Newsletter August 2021

What a delight to be back in the village hall for our monthly meetings, and thanks to all the members of the public who turned up with views to be heard, and questions to ask. We took that as a sign that despite the strange year behind us, community spirit is alive and well in Evercreech.

Well, what a summer this is turning out to be! After a slow start the lawns, gardens, hedges and particularly weeds have taken off at phenomenal speed. The council will start the hedge trimming season as soon as the nesting season is over, which legally is mid-August, and will actively ask landowners and the highways to trim any particularly dangerous growth, although we do support the leaving of areas for wildlife. Indeed, there is a small rewilding area at Queens Road playing fields.

Our street cleaner Mary-Lou continues to be appreciated around the village, but as the weed growth has made the village look a bit unkempt, there was a suggestion that we tap into our community spirit, and have a ‘tidy and weed the front of your house’ day. This was accepted by us, so keep a lookout for further details!

You may have noticed the skateboard ramp at Weston town has been dismantled after the safety inspector condemned it. On demolition the supporting framework was shown to be on the verge of collapse, so the decision to remove was proved correct. We hope to replace the equipment as soon as possible, but timing depends on a successful grant application, which is ongoing, and input from the young people of the village to confirm what they would like it replaced with.

We are all fed up with the eyesore that was the Greencore site in the middle of the village, and the recent fire highlighted the security aspects. We debated the latest planning application, and as it differed very little from the last, except for increasing highway and other concerns we again objected. We now await Mendip’s response.

Have a great summer, and if you can’t make the next meeting at 7pm on the 3rd August, we hope to see you at the village show in September where once again we will have a stall.

Keep well.

Rob Reed

Chair, Evercreech Prish Council