Tiff's Riff – District Councillor Jottings

South Somerset District Council has set up a new business called Elleston; it is a landscaping and horticultural business and can be used by residents and as well as housing developers. Elleston has been started in response to requests for high quality maintenance work and includes sports field management, arborist work, fencing and street cleaning.

Often when new estates are built the developers choose to retain ownership of the public areas and charge residents for the upkeep costs. This is one such area in which Elleston can be used. Obviously SSDC cannot use public money to maintain private land hence why a separate trading company has been set up. Elleston will not be used on any publicly owned land/road that SSDC already maintains. It has been set up to step in for both business' and residents' needs in private land situations. All profits will be returned to the Council.

After 21 years Angela Watson, our Lead Specialist and Monitoring Officer, is leaving SSDC at the end of December. This is an important loss for the Council as Angela leaves a vast experience and knowledge gap at a time when the Council can spend up to £10 million pounds on each individual investment without full council consent as part of their income generation project.

Our Parish and Town Councils have been having their say on crucial plans for the future development of the district. SSDC is in the process of reviewing the Local Plan which was adopted in 2015. The Local Plan is there to set out a vision and framework for the future development of the area and includes economic growth, where homes could be built, steps to safeguard the environment and create vital infrastructure.

Tiffany Osborne
tiffany.osborne@southsomerset.gov.uk