Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Richard and Paula Appleby and Anne Shilton (Spark Somerset).

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

There were no declarations of interest made by Members of the Somerset Council.

To approve the notes from the previous meeting.

The notes of the previous meeting held on 06 July 2023 were approved as a correct record by those present.

The Chair to advise of any questions, statements or petitions received that are not covered by items on the agenda for the meeting on which members of the public have requested to speak.

Peter Berman of Wiveliscombe TC asked that (clinical – involve health)

In response to a question from Michael Lodge of the Wivvy Civic Society, it was noted that the role of Spark Somerset was to support all voluntary organisations especially those who

Identify who are the right people to bring a broad range of partners to the LCN meetings.

David Mansell noted that some of the wider Somerset organisations were in the core LCN membership partnerships

It was noted that only core members could elect the Chair and Vice Chair of the LCNs.

The list of themes discussed at the last LCM meeting were provided any the LCN members present were asked to identify any missing items.

It was noted that Child Family and Young People's Service (CFYP) support was not listed.

The Locality Officer, introduced a slide of statistics which related directly to the Wellington and Wiveliscombe LCN area.  She advised that the data gave an indication of what was available and to give an understanding of the area. She noted that some of the data could be misleading and the Census 2021 data would now be 2 years old.  The school census data was updated twice a year and the Somerset Intelligence Network could provide data on a parish by parish basis: http://www.somersetintelligence.org.uk/

There were ongoing opportunities to build data for the LCN working groups to gain further information which could help towards funding bids for projects.

During discussion, it was noted that:

·       Helpful to have data circulated in advance.

·       Need data on the subject the LCN is focusing on like Highways.

·       Number of households with off-street parking related to charging electric cars.

·       Comparison of data with other local authorities to provide comparison.

The Locality Officer advised that 9 Link officers, once appointed would be in position to provide best practice so there was no duplication of work or data.

The Highway Officer advised that it was likely the future funding of the Highway Service would be impacted by the Council’s spending on Adult and Childrens Services. 

He said there was an opportunity for an LCN Working Group to understand the issues within the service and the 100+ enquiries received each day.  Also car parking across the County was a huge challenge.

During discussion, the following points were made:

·       New changes in Wellington carpool – will we get information?

·       Rodwell area primary sign

·       Hedges – vegetation and hedge issues

·       Milverton flooding – run off water & road contour taking water away from the drains

·       Hopeful that the LCNs could cut through some of the hierarchy

·       Statutory road closures for town or village events now cost around £1,000 for closures for fetes or carnivals

·       It would be useful to know the road sweeping dates so roads could be cleared of vehicles

a. Safer walking and cycling routes

b. Speeding and 20 mile an hour zones

c. Public and Community transport routes

d. Highways maintenance and Lengthsman scheme

e. Flooding

This item was deferred to the next meeting of the LCN to allow the full Highways discussion.

The provisional dates for future meetings were noted as:

·            Thursday 12 December 2023– venue to be confirmed

·            Thursday 29 February 2024 – venue to be confirmed.

Please note that the LCN team work hard to minimise diary clashes but asked that they be contacted on lcn@somerset.gov.uk if there are any issues.