I know people are fed up with the constant flytipping down Gypsy Lane outside Frome. I have asked Mendip District Council to take further action including to arrange a public meeting locally to try and solve the problem. You can help by: (1) reporting flytipping to Mendip on 0300 303 8588 to help catch the […]

Keep Frome Clean! Help clean up your part of Frome at this Saturday’s litter picks, 9th Nov 10.15am to 12 noon. HopeFrome and Friends of the River Frome have organised the next general Litter Pick on Saturday, 9 November 2013 from 10:30 – 12:00 noon. Meet at your chosen venue at 10:15am for a 10:30am start […]

Reasons to be cheerful… it’s soon #Frome SuperMarket, Artisan, Flea, Farmers & Peoples markets, Sunday 3rd Nov: http://www.fromesupermarket.co.uk/ What do you want to see happen in #Frome? Public consultation begins today on the draft Frome Neighbourhood Plan: http://www.frome-tc.gov.uk/neighbourhood-plan/ ‘Participate #Frome‘ week, to encourage all to have their say and get involved in projects across Frome: http://www.frome-tc.gov.uk/participate-frome/ […]

Somerset Waste Partnership recently released county-wide figures for flytipping in 2012/13, which show an 8.7% fall across Somerset compared to 2011/12. Mendip district saw a 4.3% fall. It is good to see a fall in flytipping, but of course the statistics released by SWP do not tell the whole story.   In April 2011, cuts to […]

My letter to local newspapers is below, Dear Editor, It has been two years now since Conservative run Somerset County Council cut the waste and recycling budget to such an extent that all household recycling centres were forced to close on 2 days and week and on Sunday afternoons, and new charges were introduced for […]

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Litter Pick at Stonebridge (and in other areas of town) on Saturday 9th March, organised by Dorothy-Anne Bryant of HopeFrome and Friends of the River Frome.  Frome’s Big Litter Pick is organised twice a year, in the spring and autumn by HopeFrome and Friends of the River Frome to […]

Here is our latest ‘Focus’ leaflet which highlights issues that I (as one of your Mendip District Councillors for Frome College ward) and Sam Phripp* and others have been working on – public transport, flytipping, county council spending and cuts, improvements to the old Showfield and other open spaces and playgrounds, supporting the Merlin Theatre, and other local issues. Please get in touch […]

This week’s Frome Times reports: ‘The problem of fly-tipping in Frome has been highlighted as part of a BBC documentary. BBC Inside Out West investigated the problems surrounding fly-tipping, showing Gypsy Lane in Frome as a hot-spot for dumping rubbish.Fly-tipping is the illegal act of leaving waste on public or private land. As part of […]

Please join volunteers from Frome churches for the litter pick hosted by HOPEFrome and Friends of the River Frome. This is a fun and satisfying way to get involved in clearing up our town and is open to all, including children (supervised by an adult) .  Meet at one of the venues at 10.15 for […]

Depsite a 9% drop nationally, Somerset saw a rise in flytipping incidents of over 50% in the year after Somerset’s ruling Conservatives cut the recycling budget, forcing recycling centres to close 2 and a half days a week and bringing in new charges to recycle some materials, and flytipping remains much higher than before. Last autumn, I and […]

1. One way people can help tackle flytipping is to report any incidents to Mendip District Council as soon as possible – report a description of the location, type of waste and any suspicious activity around the site, to Mendip District Council on 01749 648999. 2. Ensure that you only use licenced waste carriers to […]

See article in the Frome Times on my petition here – http://www.frometimes.co.uk/?p=2761: “An online petition has been launched in a bid to reinstate the opening hours of recycling centres across the county to help combat illegal fly-tipping. Mendip District Councillor for Frome College, cllr Adam Boyden, has set up the online petition. He hopes it will […]

Useful links to reports, news and views about flytipping and recycling and my and cllr Sam Phripp’s motion to Mendip’s full council in September …  Local news story about the motion debate: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Row-erupts-fly-tipping-claims/story-17033501-detail/story.html Support from David Heath MP for Somerton & Frome (also now Minister for Agriculture), critical of some Conservative councillors’ ‘deranged response’: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Deranged-response-fly-tipping-alarm/story-17032752-detail/story.html Somerset Waste Board’s meetings, agendas and reports: http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/council/meetings/results.asp?ccode=32 […]

In April 2011, as people will remember, Conservative-run Somerset County Council’s drastic cuts to their waste and recycling budget forced Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) to close all recycling centres in Somerset for 2 and a half days a week, bring in new charges for recycling some materials, and to charge for entry to Coleford’s and […]

Mendip District Council, Full Council meeting 27th September 2012: The following Motion was submitted by Councillors Adam Boyden and seconded by Councillor Sam Phripp: “Mendip District Council notes with concern that, since opening hours were cut and new charges introduced at household waste recycling centres across Somerset in April 2011, the number of flytipping incidents […]

My letter below appeared in the Frome Times on 17th July and in the Somerset Standard on 19th July: Dear Sirs, On Wednesday last week, the group of travellers living on the old Showfield left after two weeks, complying at last with the 2nd eviction notice served by Mendip District Council. I and the local residents […]

Soon after I wrote the original post yesterday, the travellers left the site during the afternoon, complying at last with the second notice served by Mendip District Council. I and local residents do appreciate the efforts of council officers and others to try and prevent the incursion and to make it as brief as possible. People […]

Here is our latest ‘Reporting back’ leaflet which highlights a few of the issues I have been working on, and which I will keep working on – Frome Market, open spaces and playgrounds, empty homes, flytipping, graffiti, speeding traffic, Frome Leisure Centre, supporting the Merlin Theatre and the arts in Frome, and future improvements to the Old Showfield.  Please […]

Dear Editor,   At last week’s Frome Town Council External Affairs Committee I was pleased to see councillors draw on local residents’ talents in drawing up a new strategy for improving Frome’s open spaces. I was able to report that Mendip District Council is also now drawing up its own Play Strategy, and I hope to help the two councils work together and with local residents to improve open spaces through targeted investment, joined […]

Dear Editor In response to former councillor Thierry Chessum’s letter last week, I also attended part of the county councillors’ meeting [the Transport, Traffic and You’ public workshop at The Assembly Rooms, organised by county cllrs Maggy Daniell, Alvin Horsfall and Peter John], and thought that the workshop was a good way of identifying people’s […]