

On 22nd February, Mendip District Council is legally required to remove the concrete blocks it placed in two locations several years ago along Berkley Lane to the north of Frome under a Public Space Protection Order. The closure of the road to vehicles under the current PSPO did reduce flytipping in the area considerably (although […]

Several newspapers have recently published online and in print Somerton & Frome MP David Warburton’s long justification for his vote against the latest lockdown. However, a review by the fact checking charity Full Fact reveals that many of his claims about the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK are misleading and inaccurate. Their […]

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 […]

The Saxonvale planning application is coming to Mendip District Council’s Planning Board on Thursday 28th January at 6pm. This will be an online meeting. You can watch the live stream of the meeting by clicking this link and selecting ‘Watch on the web instead’.Details about how you could take part in the meeting are here. You can […]

Hello everyone, Things were very different this Christmas and New Year, but I hope you all had a good festive break, considering. Lockdown 3: Stay At Home As of 5th January, due to the national rise in Covid-19 cases which threatens to overwhelm the NHS, the Government has put England back in National Lockdown: ‘Stay […]

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 […]

During the District Council election in 2019, the Liberal Democrats campaigned on a platform of delivering more affordable and social housing in the district, in recognition of the vital role that good housing has in helping people lift themselves out of deprivation and poverty, and enabling young people to have the stability and security to […]

Hello everyone, This is to keep you informed of what is going on locally and at Mendip: Coronavirus: the Second Lockdown On 31st October the Prime Minister announced that due to the recent and predicted rises in Covid-19 cases, England will go into national restrictions (‘lockdown 2’) on Thursday 5th November until 2nd December, if […]

Like many people, I was appalled that last week Conservative MPs voted down a motion calling on the Government to continue funding free school meals over the school holidays in order to prevent over a million children going hungry during the Coronavirus pandemic. This Scrooge-like decision is at odds with their previous extension of free […]

The expansion of the Watsons Gym Equipment factory at the Commerce Park (planning application 2020/1009/FUL) was approved by Mendip District Council’s Planning Board at its meeting on Wednesday 21st October. Authority to permit was delegated to the planning case officer subject to the agreement of a Section 106 Agreement to secure compliance with the noise […]

I have written to our MP David Warburton to ask the following – ‘I would just like to know, if you can explain why you and other Conservative MPs chose to vote against the provision of free school meals over the next school holidays during the continued pandemic? This seems at odds with the previous […]

This week, at Mendip District’s Full Council meeting, Councillor Tom Ronan, Portfolio Holder for Strategic Policy and Climate Change provided an update on the progress being made to address the district’s climate emergency commitments. At the meeting, Cllr Ronan commented on the impact of COVID-19, “These really have been the most extraordinary six months of […]

Coronavirus: what you can and can’t do Government advice and the law governing what you can and cannot do was updated most recently on 22nd September to include a new ‘rule of six’ for social gatherings (outdoors or indoors). Please see general guidance here and the updated rules for dos and don’ts here. Somerset Coronavirus […]

We have just been informed that a Covid-19 mobile testing unit will be set up in Frome in the next few days. This will be in the car park next to the Cricket Club at the Old Showfield. Testing will start on Wednesday 23rd September and it should be there for six weeks. If you have […]

Plans to reform local government in Somerset have moved another step forward with the cross-party approval of Mendip District Council’s Scrutiny Committee on Monday 7th September. The plans would see Somerset’s district and county councils abolished, replacing them with new Eastern and Western Somerset Councils that would provide the vast majority of services to local […]

Government guidance: Government advice on the coronavirus pandemic remains here, and please see here for what we can and can’t do. Help is available: Anyone can call the Somerset Coronavirus support helpline 0300 790 6275 to seek help from our district and county councils on: personal care and support including delivery of food and prescriptions, homelessness, transport to […]

It looks like Mendip and the County Council are to be abolished and replaced by Unitary authority – the remaining question is whether it will be one Somerset or two? During the last 12 months, including during the pandemic, Somerset County Council has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money on staff and […]

Some residents have raised concerns about areas of grass not being cut. During the coronavirus restrictions, Mendip District Council cut back on the amount of grass cutting in areas under its management, including due to the need to keep maintenance teams safe. In April the council announced the resumption of grass cutting on large public […]

As part of the work of the Mendip Access & Parking Strategy, Mendip District Council wants to ask for your views on parking and access to the major settlements in the district. We need to understand residents’ and businesses’ needs and desires about what improvements are needed.  Please don’t forget that Mendip’s car parks are […]