Council Matters meetings are usually about in-house stuff, but everything we do is relevant in some way to the wider community, and we aim to be transparent. That’s why we do this meeting round-up. It’s quicker, lighter, and easier to read than minutes and this time we’ve got some news about areas of town you may be familiar with.
Councillor Mel Usher welcomed guests to the meeting. To begin with we had some lovely praise from local resident Andrew Earle “It’s great to have a council that thinks laterally – thank you for everything you do”.
First on the agenda, what’s been going on at the Millennium Green? As you may have seen on our social media, during recent strong winds the ancient sycamore tree, probably Frome’s oldest, sadly lost a limb and needs some serious TLC. Julian Hight, local tree expert spoke – “It would be great if we can keep much of the fallen branches in situ to retain the deadwood” Chris Stringer, Environment Manager agreed and reassured us that as much of the trunk and branch system as possible would remain.
Cllr Kate Bielby posed the question – “We’ve had a couple of really hefty tree falls in the last month… how do you monitor the trees and minimise the risk of… bits falling off them?” Chris replied “We have tree surveys done every 5 years and commission tree surgeons to do the planned work. Sometimes this is expensive and controversial and we have to make hard decisions. Our priority is always residents “
Who owns the Millennium Green? Good question. Currently the Millennium Green Trust hold the keys. The Trust is likely to dissolve in the near future, due to lack of funds and diminished Trustees and volunteers. If that happens, with Mendip’s blessing, the plan is for FTC to take over completely. Cllrs agreed unanimously to this, and happily acknowledged the work of the Trust up until now. It’s a beautiful part of Frome. We love trees and open spaces, and we’ll take good care of it.
Next up, what have we been up to at the Old Showfield? We create a plan for all our open spaces, so that you know what’s going on, and to make sure we continue to look after them correctly. They’re available to see online and up on the noticeboards on site. The Old Showfield already has a good play area and the long grass areas help tiny creatures to thrive. Chris added “As requested by the public – we’ve put in 5 new bins, 5 new benches and planted lots of new trees”. Future plans include more path improvements in preparation for Frome Parkrun, and a community orchard. Lovely!
Next to the The People’s Budget 2018. This is a chunk of money (£25,000) FTC puts towards Town events each year. Local residents will decide on how the money is divided between six events at a special voting day on 17 March. Registering to be on the panel is quicker than boiling the kettle easier than beans on toast. Do it at frometowncouncil.gov.uk/say-frome-events.
FTC has a successful history of employing apprentices. We’ve currently got a talented intern from Bath Uni pretty much running Discoverfrome.co.uk our website that holds information on everything happening in Frome all in one place. Rachel Griffin, FTC’s Marketing and Communications Manager proposed that a new apprentice will be appointed to take over from Claire, our current intern, when she finishes. Cllrs unanimously agreed.
That’s about it from us, thanks so much for reading. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep updated on everything we’re up to and the next meeting is 7th March at the Town Hall.
