Dear Editor,

Further to my previous letter published in the Journal number 2329.

The charges to park in South Road car park have been in place for a year and have generated £8,435 in parking fees and £12,675 in penalty notices as reported from a public freedom of information request.  It's not as if the money is being spent to improve the local area.

What I'd like to know is how much it cost to setup the cameras and ticket machines in the car park in the first place and what the ongoing costs are?

Lucy, who runs Zen Rebel Studios has noticed a decline in patrons since the charges came into being.

It just seems that B&NES councillors are determined to make people give up their independence and force us to use other forms of transport. 

With regards to cycling, the roads are in such a poor state of repair, I wouldn't want to cycle anywhere as it's too dangerous.

If they want us to use public transport more they should cut the cost of bus fare.  To think that the cost of a single fare to Midsomer Norton is the same as going to Bath or Wells.  That is just ridiculous!

How much money will the car park generate when Midsomer Norton is closed for business?  I hope the faceless bureaucrats who only seem to think about Bath feel happy with themselves!

Still despairing.

Dawn Bennett

Radstock

Dear Editor,

A sad day for Midsomer Norton. We are losing our community trust manager Alex Davis to redundancy next week.

Once on the front cover for B&NES’s lifestyle magazine promoting Midsomer Norton as ‘Open for Business’ and even front paging a journal edition as recently as December 2025.

Our town loses its final bastion for invested change and will inevitably slip into the doldrums of being a victim to capitalism; just another passthrough town equipped with unimaginative new builds, empty pubs and expensive, confusing road layouts, all to the backing track of a duck-less river – think Radstock, think Orwell.

Should we all just crowd in to Spoons and accept that there’s no longer a community to manage? They have us where they want us and Mr A Davis’ CV being updated is the coupe de grace. 

Nobody wants to know how the sausage is made, but they’ll eat it. Goodbye and good luck to our butcher, Mr Alex Davis. Will the last one out please turn off the light of Fat Sams’ cage. RIP MSN.

Rob Fraser

Radstock

Dear Editor,

Please tell us that Dave's Quiz is coming back. Two weeks without it, is two weeks too many.

Bridget Plumley 

Midsomer Norton 

Editor’s note: Dave’s Quiz was inadvertently missed from our March 26 edition - it remains one of our favourite sections and will indeed be continuing.

Dear Editor,

Having read in last week's Journal (April 1) a letter commenting on the disbanding of the Community Trust and the town council’s take over.

I was both disappointed and weary to read such negative views. My feelings are not aimed particularly at the person who wrote the said letter as there have been several letters historically aimed at the Town Council.

In my opinion they do a thankless task, voluntarily. Giving up their time to do their best for Midsomer Norton. They may not always get it right but they try.

How many of the letter writers who complain about the council have put their name forward to become a Town councillor I wonder. How many people have sat on a committee and found it time consuming, difficult and almost impossible to please everyone?

It's become common place to complain these days, it’s not hard with the state of the country and the world in general. However, instead of trusting and supporting these councillors, some find it all too easy to throw them under a bus. This often happens when there's information that has not been fact checked. There have been a few instances of this.

I don't wish for my letter to come over as complaining however as a community can we not appreciate what we have and, not complain what we haven't got?

There are plenty of avenues to find out information if we need it. We shouldn't allow ourselves to fall into the trap of moaning without knowing the full facts.

Not easy I know, but it's a great life if we don't weaken and Midsomer Norton is a great place to live. We are so much more fortunate than some that live in outlying villages and towns and certainly those that live in some countries around the world.

Name and address supplied.

Dear Editor,

Would you please allow me space in your paper to thank everyone who came to our Paulton Pensioners get together on March 20 up Paulton Scouts Hall.

We had very enjoyable afternoon playing bingo and ‘Play Your Cards Right’. We also had a raffle and a cuppa - raising funds for local charities too.

Our next get together is on April 17 at 2pm. Barry will be entertaining us so come along for good old fashion sing song and hopefully a bit of dancing too.

Everyone welcome to come along for a fun afternoon and meet new friends.

Shandy Udell and friends

Paulton

Dear Editor,

I read in last week’s Journal a letter from Alex Harman about dairy bull calves being shot at birth.

I felt I had to write to inform your readers that this is, in fact, incorrect.

The milk buyers have now banned this practice, quite rightly.

There is also now available ‘sexed semen’, which is very reliable, so fewer bull calves are being born.

Also, he is wrong by saying these bull calves are ‘not suitable for beef’.

Only today my farmer husband purchased seven British Friesian steers (males) from Sedgemoor Market that are eight months old.

He paid on average £680 per calf.

These calves will stay on our farm, fed on grass until they are two-and-a-half years old, and will then be sold for beef.

Please, Alex Harman, check your facts before writing to the papers.

Farmers are having a really difficult time as it is without this mis-information.

Name and address supplied.