Thriving city and town centres are vital for our community and economy. That means investing right across our area. More than £1m grant funding has been secured for the Midsomer Norton Town Hall transformation project currently under way, with the Unit 14 community space already completed and hosting more than 8,000 users per year for meetings and events.

The Radstock Town Centre action plan has attracted more than £500,000 in grant funding and a High Street cultural programme is now underway. Focusing on Bath for a moment, it was great to join local people and visitors recently for the Great Bath Feast, showcasing the best food and drink in the region.

Truly our area has something for everyone.

As well as vibrant High Streets, people really value having a cleaner and greener local environment. So, in addition to the day-to-day work of our highways and cleansing teams, we have invested an additional £1million into our Clean and Green programme.

Our Clean and Green teams provide more street cleaning, weed removal, free graffiti removal for domestic properties, more gully emptying and respond to Councillor and resident reports. We have some great “before and after” photos to show the difference we are making and we’ve undertaken projects across the area including in Midsomer Norton, Paulton, Peasedown, High Littleton and Westfield. You can make reports on Fix My Street which is an amazing map-based technology online system that the Council uses to make reporting highways and cleansing issues easy for you. Click on the map and you’ll see what has been reported in your area- such as a cracked paving slab or dumped rubbish - and what we are doing about it. Thousands of incidents have been reported using Fix My Street and successfully acted on by the Council’s teams. For other issues, please go to our Report It pages on our website or speak to Council Connect on: 01225 394041.

We’ve also invested in new electric vehicles for daily highway maintenance - an example of the action the Council is taking as part of its Climate Strategy and Action Plan to tackle the climate emergency. These new vans will lower our fuel usage and carbon emissions significantly and support our action plan to tackle the climate emergency as we strive to become a Net Zero Council.

We’re currently asking for comments on simplified planning procedures to encourage development of the Somer Valley Enterprise Zone (SVEZ) at Old Mills.

The Council received a good response to consultations on its initial proposal setting for the type and quantity of development that can take place on the 13-hectare site.

This feedback has now been taken into account feedback in the revised proposals (comment here: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=23%2F00076%2FLDO).

The SVEZ was established in April 2017 to support local businesses and to encourage business growth in the area and the creation of new jobs.

A designated Enterprise Zone provides Business Rate discounts, tax breaks, superfast broadband and other government support to encourage business growth and the creation of new jobs.