Goodbye South Somerset District Council and Hello Somerset Council!

As we transition to the new Somerset Council we have been reflecting on our achievements over the last 49 years as a district council.

SSDC was committed to environmental action prior to acknowledging the climate and ecological emergency in 2018/19 as we were already installing PV solar panels for clean energy on the council offices and had trialled a very early EV charging point at Brympton Way offices. Award winning eco homes had been built in the district, community transport schemes were supported and the Market Town Improvement network was developed to share projects between the town and parish councils including environmental ones.

Grants were created to support community environmental projects and South Somerset had the first community supported EV Charging Station funded and installed. Trees, wildflower seeds and spring bulbs were given away to the communities across the district and planted on SSDC countryside and land holdings. In recent years, our EV Charging Network has been expanded across SSDC car parks, whilst e-scooters & Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO, a type of recycled vegetable oil fuel) are currently being trialled.

All these legacies will be taken forward as we unite with the other councils and environment teams across the county to become one Somerset Council. We all thank you for all your support over the years, including all of our Environment Officers past and present, and are looking forward to continuing environmental action with you as part of the new Somerset Council.

Best eco wishes from Cllr Sarah Dyke, your Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change , and the SSDC Environment Team x

News

The future of Get SuSSed

We just wanted to let you know that with our transition to become the new Somerset Council from 1st April, Get SuSSed will have new branding and a few visible changes, but the content will remain much the same to cover all of Somerset.

We are asking for an opt out if you don’t want to continue receiving Get Sussed, so please email ssdcenvironment@southsomerset.gov.uk if you would like to opt-out due to these changes. If not, you will continue to receive the BRAND NEW Somerset Council Climate Newsletter, which is yet to be named! We'd love to receive your suggestions for naming the new Environment Newsletter, so please send your ideas to us here .

Thank you for subscribing and we look forward to many future editions.

A greener way to explore South Somerset

The South Somerset 80-mile Cycleway will lead you on a cycling adventure along a hedge-lined network of sleepy country lanes whilst calling into some of the county’s finest market towns and historic villages. This cycle trip will take you deep into the county and guarantees that you’ll be tasting some of Somerset’s finest food and drink along the way. The Somerset landscape is incredibly diverse so expect breathtaking landscape views (after a climb or two!) whilst also enjoying leisurely stretches of flat terrain as you cycle along the peaceful riverbanks on the Levels.

The 80-mile route is fully waymarked and there are eight sections to help you discover this fantastic area;

You can download the route as a GPX file straight to your phone or device via apps like OS maps or Kamoot and Visit South Somerset have also produced handy route section guidance too.

For more information, a free leaflet and route guidance, explore our Visit South Somerset website.

Tinkers Bubble Planning Success

Great news that Tinkers Bubble, the off-grid, zero fossil-fuelled community living in the woodland near Norton Sub Hamdon, has just been granted permanent planning permission.

Tinkers Bubble was first granted a five-year temporary planning permission in 1998 which was then extended by ten years in 2004, and a further ten years in 2016. This month they have been granted their permanent planning permission application. They have 14 residential buildings, workshops and a wood powered sawmill, all off grid powered by the sun and wood. Woodland management, agriculture and apple pressing are part of their self sufficiency for food and income. They also host 70 short-stay volunteers each year learning different aspects of land management and skills required to live in a low impact community.

Tinkers Bubble hosts a variety of day visits, including an annual open day. Recent events with SSDC and the Land Workers Alliance have also been held, as well as educational visits from university groups to local school groups. To find out more about Tinkers Bubble and their events, see their website.

Round-up of green achievements at our country parks!

Our country park teams have shown an incredible dedication to sustainability and biodiversity over the years, and have collated an impressive list of achievements, including:

2981 trees planted across Ham Hill, Yeovil Country Park & Chard Reservoir
3 electric chainsaws and 2 electric brush cutters purchased
Identified a good population of dormice across the three sites
Traditional management of hay meadows across the three main sites, which has seen an increase in orchids – over 5000 estimated at Chard Reservoir, over 10,000 estimated at Ham Hill and 5 new recordings at Yeovil Country Park. Species include southern marsh, common spotted, pyramidal and bee orchids.

