Somerset Confidential

Today’s article is for all of our readers, part of our free news service. This is only possible because of the generosity of our paying subscribers. If you’d like to join their ranks and help us do more, a subscription costs just £30 a year and for that you’ll get 48 free exclusive articles. If you’d like to sign up you can do that here: Porlock is a delightful village on the coast near the Somerset-Devon border.

Dear readers Today’s article is an opinion piece for all of our readers. If you’d like to subscribe and support our work, you can do so here: Thank you. Andrew Lee - Editor On 8 November 2022, Mick Dunk, along with fellow climate change protestors from Just Stop Oil, climbed one of the gantries over the M25 to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects. Mick Dunk is a Frome resident and was elected as a councillor for Frome West for the Green Party back in 2022.

Dear readers Today’s article is for our paying subscribers and it takes a look at the way in which we plan for the future of our towns. Contrasting Yeovil where a relatively imaginative plan is emerging for the future of the town, with Taunton, which has multiple plans but lacks a realistic overarching vision. And most importantly, is still wedded to the 20th century design of the town. Can we break loose from historical approaches to town planning and meet the needs of the 21st century?

Dear readers Today’s article on the by-election for a seat on North Somerset Council is free to all of our readers. If you’d like to get articles like this but with an extra 48 longer pieces, exclusive to our paying members, you can do so by subscribing. A subscription costs £30 a year and you can subscribe here: Thank you. Andrew Lee - Editor Yesterday Somerset got its very first elected Reform UK councillor at unitary authority level.

Dear readers Today’s article takes a long, hard look at the way in which the Department of Health & Social Care and NHS Somerset appear to be obstructing Freedom of Information requests to see the evidence base that led to the closure of the Yeovil HASU to be replaced by one in Dorchester. This is the sort of holding to account that Somerset Confidential® is all about. Other news organisations may report on the fact that a new service has opened.

Dear readers This article is for all of our readers. A planning application in Bridwater illustrates just why our planning system is failing to deliver and not just the houses we need, but other things too. But as with all of our pieces, we can only bring them to you courtesy of our paying subscribers. Want to join the fun? For an annual subscription of just £30 (unchanged over 3 years), we’ll give you 48 extra exclusive articles every year. You can sign up here: Thank you.

Dear readers Today’s article is free to all of our readers. Something we can only deliver because of the support we receive from our paying subscribers. If you’d like to join them, you can do so here: Thank you. Andrew Lee - Editor Yesterday’s election for a new councillor to replace Mick Dunk, the Green Councillor barred from office at Somerset Council threw up few surprises.

Dear readers Today’s article is for our paying subscribers. James Garrett takes a look at the issues surrounding Bristol Airport and the delays to the deadlines set for the planners to make a decision. As he looks at the evidence, it seems likely that a decision will not be made any time soon. If you’d like to subscribe and read 48 exclusive articles each year in addition to our free articles, you can do so here for just £30 a year: Thank you.

Dear readers We hope you are enjoying a bank holiday break. The attached article is for all of our readers, something we hope may provoke thought about the intersection of culture, landscape and planning. If you’d like to subscribe to get more of our articles, you can do so here: Thank you and enjoy a relaxing bank holiday. Andrew Lee - Editor In my beginning is my end.

Dear readers This article is for all of our readers. Amongst all the hard work of holding those in power to account, it is certainly refreshing once in a while to branch out and cover a more positive local news story. But as with all of our pieces, we can only bring them to you courtesy of our paying subscribers. Want to join the fun? For an annual subscription of just £30 (unchanged over 3 years), we’ll give you 48 extra exclusive articles every year. You can sign up here: Thank you.