At the last Meeting of the Parish Council, Members considered several issues relating to the B3141.

Firstly, they considered an update on a new weight restriction order. Members shared the frustration of many local residents with the slow progress being made with this matter.

The following letter has now been received from the County Council:-

"Further to receipt of the weight limit exemption forms by East Huntspill Parish Council on 9th December 2011, I am writing to provide you with an update as to the current position of this scheme and offer a tenable resolution.

Since the expiry of the weight limit in April 2010, there have been a number of letters and meetings to establish a way forward suitable to all parties involved. The overall consensus was that the scheme worked well but local farmers and businesses in East Huntspill were being inconvenienced. A number of ways to address this were proposed, of those, providing a small number of exemptions to those local farmers and businesses affected by the experimental order was considered the most appropriate way forward to balance all needs.

We have subsequently been in consultation with the police as they would be responsible for enforcement. They have stated that with the resources at their disposal this would be deemed a low priority, with any enforcement being carried out as part of their normal patrol of the area. Therefore with the considerable number of exemptions received this is considered an unworkable option to proceed with. In reality the large number of exemptions received has been deemed as undermining local requests for a weight limit for an entire vehicle classification.

Having now exhausted all other options, with both the community and the enforcement body, the implementation of 18 tonne weight restriction is now the only pragmatic option that can be afforded. We envisage that this will allow those farmers and businesses to travel through the area while stopping haulage companies with larger lorries from using the route and therefore travelling along the more appropriate strategic routes. In effect, vehicles with more than two axles will be excluded.

I appreciate that this may not be your preferred solution but we have to be pragmatic given the Police feedback as to not implement an arbitrary limit. I would like to thank you and your community for its participation in together fathoming a workable solution

Please can you confirm that you are happy for us to proceed with the only tangible solution that being an 18 tonne limit to replace the experimental signing in situ"

The Parish Council are seeking to discuss this matter further with County Highway Officers and the local County Councillor, Mark Healey.

Secondly, the issue of traffic accidents in the Lockswell area was considered. A number of the accidents have been attributed to driver error but it was felt that there may be some improvements which can be made to make the area safer. The photograph shows damage caused by one of the accidents. The Traffic Engineer has visited the area to see if anything can be done to improve road safety and will arrange to fix a crossroads warning sign on the post near 5 Lockswell and reinstate the white road markings which have worn away recently.

The third issue relates to an increase in flytipping along the Causeway during recent weeks. The deposits are regularly reported and the District Council do arrange for them to be cleared promptly. However this activity is clearly anti social and creates unnecessary work for the Parish and District Councils. The Parish Council are to write to the County Council to see if the opening hours of the Civic Amenity Sites can be extended and particularly if the Highbridge and Bridgwater sites could be closed on different days to each other to give local people the opportunity to take their rubbish to a nearby site on each day of the week.