Frome Councillors – Their first three months

FROME councillors, elected onto Somerset County Council in May have now been in place for three months. How are they getting on and what are their plans? They have taken time out of their busy schedules to share their thoughts about the changes taking place concerning the town and its people; and give an update on their activities.

Councillor Adam Boyden, Frome North, Liberal Democrat

Every election is determined by the people who show up, and on 5th May, 43 per cent of the electorate voted, and I had the honour of being elected as one of your two Somerset County Councillors for Frome North division.

Thanks to everyone for your help. The council now has 110 councillors in 55 divisions, so the three Frome divisions have a total of six county councillors.

Due to the support across Somerset, I am also part of the new Liberal Democrat administration, now running the County Council.

Bill Revans was elected leader, Liz Leyshon is deputy leader and Sarah Dyke (Lib Dem prospective parliamentary by-election candidate for Somerton & Frome) is the lead for Environment and Climate Change.

Until April, I am also a Mendip District Councillor for Frome College ward, and am a member of Mendip’s Planning Board and Scrutiny Board, amongst other things.

I hope to work positively with other Mendip district councillors, the town council and with fellow county councillor for Frome North, Dawn Denton.

Our first full council meeting was in late May, when nearly all 110 county councillors met near Bridgwater, as County Hall in Taunton is now too small.

Bill Revans was elected leader of the county council, and a new executive committee of 10 councillors was formed.  Bill used his maiden speech to outline a few priorities.

This will be a listening council, with a positive relationship with all Somerset residents.

The biggest priority and challenge will be to ‘get Unitary done’, as this has a strict deadline of next April when the new Somerset Council must be formed, taking all county and district services into one unitary authority (as the Government has required us to, despite local residents voting for two).

We will disperse power, including by developing the Local Community Networks (LCNs), to give local residents and parish and town councils a genuine role in how the new council will operate locally.

Frome has hosted one of the pilot LCNs, focusing on children, families and young people, up to now. Proposals for the future of the LCNs will be formed and consulted on over the next few months.

A lot of people are struggling with energy bills and the costs of living – Somerset residents who are struggling could be eligible for support with the cost of food, energy, water, and other essentials over the coming months under the Household Support Fund via Somerset County Council.

SCC and Mendip as well as Frome Town Council are all looking into what more they can do to help.

The bad news is that the County Council has a larger financial challenge than expected – officers had previously identified the need to make £28million of savings for the new council, but inflation and demand for services have increased that budget gap to £44million.

Good financial management and monitoring has identified the potential overspend early but the new budget will be challenging, and the Government has not provided any funding for the local government reorganisation it requires.

I know many people in Frome are concerned about climate change and other environmental issues.

The new Lib Dem council will aim to make Somerset an exemplar council on climate and environment policy, and this is why we have established a new Scrutiny Committee for Environment policy, of which I will be vice-chair.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the various environmental policies of the five councils can be joined up and improved upon.

Locally, I am busy picking up on issues in a wider area and on ‘county issues’, have been attending county, district, town and parish council meetings galore, and discussing concerns and ideas with residents as usual.

In Frome, this includes:

• Road safety at the Bath Road/Oldford Hill crossroads which our predecessor’s improvement scheme hopes to address (look out for the 12-day road closure in early August).
• Joining the Community Speedwatch team.
• Looking into a potential 20 mph zone for Fromefield (and around Frome College during rush hours).
• Education.
• Helping end the fly nuisance around Frome sewage works.
• Responding to planning applications.
• Encouraging the transfer of more open spaces from Mendip to the town council

But I really want hear from anyone with a concern or with a good idea.

Contact me by emailing adam.boyden@somerset.gov.uk, or sign up for email alerts at www.adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk

Councillor Michael Dunk, Frome West, Green Party

Firstly, I must thank all those in Frome who asked me to represent them at the recent election, I will do my best to get the views of Frome residents heard at County and then Unitary level. It’s early days and I’m still getting used to the way things work at Somerset County Council and as a Mendip District Councillor.

