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SEEN
Somerset Environmental
and Ecological News
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Hello Seen readers,
Somerset felt like the centre of the world last weekend in the form of Glastonbury Festival. If you were lucky enough to be there, we hope you had an amazing time. Members of our team attended and were inspired by the strong and impactful climate themes and messaging presented around the festival.
We have our own important messages for you in this month’s edition of SEEN. We are excited to confirm the launch of the Somerset Tree Strategy - a ten-year plan to protect trees and woodland throughout the county, as part of the council’s vision to create a greener, more sustainable Somerset. Read more about this further on.
Other highlights are new developments for the EV Charging Network, and how the Council and Environment Agency are working together to help endangered eels. Plus, Community news, events, and more.
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Finally, don’t forget Plastic Free July is coming up, along with International Plastic Bag Free Day on Monday the 3rd. There are many ways we can choose to refuse single use plastic, not just in July but every day. Check out this short film that really captures why we should refuse single-use plastic, through the Story of a Plastic Spoon.
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A ten-year plan to enhance and protect Somerset trees and woodland has been adopted by Somerset Council.
Amongst its ambitious aims, the strategy sets out a plan for planting 240 hectares of new trees and woodlands each year across the county until 2033.
The strategy recognises the Council’s role in helping tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss and has been developed in partnership with the Environment Agency, Local Nature Partnership, Exmoor National Park, Quantock Hills, AONB Partnership, The Forestry Commission and The Woodland Trust.
Built around five themes, it seeks to strengthen the county’s bond with its trees, creating a ‘wood culture’ where the people of Somerset can access and be a part of caring about Somerset’s woodland.
Three new jobs have been created to drive this work forward, supporting and encouraging community groups across the county.
By coming together to deliver this strategy everyone in Somerset can help prevent further decline of our natural environment and help to reduce the impacts of climate change.
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 The UK skylark population halved during the 1990s, and is still declining. In its preferred habitat of farmland, skylarks declined by 75% between 1972 and 1996.
At Somerset Council managed Ham Hill Country Park the Skylark breeding season is well underway, with at least 10 breeding pairs recorded here. They are ground nesters, and the flat fields at Ham Hill are ideal grassy meadows full of insects and wildflowers, and nestled in the long grass you might not realise they are there.
Our Countryside team works hard to protect and preserve the habitat and asks visitors to look out for the signs near nesting areas, tread carefully and keep dogs on leads to avoid disturbing them, or worse, trampling the nests.
The Mendip Hills AONB Service has commissioned BLAGSAEY Arts CIC to create several willow and paper skylarks for installation at one of their iconic skylark sites, Deer Leap reserve. These lovely sculptures are carefully placed, and the aim is to remind people to watch out for these iconic birds and respect their nesting sites.
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Congratulations to Frome town who have been presented with a Bee Friendly Award, from the Bee Friendly Trust who work with villages, towns and cities, along with community groups and businesses across England, to make them more bee friendly.
The award celebrates communities doing their bit to support bees and pollinators - and Frome is a fine example of that. Not only with its bee-friendly planters at the railway station, but also the host of wildflower planting across the town, the creation of new habitats with bug hotels and bird boxes, seed swap initiatives and more that ensures the town has quite the buzz!
 Two new repair cafes are set to launch in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge following an appeal for volunteers.
Repair cafes are springing up all across the country and offer a range of repairs, depending on the volunteers – from repairs on clothes to small furniture items, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, and toys.
The new Repair Cafes will be hosted at the Methodist Church in Burnham-On-Sea and at the Purple Spoon Cafe at the YMCA in Highbridge. To volunteer for the new repair cafes, contact Burnham Highbridge Town Council at info@burnham-highbridge-tc.gov.uk.
During Frome's Great Big Green Week, Frome Seed Library opened its very own community garden outside of the town’s Library. Filled with pollinator-friendly flowers and yummy veg, all grown from local seed by Sprouts, a free gardening club for under-5’s.
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Image courtesy of GoCreate Taunton
Benches in Taunton High Street have been given a new lease of life with environmental-themed paintings.
