Monkton Matters

12/02/2025

National Lottery Open Week 2025 at Maidenbrook Country Park and The Somerset Wood - there are lots of FREE events that have just been added to the Monkton Matters and National Lottery events page! FIND OUT MORE HERE = https://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/open-week/offers?lat=51.0387068&lng=-3.0649523

12/02/2025

Minutes from the latest West Monkton Parish Council meeting on 28.01.25 =
https://westmonktonparishcouncil.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/minutes28thJan25adoptedredacted.pdf

The Parish Council is made up of nine Parish Councillors and a team of two Clerks who are all passionate about our local area.

The Parish Council works collaboratively with members of the community and partners to deliver our vision and objectives for the Parish, going over and above what is expected from a Parish Council.

Our Vision is for West Monkton Parish Council and the local community to work together to protect and improve the social, recreational and environmental well-being of residents of the West Monkton parish and the lives of all who live, visit or work here.

Don’t forget that Parish Council meetings take place twice a month at the Brittons Ash Community Hall – see: https://westmonktonparishcouncil.gov.uk/parish-council/ for more details about upcoming meetings and sets of minutes from previous Parish Council meetings.

Please contact our Parish Clerk at [email protected] with any questions or queries.

10/02/2025

10/02/2025

Welcome to another of our series where we introduce you to members of the West Monkton Parish Council Team and give you insight into who they are and what they are involved with by posing the following questions:
❓What is your main responsibility?
❓What is the most rewarding aspect of being in your role at WMPC?
❓What has surprised you the most about being part of the WMPC team?
Next up is WMPC Councillor, Barry Gage....

❓What is your main responsibility?
I have two main responsibilities as part of West Monkton Parish Council - Chairman of the Brittons Ash Community Hall, and looking after the Public Rights of Way across our community. The BACH is a wonderful asset in our Parish and as chairman I work with the volunteer hall committee to ensure we are an affordable, clean and well maintained space for the use of the community.

Looking at the Public Rights of Way aspect of my duties, my role consists of monitoring and ensuring the paths across our Parish are passable and kept in good condition. Almost all footpaths now have gates installed, providing easy access for the community to enjoy the wonderful countryside we have around us.


❓What is the most rewarding aspect of being in your role at WMPC?
The most rewarding aspect of being a Parish Councillor is providing a service to the community and personally hearing people say they appreciate the events that we put on as a Parish Council. I am also very proud of all the extra services WMPC provides like the community fridge etc, and proud of the number of dedicated volunteers in this parish.

❓What has surprised you the most about being part of the WMPC team?
Having been a Parish Councillor for over 20 years, there don’t tend to be many surprises. It is frustrating how long it takes to get some of our work and initiatives underway/ completed, and we are often hindered by lack of response from developers and the main council. Parish Councils have limited power, although this is rapidly changing with more responsibilities being passed to Parish Councillors from Somerset Council. At WMPC we are looking forward to using these devolved responsibilities to continue having a positive impact on our local environment and residents.

07/02/2025

https://monktonmatters.co.uk/latest - check out the website for all the latest news, articles and events in our community - PLUS add your own!!

05/02/2025

Catch up with all the latest news about our regular FREE activities and clubs, as well as all the fantastic community events we have coming up across the year - there's going to be so much fun and enjoyment in store for everyone! https://mailchi.mp/552e2a7e2f5e/feb-25-community-update?e=5dbb8b048a You can also use the subscribe button in the link in order to receive these updates straight into your email inbox each month!

05/02/2025

Don't forget that our Stay and Play Group meets at the Brittons Ash Community Hall next to West Monkton Primary School on Thursdays 10.30am to 12 noon. This is a welcoming, thriving group - offering FREE fun and friendship to lots of parents, carers and their kiddies! If you parent/ look after little ones this really is a lovely, caring group and we'd love to see you.

05/02/2025

Did you know that Our Community Fridge - Monkton Heathfield is part of a network of over 700 Community Fridges nationwide, and that in the last year the network saved over 7,650 tonnes of food from waste, sharing 18.2 million meals worth of food! We work with local Co-op, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer and Tesco stores which our volunteers collect from on a daily basis to stock up the fridge and freezer for community use. We also have space for books and school uniform and a Salvation Army clothing bank for donations! Thank you to our wonderful volunteers - without your help none of this would have been possible!

29/01/2025

Did you know that the Monkton Matters website has a regularly updated events calendar, listing lots of regular activities and special events taking place across our community? Did you also know that if you are a local event organiser you can easily add the details of your events so that they are publicised on the site too! Visit https://monktonmatters.co.uk/

25/01/2025

📢⚠️From our wonderful community litter pickers =
To say it's been a busy couple of days would be an understatement. Between us, we have spent over 12 of the last 48 hours picking up many items blown from the recycling bins put out before the strong winds arrived. Not only does it look unsightly but much of it ends up in water courses and drainage ditches - such as this one on Bawler Road - where it then runs the risk of blocking the culverts and increasing the potential for flooding.

