THIS autumn, Bath & North East Somerset Council has been running two very important public consultations – one district-wide and the other local to Midsomer Norton – that will shape our communities’ futures.

The council’s Local Plan Options consultation is our response to the Government almost doubling the housing target for B&NES. The Local Plan Options report puts forth potential sites for new housing and the infrastructure to enable and support it. Perhaps you’ve seen the council’s ‘van with a plan’, which has been popping up all over our district, helping residents engage with our team.

You have until November 14 to share your views on how you want your community to develop over the next 15 to 20 years. Your local knowledge and perspectives will serve as evidence in the process of determining next steps. We need to know what you want in your community - and what you don’t want – and why. Please go to bathnesplaces.co.uk/localplan/ for more information and to submit your opinions.

B&NES Council and Midsomer Norton Town Council’s joint public consultation on the IMAGINE Midsomer Norton Town Centre Masterplan closed at the end of October. The masterplan to further revitalise the town was developed using input from local residents, businesses and landowners. I look forward to sharing the results of the consultation in due course.

As part of wider plans to kickstart economic growth across the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), it’s very exciting that the Somer Valley has been earmarked as one of the region’s five key growth zones, making it one of two such zones in B&NES. Building on the regeneration already underway, the Somer Valley deserves further investment and focus. It is seen as a future hub of net zero manufacturing and an incubator for rural production. For this ambitious vision to be realised, the transport network must be greatly improved.

In Radstock, construction work has started at the Trinity Hub Project, with B&NES-based contractors Biggs undertaking the works. The former church building, now community owned by Radstock Town Council, has become a hub which will host a library, arts and cultural venue, café, and rentable office space. B&NES Council has been supporting Radstock Town Council to acquire the building, secure planning consent and design the scheme as well as supporting construction management and accessing funding. Grant funding secured by B&NES Council and Radstock Town Council has included a £561,000 capital grant from the West of England UK Shared Prosperity Fund for works to the building and £28,500 for a centre manager alongside a £100,000 B&NES Council Community Infrastructure Levy.

The Somer Valley Rediscovered Greenspaces Project won this year’s B&NES Council Staff Award for Action on Climate and Nature. This award recognises the incredible achievements of the team and their partners, including restoring 34 hectares of land, supporting over 3,500 residents to connect with nature and improving 1,100m of pathways for inclusive access. Congratulations and big thanks to all the volunteers, community groups and everyone else involved.