Somerset Council has been working with partners GoCreate and Rights Community Action to re-invigorate Taunton’s High Street Benches with striking artwork created by the community for the community.
The launch of the new look benches took place in June in Taunton High Street. The remaining benches will be painted over the summer.
Coming soon. A free beach toy library at Dunster Beach.
Plastic Free Communities in West Somerset are welcoming donations of beach toys to help keep the toy libraries in Dunster and Minehead well-stocked. Donations can be left at the Exmoor National Park Centre in Dunster, open 7 days a week, 10am-5pm. Plastic Free Communities in West Somerset are looking forward to sharing more on the Dunster toy library soon!
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Haselbury Plucknett’s Eco Rep and founder member of Haselbury’s Wildlife and Habitats Goup applied to receive wildflower seeds from former South Somerset District Counci’s wildflower see giveaway last spring. Having identified an area of 362 square meters in the recreation park, the Parish Council gave the group permission to use it. The area was then prepared for a community sowing event by removing the turf, dividing the area into grids, and determining the number of seeds needed. Each member of the group was then given a small bucket containing wet sand with the seed stirred in, which was then scattered over their chosen grid.
Much to the delight of the group, the area has shown great promise and they can’t wait to see what next year brings.
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Taunton Midweek Conservation Volunteers had their first session of the year cutting bracken on the Quantock nature reserve. With limited bracken to cut, half the group spent the morning removing a long run of old fencing wire alongside the road. While there was only two lines of wire, finding it in amongst the brambles and nettles was quite a challenge.
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A team of volunteers had a successful day’s work conducting a plastic tree guard clearance at Yearnor Wood near Porlock. Following a short, but steep walk along the Southwest Coast Path to the site, they spent the day removing the tree guards from the woodland floor and from the trunk of the trees that they had once protected. This section of the woodland is now plastic free.
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Somerset Council is to be allocated nearly £4m of government funding to expand the county’s electrical vehicle charging network.
Data from Gov.uk indicates there are now nearly 300 public accessible EV charging points within Somerset, which represents a 30% increase since the summer of 2022. Of these, 117 have been provided by the five previous councils in Somerset and the LEVI funding could add another 200 or more.
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The popular pathways through The Meads Eco-Park, Bridgwater have been extended providing a link to the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal Towpath.
Our Clean Surroundings team have also been on site mowing pathways where there are desire lines and around field perimeters so people can enjoy this area.
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 Our Countryside team at Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve is working with the Environment Agency (EA) to help increase the nationally declining population of European Eels (Anguilla anguilla). In early May, the EA introduced 8,000 glass eels into the reservoir. The countryside team will install Eel passes on the spillways at various points where the eels move to and from the River Isle to support mature eels on their migration to the River Parrett, out to the Bristol Channel, and down to the Sargasso Sea 3000 miles away.
Somerset Council's £1 fare has netted an industry award for 'sustainability' and achieved a highly commended award for delivering 'clean growth'. Somerset Council and the Somerset Bus Partnership launched the ‘Bus It’ campaign last year.
The £1 single fare was introduced in December and applies to journeys in the Taunton 'zone'. Passengers pay £1 for a single fare anywhere within the zone including on park and ride services.
The £1 fare delivered a 24% increase in bus use in Taunton over its first 4 months. The trial also included introducing late night services on routes into Taunton to support the night-time economy.
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Carrying a refillable bottle or mug is a great way to reduce the plastic waste generated while on the move.
Partnering with Wessex Water, we’ve provided free water bottle refill stations in five of the county’s busiest high-streets, saving residents money and avoiding thousands of single-use plastic bottles going to waste.
And don’t forget, licensed premises, including bars, theatres and restaurants, are legally required to provide free drinking water on request, although they can charge for using a glass.
We support the Refill campaign which works to connect people to locations where they can eat, drink and shop with less waste.
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Volunteers are often at the centre of our communities and the last few years have shown us the importance of their work.
To celebrate all the wonderful volunteers, Somerset Prepared partnership launched the 2023 Community Resilience Awards at the end of Volunteers Week in early June.
