What We're Working On
Local Devolution
North Somerset Council (NSC) has been struggling to fund its budget deficit. It has managed to plug the gap for 2025-26 with various service cuts but must still make £millions more savings in future years, as the cost of statutory services that it has to provide by Law, such as adult and children’s social care go up alarmingly every year without NSC being able to get funds to keep pace.
NSC has to prioritise statutory services over non-statutory items like maintaining our parks and play areas and keeping our streets clean.
The funding crisis is so severe that NSC is asking all Town and Parish Councils to take on some services and assets, otherwise we will be seeing more broken play equipment being taken away rather than replaced, dilapidated public buildings and less maintenance around the town.
NSC has stated that if Portishead Town Council (PTC) takes on the costs of local assets and services that this will not result in a reduction in the NSC Council tax bill as it needs the money just to keep statutory services running.
Parks and green space maintenance, litter bins provision and emptying, street cleaning, the Lake Grounds, Somerset Hall and Portishead Library are amongst the services and assets that might be transferred to Portishead Town Council.
Our view is that these services and assets are important for residents, community groups, volunteers, our economy and our wellbeing but any transfer or devolution has to be financially viable and acceptable to residents. We plan to create a “Devolution Prospectus” for residents to share their views. Once resident views have been considered, PTC could then potentially take on some services and assets towards the end of the 2025-26 Financial Year.
We have already found out how other Town Councils around the country have taken on locally devolved assets and service, as this is a trend happening all over England, but there is much more to do. We will not accept any potential hospital passes from North Somerset. We will keep you updated.
North Somerset Local Plan 2041
North Somerset Council's draft Local Plan includes the proposal for 400 homes to be built at Tower Farm and 100 at Black Rock. Both of these sites adjoin Weston Big Wood SSSI and, we believe, would cause considerable harm to it if they get the go-ahead.
Feedback from Portishead residents, including at a public meeting and drop-in sessions arranged by Portishead Town Council, has confirmed that a great many of you share our concerns regarding the damage that building here would do to Weston Big Wood and the wider ecological ecosystem. We do not believe that NSC has properly considered the uniqueness and the value of this location. We also think that their Plan breaches a number of regulations and rules, including a number of sections of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) such as the requirement to ensure that brownfield sites are being properly utilised before Green Belt land is given up for development and for development sites to be properly sustainable in terms of access and transport.
We have been encouraging residents to respond to NSC's consultation, and PTC has also drafted strongly worded and carefully evidenced responses of its own with the help of a planning consultant.
We agree that affordable new homes need to be built and understand that many Portishead residents could benefit from these being built in the town and nearby, but these need to be built in the right locations, and we believe that we have shown in our responses that these can be built in alternative brownfield or less vulnerable Green Belt locations that are properly sustainable.
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What else?
In addition and in conjunction with the above we are: