Parish Council Vacancy
For more details and an application form please
visit our Co-option page
Wanted – cleaner for the public toilets
WANTED!
CLEANER FOR THE
PUBLIC TOILETS
Main duties:
- Open and close the toilets every day
- Clean the toilets daily
The post is ideally suited to someone living locally who can reliably visit a couple of times a day, 30-40 minutes per day. All necessary equipment and products provided. Job sharers welcome!
Pay – £320 per month.
For further details see the full job description page or please contact Caro at the Parish Office (733779) or by e-mail to: clerk@netherstowey-pc.gov.uk. Deadline for applications: noon on Tuesday 9 April.
New Councillors
The Parish Council are delighted to welcome two new members to the Council. Ella Williams was co-opted at the February meeting and Lou Brett at the meeting in March.
Sadly we also say goodbye to Cllr Stephen Bradford as he and Nicki are moving away soon. The Chairman thanked him for his work with the Council over the last year.
Steve’s departure leaves another vacancy, which we hope to have authority to fill in May. If you would be interested in joining the Council, please find more information on the Vacancies and Co-option page, or chat to a Councillor or call in at the Parish Office.
A full list of current Councillors is available here.
Why not learn to play Dungeons and Dragons?!
Introductory sessions at the Thomas Poole Library in February and March.
No experience necessary, new players welcome!
All equipment and instructions provided.
Ages 8 and over.
Cllr Penny Everett
We are deeply sad to announce the death of Cllr Penny Everett on 18 January. Penny was co-opted to the Parish Council in March 2022 and brought with her a wealth of previous experience as a Councillor from her previous home. Her wisdom, willingness and common sense approach was invaluable and we will miss her very much.
Public Footpath Diversion – Cricketer Farm
Footpath BW 22/19 (part) and BW 22/21 (part) in the Parish of Nether Stowey
On 17 November 2023 Somerset Council confirmed the above order made under section 257 Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
The effect of the order as confirmed is to divert:
- Part of footpath BW 22/19 in the parish of Nether Stowey starting from the junction with BW 22/18 at OS grid reference ST 19472, 39764 (point A) and running in a generally easterly direction for approximately 65 metres to the junction with BW 22/21 (point B on the order plan) TO a route which starts from the junction with BW 22/18 at OS grid ref ST 19472 39764 (point A) and runs in a generally northerly direction for approximately 78 metres to OS grid ref ST 19490 39831 (point E) and then in a generally easterly direction for approximately 166 metres to OS grid ref ST 19649 39798 (point F) as shown on the order map. The width is 2 metres.
- Part of Footpath BW 22/21 in the parish of Nether Stowey starting from it’s junction with the A39 (point K) and running in a generally northerly and then easterly and then northerly direction for approximately 281 metres to OS grid reference ST19657 39798 (point D) TO a route starting from OS grid ref ST 19534 39608 (point K) and runs in a generally north easterly direction for approximately 79 metres to OS grid ref ST 19575 39675 (point J) and then in a generally easterly direction for 59 metres to OS grid ref 19631 39668 (point I) and then curves to the north east and then runs north for approximately 98 metres to OS grid ref ST 19647 39739 (point H) and then runs east for approx. 10 metres to OS grid ref ST 19655 39739 (point G) and then runs in a generally northerly direction for approximately 70 metres to OS grid ref ST 19649 39798 (point F) and then in a generally easterly direction for approximately 8 metres to OS grid ref ST 19657 39798 (point D) as shown on the order map. The width is 2 metres.
A copy of the order as confirmed and the order map have been placed and may be seen free of charge by appointment (Tel: 01823 359 520) at Somerset Council, County Hall, The Crescent, Taunton, TA1 4DY from 9.00am until 3.00pm Monday to Friday. Copies can also be obtained there free of charge or by contacting rightsofway@somerset.gov.uk. It is also available from the Parish Office, Nether Stowey or from the link here
The order comes into force on the date on which Somerset Council certify that the terms of Article 2 of the order have been complied with, but if a person aggrieved by the order wants to question its validity, or that of any provision contained in it, on the ground that it is not within the powers of the above Act, or on the ground that any requirement of the Act, or of any regulation made under it has not been complied with in relation to the order, he or she may, apply to the High Court for any of the purposes under section 287 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 within six weeks of the date on which notice is first published as required by paragraph 7 of Schedule 14 to that Act.
19 December 2023
Andrew Turner – Strategic Manager – Highway Operations
Economic and Community Infrastructure , County Hall, Taunton TA1 4DY
Make your Christmas green – recycle your tree
With the festive season in full swing, Somerset Council is reminding everyone to put recycling the Christmas tree onto their list.
The best option is to compost it at home or turn it into a wildlife corner, though we appreciate that will not be possible for many people.
Garden Waste Service subscribers can leave their decoration-free tree out with their first collection of the year, so long as its smaller than 2 metres (or 6ft). The service will resume from Monday 8 January.
Trees will not be collected from the kerbside unless you subscribe to the Garden Waste Service.
Many charities, community organisations and groups are running tree collection or drop-off services, raising money for good causes. These include St Margarets Hospice and Dorothy House Hospice Care. Please check online for details.
Trees can also be taken to any of Somerset’s recycling sites and put it in the garden waste skip.
Recycling sites will be closed on Bank Holidays but will be open for their usual hours at other times, check online for details: www.somerset.gov.uk/waste.
