I’ve just been doing some hunting round to work up a comparison of the Somerset districts basic Council Tax. The graph below includes the very significant County Council tax, the Police precept, the Fire and Rescue Service Precept and each District’s own Council Tax element. It does not include the local Parish or Town […]

  Last Friday (1st March) I had the honour of chairing the Council Tax Setting Committee of South Somerset District Council. This doesn’t happen often (indeed ever), but the Police were so late setting their budget that it wasn’t available at the normal Council Meeting. Hence my sitting on a sub-committee with 5 colleagues (in […]

There are measures in place to ensure that nobody is actually on the street and that every rough sleeper, once identified, is able to access some form of emergency provision, (although some rough sleepers may reject help offered). We have two specialist outreach workers; Sharon Woodsell, who can be contacted on 07918 088118 and Kerry […]

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have today released figures highlighting a dramatic increase in fly-tipping incidents in the South Somerset area during the 2011/12 period. Official statistics from the Government show that whilst nationally there had been an overall decline in fly-tipping (of around 9%), in South Somerset  fly-tipping increased a staggering 55% during the […]

It’s always been an anomaly that you couldn’t get a bus to work from Abbey Manor, and some time ago we started to negotiate for improvements. The County Council has been cutting buses (and plans more cuts) so in order to get the change SSDC worked with Brympton-based South West Coaches to establish a commercially […]

This week I’ll be going along to East Coker Parish Council to talk to them about Neighbourhood Plans. These were introduced so that communities could get together to make a formal plan to bring forward development (I chose those words carefully). In many cities, this will mean that neighbourhoods can make a start on regenerating […]

SSDC’s net revenue budget is £16,577,000, a cut of £768,400 (or 4.4%) from 2011/12. This has been achieved in the face of significant cost inflation (e.g. fuel) and without any significant loss of front-line services. The Council’s share of the total Council Tax (for a Band D property) will remain at £150.74; which is 10 % […]

This of you who know me will realise that, whilst I’m always the optimist, I never count my chickens until they have hatched. Somerset County Council has now  responded formally to the community petition collected by Mandy Boniface and many others. They have conceded that a crossing is needed here and are proceeding to the […]

As part of South Somerset DC’s drive to reduce back-office costs, we’re looking very carefully at our large mileage and fuel bills. The District is about 34 miles by about 13 miles and it’s very difficult for Council staff to do some jobs without travelling. People expect a planning application site to be seen, samples need […]

Saturday saw the official opening of the new parish allotments and the hand-over of responsibility for the 2 acre site to the Brympton Allotments Association. The project is almost starting with a waiting list. All the plots are taken, bar a couple of half-plots. Contact the Association if you are interested.