Temporary Road Closure:ttro821491W(TD) - Staple Fitzpaine Road, Curland and Staple Fitzpaine

Please follow the link to view the above road closure; https://one.network/?tm=135857072 and the link for the Notice 2:https://api-gb.one.network/downloads/tm/1111/03-notice-2_135857072_3637870_83f07af4a9.pdf

The order becomes effective on 23rd November 2023 and will remain in force for eighteen months.

The works are expected to commence on 27th November 2023 and last for 5 days to enable Airband Community Internet Ltd to carry out overhead cabling works.

The contractor has indicated that access for Emergency Services through the site is permitted on this occasion.

For any further information about this closure please contact Airband Community Internet Ltd on 0785 025 4817, quoting reference: ttro821491W(TD)

Somerset Council

Parish of Staple Fitzpaine

Temporary Closure of New Road

Somerset Council in exercise of its powers under Section 14 (1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act

1984 as amended, have made an Order prohibiting all traffic from proceeding along;

New Road - from the junction with Lady Acre to the junction with St Peters Close. A total distance

of 43 metres.

This Order will enable Airband Community Internet Ltd to carry out repair works and network

connection.

The Order becomes effective on 16th November 2023 and will remain in force for eighteen months.

The works are expected to commence on 20th November 2023 and last until 22nd November

2023 between the hours of 08:00 - 18:00 for a total of 3 days.

Please visit https://one.network/?tm=135386827 for further information on the alternative route.

Please note that should you require to view a closure which is more than two weeks ahead, you will

need to register for free with One.Network.

For information about the works being carried out please contact Airband Community Internet

Ltd on telephone number 01905 676121 quoting reference number ttro964018W(TD).

Duncan Sharkey

Chief Executive

Dated: 16th November 2023.

AIRBAND have given advanced notice of a possible road closure, affecting traffic through Smokey Bottom, within the next 6 months.

This will be due to the ongoing broadband rollout within the Parish.

Further details will be provided when available.

To view the latest newsletter from Rebecca Pow, sitting MP for Taunton Deane, please click link below.

Click here for Rebecca Pow's Newsletter

Dear Resident,

We are writing to you in relation to our continued attempts to located wanted man Richard Scatchard.

He is a 70-year-old man who is wanted on a recall to prison and is considered a risk to the public, specifically women he forms relationships with.

We can now confirm detectives also want to talk to him in connection with an ongoing murder inquiry, after a woman died recently. The ambulance service alerted us to the sudden death of 61-year-old Kelly Faiers, from Weston-super-Mare, at Scatchard’s address on Blenheim Road, Minehead on Sunday 15 October.

A post-mortem has been carried out to try to establish the cause of her death, but the results are inconclusive. Further tests are ongoing to help us understand more about how Kelly’s tragic death came about.

To help us find him, below is a photograph of Scatchard.    (This is in the additional document section below)

He is described as a white male, who is 70 years old, approximately 5ft 11ins, of average build, with short grey hair. He is normally clean shaven, however this may have changed since he was last seen. He has a Scottish accent.

It’s believed Scatchard could be using a distinctive electric bicycle – a grey Gepida Alboin Curve which has a pink front tyre rim, flowers on the rim of the rear tyre and green and yellow electrical tape around the handlebars.

Many of you in the local community will know Scatchard by that name, but we are aware he has previously used the name Richard Dunlop too.

The last confirmed sighting of Scatchard was about 10am on Blenheim Road in Minehead on Monday 16 October. We are grateful to everyone who has come forward with information off the back of public appeals we have made since, and we’ve had 24 reported sightings which detectives are sifting through to understand whether they are indeed Scatchard.

We are asking for the community to continue to support us by providing any information about him that may be useful to our enquiries. He was known to many people in and around Minehead so may have said something in passing that could have appeared quite normal at the time but may with hindsight contain a vital clue to helping us locate him, as he could be anywhere in the country. By working together, we are more likely to find him faster and can then hopefully provide Kelly’s family with the answers they deserve.

Enquiries have been conducted at that address since Kelly’s death, which some of you will be aware of.

