Welcome to our first SSDC Environment news letter. We're really excited to share all our eco news with you and showcase the brilliant work happening across the district as we work towards our goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. We'll be sharing news of some exciting SSDC green projects, what local eco groups are up to and also championing the great things our colleagues are doing within SSDC to make our work places more eco friendly and sustainable.

Meet the SSDC Environment Team!

We're a close knit team who are passionate about what we do - but we can't do it without you!

From left to right Josh Bennett Environment Case Officer Katy Menday Leisure and Recreation Manager Lorraine Hemmings Communications Case Officer (Environment) Cara Naden Environment Case Officer Vicki Dawson Lead Specialist Environment

Heading up our team is our dedicated portfolio holder for environment Cllr Sarah Dyke

Hello from Councillor Sarah Dyke

"As portfolio holder for the environment at SSDC, like you, I am passionate about the work we are doing to create a safer more sustainable and indeed even more beautiful South . I love where I live and know you do too, so I'm really looking forward to supporting and being part of some great environment collaborations as we move forward and work hard to

meet our pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030. Best Eco wishes Sarah

SSDC Green Initiatives

Electric Vehicle Charging Network Next Phase

South Somerset District Council has a part to play in enabling people to convert to low emission vehicles and help reduce transport related carbon emissions and promote more sustainable forms of transport.

In March we went live with three rapid direct current (DC) Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points at

Wincanton, and .

The next phase is to extend the network and link up with other EV enterprises, with a further 17 EV charging points planned by December 2021. The ambition is to expand the network even further based on feedback from our communities and usage data from the initial sites.

It's hoped this will give residents the confidence to embrace this technology, helping to reduce the carbon emissions from transport in the district and help break the chicken-and-egg cycle of drivers being reluctant to buy and use Electric Vehicles. You can read the full story on our website here.

Local councillors recently met at our Ilchester charging point to see one in use. From left to right Cara Naden Environment Case officer for District Council, Cllr Sarah Dyke elected member for and SSDC Environment Portfolio Holder, Cllr Charlie Hull, Cllr Tony Capozzoli and Cllr Paul Rowsell elected members for Northstone, Ivelchester & St Michael's Wards.

Watch this space for more updates of future EV chargers being installed across our estate!

South Somerset District Council join up with conservationists to save the rare Shrill Carder Bee

SSDC has signed up as a partner organisation with the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust in the fight to save the rare Shrill Carder Bee.

The team at Ham Hill Country Park have begun habitat management on the site to encourage rare Shrill carder bees to recolonise from an existing population nearby. This will will be centred around the hay meadows in the flat fields of the park, and will include leaving areas of dense tussock grass for the bees to The Shrill carder bee, Bombus sylvarum nest and hibernate.

The shrill carder bees emerge from June to October, so the aim is to create habitat that will be a haven of late blooming wildflowers for the bees to forage from. In particular flowers from the pea, daisy, mint and broomrape plant families have been shown to be important to the Shrill carder bees.

A view of the potential Shrill carder bee habitat site at Strouds meadow at Ham Hill Country Park

Shrill carder bee populations are threatened by loss and fragmentation of habitat and they only exist in five isolated areas of the UK, of which Somerset is one. The small number of surviving populations makes the Shrill carder bee vulnerable to inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity, further increasing the risk of local extinctions. So they need our help!

You can find out more about the Shrill carder bee here

We're hoping the Shrill carder bees discover this new specially prepared habitat soon. We'll let you know when they arrive!

The Friends of Country Park are awarded a grant for tree planting at Wyndham Hill

The Friends of Yeovil Country Park have been awarded a grant of £7000 from the Postcode Local Trust, to be be used to increase the woodland at Wyndham Hill by planting 570 new trees.

The extension of the existing woodland will help to increase biodiversity and capture

carbon in an area of species poor grassland. The grant also includes funding for a new perimeter fence to protect the trees from the grazing cattle on the hill. The tree planting will take place during the autumn/winter season of 2020/21 and the community will be encouraged to join in and help out (depending on any Covid restrictions at the time).