I am still dealing with casework and trying to see what can be achieved in the remaining period that’s left.

There are only five Green Party councillors at SCC so it is clearly difficult for us to set the agenda for the existing council or the new unitary Somerset Council, but hopefully we will be working with the Lib Dem administration to tackle some of the issues facing the residents of Somerset.

I have been given a seat on the Regulation Committee, which is not due to meet until September; one of the applications that may be on the agenda is the planned expansion of quarries near Frome.

At MDC I already sit on the Scrutiny & Licensing Boards, the Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) Joint Scrutiny Panel and the Scrutiny Climate & Ecological Emergency Group (SCEEG).

The last one looks at ways in which the council can make an impact to reduce carbon emissions in Mendip and what we can do to prevent the growing loss of species and biodiversity.

Councils all over the country have declared Climate and Ecological Emergencies and although there are clearly other important areas of work, we must somehow prioritise these emergencies otherwise future generations will not have a future.

I hope that SCC and then the new unitary will work to retrofit homes, starting with those in most need who will suffer disproportionally from the increasing energy prices, the numbers of those considered to be in ‘Fuel Poverty’ is set to increase dramatically.

Unfortunately, the Government funding available to councils for crucial work like this is not sufficient so that needs to change and quickly.

Looking ahead, the Somerset Council will have a larger portfolio of land and property and wherever possible land should be used to grow food, increase biodiversity and produce renewable energy.

The council should also be looking into the possibilities of building social housing on its own land to help mitigate the housing crisis that we certainly have here in Frome and throughout much of Somerset.

This is already happening on a small scale in Mendip; the council do not have to charge the inflated market rate for a plot enabling developers to build much needed but less profitable social housing.

I would like to talk about the pressure to build housing on good quality farming land around Frome, it is a conflict between the Government generated housing targets we have to meet and the need to keep farmland to produce food and to protect our ecology and our landscape.

Maybe this is a topic I can expand on another time.

I hope that I and my colleagues will be able to encourage strong links between Frome and the new Somerset Council, together I think we can do a lot more locally to help all our residents enjoy a better quality of life.

Councillor Dawn Denton, Frome North, Conservative

I grew up in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. I saw the horrors of apartheid and my teenage self wanted to make a difference.

The diplomatic service was in my sights, but in the 1980s, a girl needed typing as a subject at school to work in Government. That dream was sadly pushed to the back, and I focused on a life in sport and education.

After completing my second degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and being inspired at the Frome Engaging Women event in February this year, I decided to take the step. It felt like the time was right, and my feet have not touched the ground since – but I am loving it. Feelings of overwhelm, excitement and pride touch me every day.

The ‘machine’ that makes thing happen in our everyday lives, is vast and detailed.

There are 110 County Councillors and over 3,000 staff members at County Hall, so there are a lot of people to meet, learn from and engage with.

The first full council meeting was like the first day at a new school.

There are two sides to the role of a county councillor.

The first is to represent my area (Frome North) in the county chamber and on committees (I am also on the Scrutiny Committee for Adult Wellbeing and Social Care).

The decisions we make and how we cast our votes, takes the council in a certain way.

This has involved on a lot of teams events to meet the different departments and ask questions about processes.

My calendar has sometimes had up to three sessions per day. Thankfully this is calming down now.

The second is to support the community in Frome North.  My job is to connect them with the right people, raise their issues with the county council staff, and to put their concerns into proposals, plans, and strategies as possible solutions.

This involves regular council meetings in Frome, and parish meetings in the villages (Rode, Beckington, Berkley and Norton St Philip).

At these meetings I give a report of things the county council and I are working on, and find out what they, as a community are doing, and if I can support them.

Then there is my email inbox – this is where I spend a lot of time.

I reply to the public with information and support, work with my colleagues, and review press releases, proposals and reports.

