A Special Parish Council Meeting will be held on Wednesday 30th July 2008 at Cross Memorial Hall commencing at 7.30 pm.

The agenda for the meeting can be downloaded here

Against the background of some anecdotal evidence a survey was carried out by the  Parish Council  to try to identify the needs of the young people of the parish. From the evidence of those who completed the survey it was clear that the young people led  busy lives and enjoyed local activities. They did however request activities within their own community.  On the plus side they enjoyed living in beautiful surroundings and felt safe. They were aware of the need for a car to get further afield. They were also concerned about the need of a safer crossing of the A38 and a safer footpath into Axbridge. The full survey results are on this page.

From the survey a list of the most often requested things they would like to do was drawn up. These included a wide variety such as a youth club, a fun day, walks on the hills etc. and it was clear to the Parish Council that what would be needed was adults to come forward to steer the development and running of any groups formed.

To this end the Parish Council called a meeting in Cross Memorial Hall on 10th May to try to bring any interested parties together. This first meeting was followed by two further meetings and out of these a group calling themselves CROSS CONNECTIONS has been formed that will plan activities with young people in mind.

Report by Sarah Ayling

During spring and early summer there have a lot of birds nesting at the wildlife site. The moorhens and mallards have been busy hunting for tadpoles, but there are still plenty of froglets. The warm weather in June encouraged damselflies and dragonflies to hatch and some evenings they made a multi-coloured haze above the pond.

Volunteers have kept the hedge beside the entrance path trimmed, mowed the footpath and rough cut a narrow strip either side of the path. The central area and areas to the side of the path have been left for tall herbs to grow up. Nettles, hogweed, willow herb and hemlock water droplet are all important sources of pollen for insects in late summer and autumn.

Please note that dogs should not be taken into the wildlife site as they can disturb the wildlife.

A New Competition

Keep a wildlife diary of the Springfield Wildlife Site during the school holidays. For age groups under 7 years of age , 7 to 11 years, and 12 to 16 years. Prizes for each group sponsored by the Parish Council.

Full details in CONTACT magazine or contact a Parish Councillor.

Sedgemoor Highways have just informed the Parish Council that instructions have been given for a new "finger arm" for the sign post at the end of Church Lane to be installed. The work should be done within three months.

Is dog poo a serious problem? Yes it is. The UK dog population  excretes enough poo per week to fill four Olympic size swimming  pools!

Clearing up after your dog helps to prevent Toxocara which is  highly infectious especially to children. Dog mess also contains parasites that can harm farm animals especially cows and sheep. Please be a responsible owner and don't let your dog foul a public right of way, footpath or open access land. Pick up and dispose of dog mess in the bin  provided.

Somerset County Council has further information for dog owners  with a downloadable pdf leaflet giving useful information and advice. The webpage can be accessed by clicking here.

Many beautiful acres in this country are becoming unpleasant because of litter. It is estimated that 25 million tons of litter are dropped every year, predominantly food and drink packages.

Statistics for fly tipping is just as shocking. Local authorities dealt with 2.6 million incidents in England in 2006/7 with tax payers footing the clean up bill.

The Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) have launched a Stop the Drop Campaign to highlight how litter spoils the countryside. As they point out litter has no size limit; it can be as small as a sweet wrapper or as large as a bag full of rubbish left at the roadside or a beauty spot.

If you note any fly tipped rubbish in our parish please report it to Sedgemoor District Council on
01278 435435.
 

Residents will have noticed a number of busy people in yellow reflective jackets and some not so busy around the A38 Old Coach Road/Cross Lane crossroads last Saturday and perhaps wondered what they were doing.  Earlier in the year your Parish Council in combination with other local Parish Councils of Axbridge, Cheddar and Weare had produced a report expressing our concerns and seeking improvements for the A38 and its junctions.  This coincided with Somerset County Council through their Safety Awareness Partnership also looking to improve safety generally along the A38 and its junctions and they announced it as a “Red route”.  

Before the County Council Highways Authority can consider possible solutions it is essential that they have accurate information on the numbers and types of vehicles and cars using the roads.  To achieve this the County has a census team who then report their findings back to the Highways Department.  This professional team conducts surveys wherever Highways requests, but they are independent of Highway’s Department.  This is so that the information that forms the basis of the census team’s report can be as factual as possible and reflects the actual situation without any artificial distortions.  These can occur if too much notice of the survey is given.   For good results the team operates on two days, one at the weekend and one during the week.  Having completed the Saturday census they are proceeding now with the weekday one, which we understand, will take place this Thursday.

Without the data that such a survey produces, a sound plan leading to recommendations for improvement cannot be prepared.  The numbers of counters needed may have surprised you, but that is because they start at 07.00 hours and continue through to 19.00 hours in the evening.  To achieve an accurate recording, team members have to be relieved frequently because of the high levels of concentration needed, particularly when traffic flows are high.  All directions have to be covered at the same time so as to build up a coherent and complete picture. Results from this work should not be expected before the autumn when we can expect the County to engage in consultation on the outcome and as soon as we have some reliable information to impart we shall want to communicate it.   

For everyones safety please abide by the speed limits.

In 2003 the Parish Council produced a Village Design Statement setting out priorities and considerations to be made in the development of our community and environment. The document can be downloaded by clicking here. It is in .pdf format, and for users with slow connections it may take a few moments to download.

Regular visitors to the website can now quickly check if pages have been updated or added by clicking on the 'Website Updates' page at the bottom of the left hand menu.