As we're all becoming aware, storms like Oewyn are becoming more frequent and can inevitably coincide with recycle collection days. Can we therefore ask everyone to help by doing whatever they can to prevent this happening in the future by keeping an eye on the forecasts and following a few, simple tips.

1. Stop the paper and card from escaping by putting the box containing glass bottles / jars on top.

2. Make sure the bright blue bags are closed using ALL the velcro pads.

3. Try to put the containers in a sheltered place if possible and maybe weight them down with bricks or a heavy pieces of board or wood.

4. If you have only a small amount for disposal you might even be able to avoid the problem altogether by waiting until the following week to put your bins out.

If the worst does happen please do your best to retrieve your waste and also help your near neighbours if they would have difficulty in doing this. If you also put your house number on the boxes and bags it will make it a lot easier for us to put them back where they escaped from 😊

Thank you.

Sandy, Susan, Maggie, Clive, Ray & Alan
Your village volunteer litter pickers.

P.S. We're always on the lookout for more volunteers. If you'd like help out - when you have time available - please contact Kate Welsh, our Assistant Clerk (Community) at [email protected] All equipment will be provided and those registered will be covered by PC insurance.

24/01/2025

https://monktonmatters.co.uk/council-news/minutes-from-the-latest-west-monkton-parish-council-meeting The Parish Council works collaboratively with members of the community and partners to deliver our vision and objectives for the Parish, going over and above what is expected from a Parish Council.

Our Vision is for West Monkton Parish Council and the local community to work together to protect and improve the social, recreational and environmental well-being of residents of the West Monkton parish and the lives of all who live, visit or work here.

Don’t forget that Parish Council meetings take place twice a month at the Brittons Ash Community Hall – see: https://westmonktonparishcouncil.gov.uk/parish-council/ for more details about upcoming meetings and sets of minutes from previous Parish Council meetings.

Please contact our Parish Clerk at [email protected] with any questions or queries.

21/01/2025

📢DO YOU HAVE YOUNG PEOPLE AT HOME?📢 Councils in the local area have secured funds to deliver local activities for young people - we're often told there isn't enough happening locally for them! BUT we need to know what they want, and when! Please could we ask you to get your young person to complete the following very short, anonymous survey to help guide what activities are provided = https://forms.office.com/e/WXXGCcVQcd

Many thanks!

20/01/2025

Temporary Road Closure = Red Hill, West Monkton.
https://monktonmatters.co.uk/transport-travel/temporary-road-closure-ttro082763wtd-red-hill-west-monkton

20/01/2025

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue have launched a consultation regarding their response policy for automatic fire alarms = https://monktonmatters.co.uk/crime-police/fire-service-consultation-automatic-fire-alarms "Last year, our crews responded to an average of 16 false alarms every day due to automatic fire alarms, placing an unnecessary burden on the Service’s resources and our ability to be ready and available for genuine emergencies.

In the last five years, we have been alerted to more than 55,000 automatic fire alarms, out of which just 42 needed the hose reel jet from one of our fire engines, which is less than 0.08%"

15/01/2025

Minutes from the latest West Monkton Parish Council meeting 10.12.24 =
https://monktonmatters.co.uk/council-news/minutes-from-the-latest-west-monkton-parish-council-meeting-10-12-24 The Parish Council is made up of nine Parish Councillors and a team of two Clerks who are all passionate about our local area. The Parish Council works collaboratively with members of the community and partners to deliver our vision and objectives for the Parish, going over and above what is expected from a Parish Council.

Our Vision is for West Monkton Parish Council and the local community to work together to protect and improve the social, recreational and environmental well-being of residents of the West Monkton parish and the lives of all who live, visit or work here.

Don’t forget that Parish Council meetings take place twice a month at the Brittons Ash Community Hall – see: https://westmonktonparishcouncil.gov.uk/parish-council/ for more details. Please contact our Parish Clerk at [email protected] with any questions or queries.

15/01/2025

From our local Village Agent Team = "We are heading into National Energy Action Week and each Village Agent Area is holding their own information sessions at Talking Cafes or holding an event day. We have chosen to hold an information day next Monday 20th January at the Moose Hall in Taunton.

We have lots of organisations coming along to give advice including Citizens Advice, Taunton Area Debt Advice, Centre for Sustainable Energy, Devon & Somerset Fire Service and many more" See the poster below for more details = https://monktonmatters.co.uk/health-and-wellbeing/4705

14/01/2025

Join us next Sunday, 19th January for our annual Plough Sunday service, where we celebrate and bless the start of the agricultural year, followed by lunch in our beautiful church - all are welcome!

14/01/2025

**FREE REPAIR CAFE: TOMORROW at the Brittons Ash Community Hall 2pm - 4pm** What can the volunteers help you mend/ repair/ reuse?