Volunteers contributing an average of 2,250 days per year across all three sites, equivalent to 6 extra rangers per year. We only have 5 full time rangers so that is over a doubling of the teams capacity!
The rangers at Yeovil Country Park working alongside the Yeovil Rivers Community Trust to improve the biodiversity of Dodham Brook (an important waterway in Yeovil, hosting populations of otter, water vole and kingfishers). SSDC & YRCT were awarded a Green Challenge Recovery Fund grant to improve the culverted section of the brook. This includes installing fish passes on the weirs and in-channel features that will create a more natural flow, as well as providing refuge and habitat for fish and invertebrates.
Ham Hill were awarded a grant of £1.6 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a four year project ‘Uncovering Ham Hill’s past for its future’ to protect and conserve the Iron Age hillfort and its wildlife, as well as improve facilities for visitors and enable more people to become involved with Ham Hill.

Yeovil Recreation Centre's dedication to sustainability

In the last three years the team have planted over 2,400 trees across the site to help with drainage and wind protection, whilst also offsetting carbon emissions produced by the use of fossil fuel burning machinery. Wildflower banks and drifts have also been introduced and planted amongst the trees and unused areas of the site, and waste wood and pallets that are delivered here, have been upcycled to create bird, owl and bat boxes that can now be seen around the park.

The team have also been reviewing how they can reduce the impact of the critical services they carry out to maintain the site for public use.

Through their extensive research, they have now implemented the use of organic-based fertilisers on sports pitches, made from 98% seaweed and the other 2% is made up of a naturally occurring sucralose carrying agent to help with binding to the leaf surface. There has been a reduction in the use of chemical controls on weeds and pest around hard surfaces and furniture, with the staff now spot treating sports surfaces to prevent outbreaks of weeds before they can take root, and alternatively have started using mechanical brushes on artificial surfaces to remove moss and algae. The team are also hugely dedicated to looking at electric and battery-operated alternatives to their older fuel-powered machinery, and when the older machinery has reached the end of its lifecycle, or has gone out of service, they have been replaced by more eco-friendly alternatives.

All this hard work won the team not one, but two Grounds Management Association Industry awards last year, including 'Sports & Turf Best Environmental and Sustainability Impact Award' and 'Best Managed Artificial Surfaces of the Year Award'. You can visit the BRAND NEW Yeovil Rec website for more information.

Upper Milford Valley Rewilding Project

Nestled within the bustling residential streets of Yeovil, lies Upper Milford Valley, an area of open space that was historically home to a stream. Unfortunately, this stream was lost due to changes in management of the local landscape and the building of further homes, but despite this there are areas of the space that hold water and a clear flow can be seen across the site.

After reviewing the current management plan of the site, the Horticulture team at SSDC have decided to work with nature and create features around the areas of running water. The team have recently integrated a dipping platform and have created a more established pond area that they intend to plant up with native marginal and aquatic plants to increase biodiversity and introduce more wildlife to the area. Alongside this, a variety of native trees and shrubs have been planted across the site, including hazel, wild cherry and Crataegus, and over 1000 wildflower plugs have been planted that were grown in our very own Lufton Plant Nursery!

Going forward, the team intend to manage this site in an environmentally friendly way, conducive to the diversification of the wildlife present on the site, which will minimise the need for regular maintenance across the park. In turn, this will see a reduction in the use of fossil-fuel powered machinery and vehicles, and therefore reduce our carbon footprint.

This is just one example of how our Horticulture team is working hard to mitigate climate change, and this style of management will be rolled out across many of our parks and open spaces in the future, alongside their efforts to re-wild verges, create wildflower meadows, plant trees, and support the community. The team already have a great track record and have planted over 600,000 trees in the last 10 years and have planted and given away approximately 1 million native bulbs over the last decade. What an incredible achievement!

One last look at our Environmental Achievements

Some of our readers may remember our Environment Achievements video we released last year, which looked at some of our most successful projects since declaring a climate and ecological emergency in 2019. If you missed it or need a bit of a reminder, you can watch the full video here!