Cllr Dixie Darch Executive Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change said:
“Although there’s festivities still to come, don’t forget to plan what to do with your tree following the seasonal celebrations.
“I’d encourage residents to think green and make sure that Christmas trees are sustainably disposed of, contributing to making Somerset a greener, more sustainable county”.
When it comes to the environmentally friendly choice, the Carbon Trust say that having a real tree rather than a plastic one is often better (depending on where and how it was grown). To even out the carbon used to produce a fake tree, it would need to be used for at least 10 years.
Plastic Christmas trees cannot be recycled. Consider giving unwanted fake trees to charity or offer them up on a reuse platform such as Freegle or Gumtree.
Any fake trees that have lost their Christmas cheer should be disposed of via the Energy from Waste skip at any of Somerset’s recycling sites. For more tips on how to reduce, reuse and recycle at this time of year visit: www.somerset.gov.uk/SeasonalWaste
Somerset Council – Public Consultation on budget setting
A public consultation on the Council’s budget will launch later this afternoon.
It will offer a chance for people to have their say in light of the financial emergency, which was called in November. It’s open to all, and we are encouraging our Somerset communities, residents, businesses, stakeholders, and partners to take part.
The consultation highlights several discretionary services which could be redesigned, reduced, or even stopped.
It went live from yesterday (11 December) and will close on 22 January. The link can be found at: https://somersetcouncil.citizenspace.com/comms/budget-consultation-2024-2025/.
The consultation can also be completed in libraries and council offices across Somerset.
Financial Emergency
The in-year overspend for 2023/24 is £27m. The projected budget gap for 2024/25 is £100m.
To close the gap and balance the budget next year a series of service reductions, efficiency savings, and increases to fees and charges, including Council Tax, will need to be considered.
It is clear that this alone will not close the budget gap.
Plans to fundamentally change the council’s systems and processes to streamline its operations will need to speed up to reduce the size of the council in future.
Leader of Somerset Council, Cllr Bill Revans said:
“I urge everyone to take part in our consultation, read through the information, understand our challenges, and have your say.
“We are facing very difficult decisions – this is not where we want to be. But we must face the reality of what is, fundamentally, a broken system of local government funding nationally.
“The cost of delivering our services, particularly social care, is increasing at a much faster rate than our income.
“This means we have to consider every available option to plug our budget gap, including increasing fees, reducing operating costs and finding savings across all areas. Before we make any decisions, it’s important we listen to our residents, especially when those decisions will affect people across Somerset.”
Lobbying for fairer funding for Local Government
Cllr Revans continues:
“We are continuing to lobby Government to address the financial crisis facing local councils. Just last week the County Councils Network published a letter sent to Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and signed by myself and 32 other Council Leaders from all over the country.
“The letter highlighted the growing concern nationally with 7 out of 10 councils no longer confident they can balance their budget next year.
“We are asking Somerset’s MPs to join our call for fairer funding, and I would encourage anyone who cares about local council services to write to your local MP to ask them to raise this at the highest level.”
Go to: https://somersetcouncil.citizenspace.com/comms/budget-consultation-2024-2025/
Road Closure: Lime Street 20 December
Road Closure: – ttro224277N – Lime Street, Nether Stowey
(between Mill Lane and the Ancient Mariner).
This Order will enable Openreach to replace a pole.
The Order becomes effective on 12th December 2023 and will remain in force for eighteen months.
The works are expected to commence on 20th December 2023 and last until 20th December 2023 between the hours of 08:30 – 16:30 for a total of 8 hours.
Please follow the link to view the above road closure on one.network www.one.network/?tm=135703044
For information about the works being carried out please contact Sunbelt Rentals Ltd on telephone number 0370 050 0792 quoting reference number ttro224277N.
Somerset Council Financial Emergency
Message from Kevin Ferriday, Chairman, Nether Stowey Parish Council
Dear villagers
You may have heard that Somerset Council has declared a “Financial Emergency” and are therefore looking at all the services they provide to see where they can save money to try and avoid going bankrupt.
Somerset Council has written to all Town and Parish Councils listing all those services which they think may be affected. It is very possible that some services will disappear or be reduced (for example grass cutting of public areas, the emptying of dog bins, recycling centres, etc).
In a nutshell, they are trying to find out whether the various Parish Councils would be willing to take over some of those services (at the parish councils’ costs) or pay a contribution to Somerset Council for them to carry on providing those services.
Nether Stowey Parish Council anticipated some of these problems and over the past few years has put money aside so that inevitable increases to the Parish Council’s part of the Council Tax would be spread over a couple of years.
Somerset Council’s planned cutbacks in services will affect us all and we will therefore be forming a working group which will analyse the services that will be affected and make recommendations to the Parish Council.
We would therefore like you to read and consider the letter from Somerset Council which includes the list of services. This can be seen on the Parish Council website (https://netherstowey-pc.gov.uk/somerset-council) or you can pop into the Parish Council office and collect a paper copy. You may have ideas and suggestions about a way forward. We would welcome your thoughts either by e-mail (scwg@netherstowey-pc.gov.uk) or again, by visiting our Parish Council office for a chat. Or maybe you feel that you would like to join our working group which will be looking at what we may be able to take on and the implications for the Parish precept?
Please do not ignore this letter, this is going to affect you and we are keen to hear your ideas.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Kevin Ferriday
Chairman