I also set up meetings with community groups and organisations, so I can learn more about the amazing work that is already happening in and around Frome and across Somerset.

My hope for the new unitary council which comes into being 1st April 2023 is:

• The systems are in place for a seamless transition.
• The Local Community Networks are making a difference.
• Finances at the council are under control (there is already a £14 million deficit for 2022).
• Our communities are flourishing.
• Services are easily accessible.

My motto for the next five years is ‘Community, Climate and Common Sense’.

If everything I do ticks one or more of those boxes, then I know I am on the right track.

Email Cllr Denton at dawndentonfrome@gmail.com  • Facebook: Cllr Dawn Denton – Frome North • Podcast on Spotify, Amazon, Apple and more: Community. Climate. Common Sense. • Diary of a Councillor blog: https://dawndenton. wordpress.com/

Councillor Helen Kay, Frome East, Green Party

It’s been a rollercoaster since being elected a Somerset county councillor.

SCC officers devised a terrific induction programme with sessions most days from mid-May until end July to explain the complex work they do. I’ve managed to attend about half of them, and the others are available online to catch up.

So hopefully in future I can signpost residents’ enquiries, understand policies, and the financial implications of services we provide.

Meanwhile my work at Mendip District Council continues to be busy on the planning front. Keyford ward is the largest electorally in Mendip mainly due to housing developments over the last 20 years – and so it continues to grow.

As well as being on Mendip Planning Board, I’ve been working to get the best outcomes possible for new housing estates in Keyford south of the Mount, with the least possible damage to our environment.

Sadly, these are inevitable as the decision to build here was taken by previous administrations.

Back at SCC I’ve volunteered to be a substitute for the Regulation Committee which deals with planning applications for major infrastructure projects, mineral extraction and waste disposal, thus building on my planning experience at Mendip.

I will also be keeping a close eye on how the unitary authority intends to reorganise the development planning function.

It’s likely we will stagger on with our Mendip ‘Local Plan’ and a local committee for three or more years until its updated along with the other districts’ local plans, and all brought under one Somerset umbrella.

The upside is that it’s an opportunity to influence more progressive planning policies, like requiring developers to design houses that stay cool in our increasingly hot summers!

I’m also pleased to be on the new Constitution and Governance committee. It’s overseeing the development of the new constitution for the unitary authority starting in April 2023.

Although this sounds very dry, it’s the committee that decides exactly how the new Local Community Networks will operate and could be key to ensuring local people have a local voice.

As part of my own research I’ve attended a couple of local area board meetings in Wiltshire which so far has revealed a mixed picture of how ‘localism’ can work in a unitary council.

The SCC division of Frome East that I represent along with cllr Shane Collins, is also the third largest electorally in Somerset and much larger than our Mendip ward.

I’ve yet to grasp all the issues in the rural hinterland extending to the Wiltshire border, where SCC might have a role to play but I do know there’s pressure for housing developments in Selwood parish; plus other issues like poor bus services, farming practices etc.

Shane and I are on a steep learning curve and we will probably divide up the work so it’s manageable.

Lastly, may I take this opportunity to say Thank You to everyone who voted for us. It’s a big responsibility but someone has to do it.

Councillor Martin Dimery, Frome West, Green Party Group Leader – Green Party

I’m delighted to have been asked to continue as group leader of the newly expanded Green Party group on Somerset County Council.

In addition, I’ve been appointed chair of the Environment and Climate Change Scrutiny committee, which looks at the authority’s environmental initiatives and attempts to come up with positive suggestions.

This is a difficult year with many colleagues also involved in district council work before they amalgamate into one unitary council next year.

Much of what we are dealing with are ongoing issues like planning on Saxonvale and Selwood Garden Community.

I’m very preoccupied with trying to ensure the Taunton-based council continues to support Local Community Networks and Area Planning Boards, so that we can see more decisions being made by local councillors in Frome.

It’s been a fairly frantic start, with a lot of training., but I’m optimistic we’ll transition into a single council effectively next year.