We had sought to speak to Scatchard on the afternoon of Monday 16 October, but he had disappeared. He was initially treated as a high-risk missing person due to concerns he presented an immediate and serious risk of harm to himself.

As our inquiry has progressed, we have become less worried about his welfare and far more concerned about the danger he presents to others. His previous behaviour, along with information we have gathered since his disappearance, makes us anxious he may have formed a new relationship with one or more women, and he presents a serious risk to their safety. Scatchard is a prolific user of dating apps and has previously been convicted of sexual offences.

We understand this news is likely to cause shock, sadness and concern. We want to reassure you we are working around-the-clock to locate him and there is an increased high-visibility police presence in Minehead as a result for that reason, as well as to provide reassurance.

We’re committed to keeping you and the wider community informed on the progress of the investigation and will continue to issue updates on the Avon and Somerset Police website and social media channels when they are available.

If you see Scatchard, don’t approach, phone 999 quoting reference 5223251706.

If you have any other information which could help us find him, either call 101 quoting the same reference, submit it online via our website or speak with officers who are carrying out patrols in the area.

Thank you again for your ongoing support.

Yours sincerely,

Detective Chief Inspector Jess Aston, Senior Investigating Officer

Inspector Michael Griffiths, Minehead Neighbourhood Policing Team

The Somerset Council Report for October 2023 is now available.

Neroche Parish Council, in association with the Community Council for Somerset, has conducted a Community Review to ensure that its future plans reflect what matters most to parishioners.

The survey is now completed and the report written.

The report was discussed and approved at the Parish Council Extraordinary Meeting of Neroche Parish Council on 15th August.

An article by the Chair of the Parish Council, Mark Palmer, and the Executive Summary, may be read in the Autumn Neroche Villages Newsletter.  Click here  to go to Newsletter page and then click Autumn 2023 edition.   It starts on page 7.

The Neroche Community Review, The Executive Summary, and the Action Plan and Prioritisation Plan are also on the Neroche  Neroche Parish Council News page of this website.  Please click here to go to the page.

Three Councillor vacancies are available on the Neroche Parish Council, one in each of the Staple Fitzpaine, Bickenhall and Orchard Portman with Thurlbear parishes.

Details can be found in the documents below.

One of the challenges in reaching unpaid carers is that some people don’t see themselves as unpaid carers, either because they don’t like the label, or because they are ‘just’ looking

after their partner, child, or friend. This means lots of people are not aware of the range of support available to them. By sharing the attached information, you are helping people get

the support they are entitled to. For further information, see: /uploads/pdf/Carers_trifold_21.pdf

Operated by Somerset County Council, Dial a ride covers the Taunton and Wellington area including the Neroche villages.

The service is available from 08:30am to 16:30 Monday to Friday using a fleet of 16 seater minibuses. It is a door to door service for anyone wanting transport for medical appointments, shopping, leisure and social events. Buses are wheelchair friendly and the drivers are willing to lend a helping hand if needed.

Fares vary between £2 and £6 return with a bus pass although the cost will be confirmed at booking.

The booking number is 01823 331 226.

Further details can be found here

Fundamentally we disagree with this road in principal. You are imposing a major highway through a rural area which will have a hugely damaging effect both physically and mentally upon the local population. The benefit of the road will be negligible as delays will exist at either end particularly during the peak summer months and will only give a potential 7 minute time gain. The benefit to Henlade comes at too high a price for the shattered communities it is leaving in its wake. The current financial situation of the UK should mean that all expenditure be looked at to ensure value for money, on that criteria this project does not fare well. Announcements from the Government have just reduced the road maintenance fund by £480 million which will compound the detrimental effect on our rural lanes as the increased maintenance requirement will not be fulfilled.

You have so far done little to mitigate the failings of the scheme. Since 2017 communities situated between Thornfalcon and Ashill have pressed to have a junction between Ashill and Hatch Beauchamp. The fundamental benefit of such a junction is that local traffic would not have to travel through either Hatch Beauchamp or Ashill and neighbouring lanes to access the dualled A358. The A358 SAR recorded that a junction south of Hatch Beauchamp could mitigate the adverse impact of the dualling scheme. However, it was omitted from the Preferred Route following a high-level cost cutting exercise.

