A mid/late May update is below, including items included in my reports to the Town and Parish Councils this month after my main May update: Waste collections next week: Don’t forget that waste and recycling collections will be delayed by a day next week due to Spring Bank Holiday Monday – see here. Packsaddle planning application: […]

Local Community Networks (LCNs) will be the focus for Somerset Council’s community engagement. They will be a conduit for sharing information with communities on the areas, topics, decision making that affect our daily lives. There are 18 LCNs being established across the County. LCNs will help Somerset Council understand evidence-based community priorities. They will bring partners and […]

There’s quite alot going on here at the moment so please bear with me: Bank Holiday bin collections: The week after the King’s coronation, there will be changes to our refuse and recycling collection days: No collections on Bank Holiday Monday, 8 May. Collections will be one day later for the rest of that week […]

Renewable energy developers ‘Low Carbon’ have started a public consultation into their emerging plans for a solar farm development, with battery storage, on 69 hectares of farmland adjacent to the A361, Bradford Road and Rode Hill to the east of Rode. The development would have the capacity to generate approximately 49.9 Megawatts (‘MW’) of renewable […]

Plans have been submitted for the development of 18 new low-carbon affordable homes on an apparently underused part of Somerset Council’s North Parade car park, comprising 9 houses and 9 flats. The scheme was initiated by Mendip District Council as part of the first social and affordable housing programme by a local council here for […]

I have always kept in touch with residents well via email newsletters and my website which has over 500 articles now (to subscribe or get in touch please email me), but I know councillors need to do more to be visible, available and there for you. So please do come and see me if you […]

Last year the fly nuisance suffered for years by residents around Wessex Water’s Frome Water Recycling Centre (the sewage works at Welshmill) was substantially reduced by Wessex Water’s installation of netting over the sewage filter beds, initially over half as a control study, and then across the whole site, with fly numbers reduced by around […]

A new Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Frome, which the Town Council adopted at its meeting on 19th April, could lead to improvements in walking and cycling routes, more pedestrian crossings, lower speed limits and more ‘low traffic neighbourhoods’. The complete plan can be seen here. The LCWIP has been led by Frome […]

New era at Somerset Council The main news this month is that 1st April was ‘vesting day’ for the new Somerset Council, a ‘unitary authority’ that has taken over all services from the district and county councils – please see here, including useful links the new website. That means no more Mendip District Council, or […]

An application has been submitted by one of the insurance companies for a neighbour of the small play park at Acacia Drive, to remove the two old Oak trees at the park, due to alleged impacts on the house. Both trees are legally protected by a Tree Preservation Order, and one is identified as a […]

The main news this month is that 1st April was ‘vesting day’ for the new Somerset Council, a ‘unitary authority’ that has taken over all services from the district and county councils. That means no more Mendip District Council, or Somerset County Council. 110 Somerset Councillors were elected as county councillors last May, with 61 […]

LiveWest have launched their much anticipated pre-application consultation on draft proposals for the development of the Packsaddle Fields site on Monday 20th March. LiveWest say they are looking to bring forward a planning application in the near future for 74 new homes, a residential facility for children with disabilities (to be managed by Somerset County […]

As I said in my newsletters, the Somerset Councils are consulting on a new Statement of Community Involvement, which sets out how Somerset Council will involve and consult local communities, organisations and others in the planning process, including in preparing planning policy documents and in determining planning applications, including how neighbours to a development site […]

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 1st April 2023) This was for Frome Town Council’s meeting (see here). Local Government Reorganisation The last few weeks have seen the final […]

County Councillor Reports for Norton St Philip, Rode and Beckington Parish Councils,  March 2023By Adam Boyden, Somerset County Councillor for Frome North 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. The new unitary Somerset Council will […]

Dear All, Apologies for the lateness of news this month, my broken wrist has slowed me down somewhat. The end of Mendip This evening sees the final ever ‘full council’ meeting of Mendip District Council, so it is quite a momentous occasion. Mendip District Council has been serving us since 1974 and will be abolished […]

Part of a councillor’s role is to attend Full Council and other meetings and serve on committees. Last May I was appointed Vice-Chair of the county council’s Scrutiny Committee for Environment and Climate Change, and in the past few months we have scrutinised the council’s policies and work on decarbonisation of buildings, electric vehicles, nature […]

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 below and links here https://www.somerset.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/cost-of-living-support-in-somerset/

Mendip and Somerset have marked a year since the Russian illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine last February- see here and here. Generous local residents have been hosting refugee families under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, since Russia’s invasion precipitated the largest refugee crisis since the second World War. Some 1417 Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed […]

Somerset County Council’s Full Council considered the new planning procedures for the new Somerset Council on Wednesday 22nd February, after the Constitution and Governance Committee had debated initial proposals on 30th January (see item 8) and revisions on 14th February (see here). The Planning Committees terms of reference are in Part D8 of the documents […]