The Midsomer Norton Community Trust is made up of eleven trustees, four representative from the Town Council and, crucially, a majority of seven town residents.  

This ensures the community spaces they manage and events they run are for the benefit of the town.  

The Trust runs things like the hugely successful community cinema, returning soon, which allowed some 10,000 residents to watch latest release films without having to travel to nearby cities.  In addition to organising Christmas events, music festivals and the Town Fayre, the Trust also makes community spaces available for running counselling services, youth groups, workshops and more.

Some people might not fully understand the relationship between the Town Council, the Community Trust and the Town Trust; three important organisations in Midsomer Norton so I will try to explain my understanding of what they do and why we have them.

When B&NES Council, after eleven years of complicated negotiations, transferred several key assets in Midsomer Norton to the Town Council, including the Town Hall and the Somer Centre, the assets were to be immediately gifted into the charitable Town Trust which would then lease them to the Community Trust to manage.

The scheme was conceived by previous Mayor of Midsomer Norton Cllr Paul Myers and was designed to ensure these assets were protected for present and future generations.  

For those who have been critical of the Town Council in the past, the idea of holding our town’s assets in trust should be appealing as is creating a Community Trust to manage them.  The Town Council, no matter who is elected in future or what political pressures they face, will never be able to sell-off the town’s assets.  These key pieces of infrastructure are owned by the town, not the Town Council, a key point to remember.

Currently the Town and Community Trusts receive grants from the Town Council.  By investing in the town’s assets, like the Town Hall, those Trusts will be able to generate enough income to be less dependent on Council funding.  As the Community Trust expands to fully realise the potential of the transformed Town Hall, for example, the additional revenue generated from running events, weddings, exhibitions and markets will be pumped back into the town creating a virtuous cycle of investment, independent of the Town Council and above politics.

This is a fantastic example of community ownership that is designed to endure. 

By investing in the community and our town’s future, not just its self, the Town Council are giving the community groups, who are best placed to deliver services, the power to get on with delivering for the town.