As the latest design limits Bickenhall Bridge to WCH and farm vehicles there is a strong case for extending the service road to Bickenhall Lane. The only alternative route is via Staple Fitzpaine Road, which would require considerable improvement along the section adjacent to the bridge over the Fivehead River; this concern was noted in the A358 SAR. Routing via Staple Fitzpaine Road would, however, have an adverse impact on WCH users that regularly use this road. The suggestion that traffic would use an alternative route via Cold Road and West Hatch Lane is nonsensical. Diverting traffic to narrow, hilly lanes, which are popular WCH routes is creating a safety hazard. A further effect of closing Bickenhall Bridge to vehicle traffic is that Griffin Lane is forecasted to become busier by some 250 vehicles a day. Griffin Lane is totally unsuitable for vehicle traffic as it is narrow, windy, hilly and in parts with a deep gully running alongside. Furthermore, Griffin Lane is well used by walkers and horse riders.

This proposal limits access to the A358 by the Neroche district to solely Staple Fitzpaine Road via the service road or West Hatch Lane via MTG junction, routes that are difficult for normal traffic and unsuitable for HGVs and large farm vehicles. To mitigate this loss of access NH must provide access to the dualled A358 via Bickenhall Lane.

The A358 Scheme provides one great improvement – the Henlade bypass that will improve the quality of life for communities in that immediate area. Beyond that area fourteen Parish Councils and Ilminster Town Council are very concerned that the Scheme has serious failings. We understand from the Consultation provided by NH that local communities do not agree with the fundamentals of the preliminary design.

The current scheme design will increase traffic, increase the mixture of vehicles and increase the time traffic will spend in the rural network and our villages. All these changes increase the likelihood of accidents. The loss of historic accessibility to the A358 will necessitate long diversions along unclassified and C class rural lanes and roads. Experience to date is that these roads are poorly maintained by SCC, evidenced by pot holes, uncleared gullies, limited cutting of road hedges and verges. In autumn and winter the rural network is very dark, often muddy and slippery and in many places flooded or obstructed by pools of water. These issues already make the rural network precarious. The increased traffic volume, incompatibility of traffic types (cars, vans, lorries and agricultural vehicles) with each other and WCH uses will increase mental and physical stress on local communities. School runs will become more stressful. Businesses will be handicapped. Community severance will increase. Combined with the environmental issues of noise and light pollution and disrupted habitats, the scheme does not consider in any depth these effects nor offers any mitigation of substance.

There is support available for anyone struggling with household bills in Somerset.

The Household Support Fund is designed to provide short-term urgent financial help to Somerset residents who are struggling to afford household essentials such as buying food, paying for energy and water bills and other essential household items such as beds and white goods.

For more information about the Somerset Household Support Fund go to: https://www.somerset.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/equipment-to-help-you/

Somerset County Council and NHS Somerset are launching a new Community Equipment and Wheelchair Service to help people live more independently.

Launching on Monday 1 August, the service will provide a range of equipment to help people live independently, offering loans to people for as long they need them.

The service will also include delivery and fitting, servicing, collection, and recycling.

More information here: https://www.somerset.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/equipment-to-help-you/

The Home Library Service delivers books to people who are unable to get to their local library, such as those who are housebound, living in long term care, carers, or people who are vulnerable due to long term conditions or disabilities. The service is open to people of all ages.

In a new short video with former BBC correspondent Clinton Rogers, Claire, aged 100years, explains how the service helps her to access new books, allowing her to keep her mind active. You can view the video here by clicking Somerset Home Library Service.

Somerset Libraries offer a wide range of brilliant services – as well an extensive collection of books, films, and digital products available to loan, there are health and wellbeing services, children’s activities and supported digital learning.

Somerset’s Home Library Service (HLS) is run by Somerset County Council with the support of amazing volunteers.

None of this would work without the brilliant team of friendly volunteers who make the service possible. If you have some spare time and a passion for reading, you may want to consider taking up a rewarding role as a HLS volunteer.

If you or anyone you know would like to receive the service, please contact Home Library Service manager Kirsty Jenssen by emailing kjenssen@somerset.gov.uk, or calling 07814 079831.
For more information, visit: Home Library Service (somerset.gov.uk