Plastic Free July

We're supporting Plastic Free July and choosing to refuse single use plastic. Throughout this month we're posting a series of life hacks to help us go single use plastic free. There's a competition for the best idea submitted from followers on social media and also for SSDC staff via Yammer. The winners will each receive a £20 Yeovil Eco Store Take No Wrap voucher. What's your best plastic free tip? Follow SSDC on

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and let us know.

Check out this video to see the life cycle of a single use plastic spoon. It's eye-watering to think how much energy and resource goes into producing just this one item, and definitely makes you think about how much each of us is contributing to the single use plastic mountain by using them.

South Somerset Parish Environment Champions help shape South Somerset's future environment projects

We're very lucky to have 44 Parish Environment Champions across our parishes in South Somerset who are passionate about making where they live more sustainable. We hope more will join as word gets out!

If you want to be an

environment champion for your parish let us know here.

Our aim is to work with Parishes to create a more connected and sustainable South Somerset together. We recently sent our Parish Champions a survey to get an understanding of what expertise we have in the community, identify where parishes would like guidance and what learning can be shared and developed from previous local projects. We've had a brilliant response and are now collating the data to scope out the next steps on how we support our parishes with their environment projects. Watch this space!

If you're a Parish Environment Champion who missed the chance to take part in the survey you can still take part here.

We've got some very passionate and SSDC Staff dedicated eco warriors at SSDC. Environment Champions Meet Cath Temple who's a Specialist – People, Performance & Change within Strategy & Commisioning.

Anyone who knows Cath will know she is an absolute wizz at recycling. She encourages those around her at work to recycle everything possible and even takes a lot of it home to go in her recycling. Her enthusiasm is infectious and we wouldn't dare chuck a crisp packet in the bin ever again!

SSDC want to work more closely with our staff environment champions to up our game at work and become more sustainable. If you work at SSDC and are mad about the environment then we want you on board! To find out more or to join up contact [email protected] and connect with one of our friendly environment team.

Let's do this!

Local News

Communities can apply for tree planting funds

Parishes in South Somerset can apply for local tree planting grants via The Tree Council Branching Out Fund. Apply for funding between £300 and £1,500. Applications will be considered as they are received. The Tree Council has funds available to assist schools and community groups proposing to undertake well-

planned tree planting projects this winter (November 2020 – March 2021), preferably during National Tree Week – 28th of November to 6th of December 2020.’ Find out more here

Community Energy Webinars

The Centre for Sustainable Energy in Bristol and Community Energy England are hosting a series of 12 community energy webinars. All can be viewed online and are intended to

highlight post-FITs community energy opportunities.

Some webinars have already happened but you can still view the recorded versions. One features Brighton Energy Co-op on using existing community PV for electric vehicle charging and another features Energy Local. Well worth a look. You can View all recordings here and can find out about more and future events here

Community groups doing great things!

Take no Wrap. Yeovil's Eco Issues with waste services and Store an update from the...

WHAT'S NEW, WHAT'S CHANGED AND UPDATE: We are currently experiencing WHAT'S STAYING THE SAME Operations problems with our waste services due to a update 28th June SHOPPING IN STORE change in contractors at the Somerset Waste Opening hours are staying the same. We both Partnership. The Somerset Waste Partnership have some desperately needed time off is working as hard as it can with its contractor booked, so we won't be opening Saturdays to put these right but we... just yet. Monday 12:00 ... Read more Read more www.southsomerset.gov.uk www.facebook.com

The Pop-Up Eco Supermarket Yeovil and Sherborne charity Recycling. Plastic Free July: Toothbrushes! I've started with toothbrush alternatives as everyone Yeovil and Sherborne charity Recycling., seems to recommend starting with them! Yeovil, Somerset. 1,208 likes · 92 talking Maybe because we have to replace them about this. Raising funds for local people every 3 months so it's a timely switch? But for through recycling everyday rubbish. Our me it's a fab example that you... charity currently is YFW blood...

Read more Read more www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

Get involved in Get SuSSed.

If you have any questions, a story to tell, news, views or ideas please get in touch with us at [email protected]