Community

Updates from Carymoor Environmental Trust

For anyone who doesn’t know about Carymoor, they are an environmental charity based on a capped landfill site near Castle Cary. Over the past 25 years they have created a vibrant and diverse nature reserve filled with wetlands, woodland, meadows and ponds. They welcome school groups for ‘Days at the Dump’ as well as wildlife and history themed days, and run sustainable and rural craft courses for adults and families.

Carymoor rely on volunteers to help maintain the site and run regular conservation and gardening groups where new members are always welcome, so do get in touch if you are interested in joining.

This winter, they have been busy with 8,000 tree whips to get in the ground before the end of the tree planting season. These trees will form an important part of their wildlife restoration for the Nightingale Project and will hopefully create the scrubby, thorny habitat that these rare birds prefer for nesting.

Carrymoor continue to work with Somerset Skills and Learning to provide free courses to Somerset residents and their willow weaving and rural skills courses have been extremely popular. During the Easter holidays they will be running Wild Spring courses for families on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th April, with details available soon.

As an expansion to their free courses, they are also running paid for courses which include a selection of basket weaving courses, arts events for young people and dawn walks or explorer experiences which also make fabulous birthday parties for children or adults!

The reserve is not open to the public as is on the landfill site, so attending a course or joining their volunteering groups offer a fantastic opportunity to explore this special place. To find out more information, please visit their website here.

Continuing the fight against litter

This is the time of year for the Great British Spring Clean (17 March- 2 April) and although the week of action is nearly over, throughout the year communities around South Somerset continue to help litter pick to keep our communities and countryside clean.

Throughout the Great British Spring Clean, SSDC have received several requests for the loan of litter picking equipment. Village/Parish Councils and schools have either signed up or shown interest in borrowing the equipment in the future. Misterton, Charlton Mackrell, Bruton, Muchelney, East Lambrook and Babcary & Stoke Trister have already completed their litter picks, and St.Michaels Academy, Yeovil, also borrowed our equipment to allow the whole school to complete several litter picks earlier this month. To apply to borrow litter-picking equipment, please drop us an email!

Unfortunately we still receive emails showing verges and ditches filled with litter. Many of these areas are unsafe for community litter picks but SSDC's Environmental Services Team can be alerted to fly tipping and litter hotspots to arrange a clear up. Details about how to do this can be found here and soon on the new Somerset Council Website.

SSDC would like to say a huge thankyou to all those that have offered their time to help us keep South Somerset beautiful.

Wildflower seed

land preparation

We have now had all our seed collected and distributed across South Somerset, with projects varying from 25 meters squared up to 2400! We developed this project in response to the massive decline in wildflower meadows, with 97% of them being eradicated across England since the 1930's.

The next steps for our projects is land preparation towards sowing in the spring. If you would like to create your own wildflower area in your garden now is the time to start thinking about where you would like it to be and to start getting your seeds from the correct suppliers. Please see the Royal Horticultural Society website for further details.

Grants and Funding available for

climate action

Whether you are looking to improve your local allotments to educate your community in the benefits of growing your own produce, a charity looking to increase your impact on the fight against climate change, or even a community group in search of support to improve biodiversity in your local area, our website offers a huge selection of grants and funding currently available to residents, community groups, schools and charities.

To view the support on offer, please click here.

Events

The South West Climathon!

We would like to invite you to join the Eco Centre, a charitable community benefit society promoting sustainable development in the South West, for a day of collaboration, innovation, and action at the region’s first Climathon (Climate Action Hackathon): a dynamic and innovative event for people to join forces and take action against climate change.

Participants will form teams and develop solutions to address challenges related to Climate Change and Sustainability in a Time of a Cost-of-living Crisis. There will be a specific focus on:

Energy – generation and saving
Smarter consumption – waste minimisation, adapting usage/behaviour, re-use/recycling

The Climathon will be held at the County Ground, Taunton, 9am-5pm on Wednesday 26 April.

If you would like to find out more information or to book a place, please visit their website or contact Climathon@EcoCentreSW.org.

For unfunded groups and Community Representatives/Individuals there is no fixed charge - you will be asked to make a donation towards running costs.
For organisations, tickets are £80 per person.