Somerset Council has issued some very useful information regarding the waste collection service arrangements in May, along with other helpful information about recycling. To view the briefing notice please click on this link.
Your volunteer Parish Councillors have been out in the Spring sunshine delivering the latest edition of the Wembdon Parish Paper. Most Wembdon households have now received their copies, but if you haven’t received your yet, you can be sure it’s on its way.
If you think you’ve been missed, there are some spare copies available at Wembdon Village Hall. Or you can read it online.
Somerset Sight is recruiting volunteers to befriend visually impaired people on a regular basis.
Would you like to help someone in your local area?
They would like you to join their team of volunteers, who help people to remain independent and overcome loneliness and isolation.
Enjoy a free day out when taking your Service User out.
All reasonable and out of pocket expenses are paid.
For more information please contact Somerset Sight on 01823 333818 or email admin@somersetsight.org.uk.
Somerset Sight is a local charity that has been supporting sight impaired people across Somerset for over a hundred years and in 2019 we proudly won the Queens Award for Voluntary Service.
One of the services they offer is the Volunteer Visiting Service, whereby volunteers are matched locally with a sight impaired person for regular visits for company and support and to alleviate their loneliness and isolation.
Volunteer visitors help with a variety of tasks such as reading, correspondence, or making appointments, going out for a drive or just a cup of tea and a chat. Many volunteers get great satisfaction and enjoyment from their voluntary work, many friendships are formed and the people they support very much look forward to their visits, some telling them that it is the highlight of their week. Full training is provided and we cover all reasonable expenses.
They say “We currently have a number of visually impaired people in all areas who would welcome a volunteer visitor, but they are on a waiting list as we don’t have enough volunteers to match them with.”
Further information is available on Somerset Sight’s website.
Please click on this link to find out useful information about the new Somerset Council, and how to contact them..
The Parish Council has received an email from Post Office Limited which states:
We’re writing to update you about the temporary closure of the above Post Office.
For further information please visit our Consultation Hub via the link below:
Consultation Hub – Wembdon TA6 7PX
Wembdon Parish Council is very sad to learn that the Post Office in Wembdon is unlikely to be reopened.
If you have any comments, please make them to the National Consultation Team via the link below;
comments@postoffice.co.uk quoting reference Wembdon TA6 319549
The closing date for the consultation is March 29th.
Please see this press release from the new Somerset Council
The budget for the new Somerset Council was approved today (22 Feb 2023).
Councillor Liz Leyshon, Deputy Leader and Executive Lead Member for Finance and Human Resources, said: “This has been the most difficult budget setting that any of us can remember. Inflation has been a huge pressure on the cost of providing council services and post-Covid we have seen rises in demand from Somerset residents for very complex support from both Adult Social Care and Children’s Services.”
The budget confirms an overall rise of 4.99% in the council’s share of council tax, made up of a basic rise of 2.99 per cent in council tax and the 2 per cent adult social care levy. The increase is in line with Government policy and councils across the UK that have responsibility for Adult Social Care and Children’s Services*.
The first budget for Somerset Council includes substantial increases in funding for Adult Social Care and Children’s Services by £28million and £19 million respectively, to reflect that growth in demand and cost. The new budget provides start-up support for the Local Community Networks (LCN) and has protected funding for the voluntary and community sector.
Cllr Leyshon continued: “We have had the challenge of bringing five council budgets together into the new unitary Somerset Council. In doing this we’ve been at great pains to defend the frontline services that touch everybody’s lives.
“We are prioritising support for our most vulnerable residents, but we have rejected options to close some of our household waste recycling centres and all of our libraries will remain open with unchanged hours. That won’t be the case elsewhere in the country, but I feel we have a contract with residents, both through council tax and voting, and they expect their council tax to be spent on services available to all. We would have not been able to do this without the savings that have come from the move to a single council.
“Of course, we know a great many residents are struggling to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. We have created a new and simplified Council Tax Reduction Scheme and in creating the new Council we have also expanded the Exceptional Hardship Scheme to the whole of Somerset and increased the funds available for people who need support for the first time, or more support with their household overhead costs.”
The Council dropped a proposal to remove funding for many parish grit bins after the option was criticised during public consultation and through Scrutiny, and will now concentrate on pilot projects to work with local communities to improve gritting of the secondary network of roads in Somerset.
The rise in Somerset Council’s share of Council Tax is made up of basic rise of 2.99 per cent in Council Tax and the 2 per cent adult social care levy. As a result of these proposals the council tax proposed for a Band D property will increase by £78.24 each year, or £1.50 per week.
By now, all Wembdon households should have received a copy of the August edition of the Parish Paper through their letterbox, thanks to our team of hard-working volunteers. If your copy seems to have gone astray, you can pick one up from the Village Hall.
There wasn’t enough space in the printed version to include any photographs of Wembdon Parklands, but an extra page has been added to the online version so that the photos can be included.
Please see this information from Somerset County Council:
Please help us get this really important message out in the midst of the cost of living crisis – the Household Support Fund can provide short-term urgent financial help to Somerset residents who are struggling to afford household essentials.
We want to make sure this gets to the people who need it – including those who are hard to reach, so please can you help us by sharing the attached across your networks with colleagues and with any organisations which may be able to share.
We’d really appreciate your help with this – if you have any questions, please contact Communications Team CommunicationsTeam@somerset.gov.uk.
Kind regards,
Suzi Arnold-Fry
Communications Officer | Somerset County Council
County Hall, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 4DYPress Office: 01823 355020 Mobile: 07855 283440
There have been safety concerns regarding the zebra crossing at Wembdon Rise for a long time. These concerns increased following an unfortunate incident in September 2021 when a young girl was knocked down whilst using the crossing. In response to these concerns Somerset Council Council has agreed to update the belisha beacons on the crossing, and are in dialogue with the police regarding a reduction of the speed limit on Wembdon Rise to 20 mph. However, they have refused the request for the zebra crossing to be replaced by a traffic light controlled crossing. These are their reasons.
Many households in Wembdon have already received their copy of edition 35 of the Parish Paper. If you don’t have yours yet, please be assured that it will be dropping onto your doormat very soon.
You can also download edition 35 from our website. Previous editions are also available from our Parish Paper web page.