These awards recognise people or groups who have gone above and beyond to help their community be better able to deal with emergencies. If you would like to nominate an individual or group who are doing great things please fill out this nomination form - entries close on 7 September 2023. The Awards will be a key element of the annual Somerset Prepared Community Day, which will be held at Wincanton Racecourse on Thursday, October 5th. Tickets available through Eventbrite. The partners welcome local people to celebrate Somerset’s community emergency volunteers, with workshops, presentations, and equipment demonstrations.
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 Save the Date: Saturday 23 September - Sunday 1 October
The council’s England Coast Path Team has unveiled plans to bring a brand new event to celebrate Somerset’s iconic coastal routes.
The first ever Somerset and Exmoor Coast Festival is happening this September, and is a brilliant opportunity to walk the entire coast of Somerset, from Brean to Porlock Weir and celebrate its National Trail status. Visitors can also participate in guided walks that explore the coastal countryside from hubs along the route. Eateries, B&Bs, galleries, and other hospitality providers along the route are also being encouraged to come on board and support the festival in a bid to cement its place as a permanent fixture on the county’s calendar. We hope you can join in to make this a huge success and shine the spotlight on this beautiful area of Somerset.
The Countryside Charity Somerset (CPRE) are launching their annual photography competition and its now open for entries. This year’s theme is Somerset : Wild at heart.
There are two prizes of £100 each - one for adults and one for under 18s. You can send in 3 entries per person. Check out the CPRE website for more information on how to enter photos of your interpretation of Somerset: Wild at heart. The closing date is 31st August.
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There are so many brilliant eco events happening across Somerset that we can’t list them all here. Download and check out SEEN Events for the full list.
If you're hosting an environmentally themed event ad want to list it please tell us all about it at climateemergency@somerset.gov.uk.
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The Somerset Local Nature Partnership is working with partners across Somerset to promote and invest in nature-based approaches to health and social care.
Being outside and enjoying nature is good for us. The natural environment can play a key role in preventing and managing many health problems as well as providing mental and social benefits. The aim is to ensure every Somerset resident has access to good quality greenspace.
Next steps will be to work with partners to design projects and places to improve the health of the local population and increase the enjoyment of nature.
Check out their latest film shares the benefits of nature connection and green social prescribing. The interconnected crisis we find ourselves in calls for a vital response that acts holistically for the benefit of wellness for both people and planet. Whether you live in the city or countryside, regular contact and connection with the natural world can have a meaningful impact on health and wellbeing.
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Find out about the grants that are potentially available to you and/or your group.
Download Grants and Funding for all the latest funding opportunities.
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In hot weather, we can help wildlife by providing access to fresh water to drink and bathe. It’s also important to keep the water topped up during the winter as sources of water can become frozen and more difficult to find.
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A specially made bird bath, or just a shallow bowl on the floor – will attract different creatures to different settings.
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For insects, a shallow bowl with glass marbles is ideal.
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Place water for birds near a shrub or tree so they feel confident to approach from a place of safety.
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Watch for predators such as cats.
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Leave water where you can easily access it for cleaning and filling and check it regularly to keep it topped up.
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Don’t miss a thing. Put the water in a place where you can watch the activity without spooking the visitors.
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Plastic Free July is upon us and a good time to highlight just how easy it is to make changes to the way we shop and reduce the number of plastic containers we use. Many supermarkets offer plastic-free or refill options on standard home cleaning, beauty, and bathing products. They are usually cheaper too. Or even better, support local independent stores who offer sustainable alternatives to plastic products.
Have a go at making your own eco-friendly cleaning products at home. Check out Nancy Birtwhistle (you might know her as a Great British Bake-Off Champion) - her simple petrochemical free recipes are easy to make.
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  This is your newsletter, and we want to hear about the great environmental work happening where you live, or what you do to make a difference every day with your brilliant eco hacks and tips.
You can make suggestions about what you would like to see more of in future editions of SEEN and have your say on previous stories and topics.
We would love to hear from you.
Get in touch at climateemergency@somerset.gov.uk.
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