IT’S been nearly six months since the first elections took place for the new Taunton Town Council and it’s been a busy time as we get up to speed, in ensuring Taunton is a great place to live, work and visit.

From replacing benches in Comeytrowe and Priorswood, to having a spruce up in Staplegrove, our Town Warden Paul has been out and about caring for our parks across the town.

We have also prioritised taking action with our public toilets – a concern we know we share with many of you.

We’re working hard to ensure the current contract is fulfilled and also to secure funding to enable a more substantial improvement of the facilities, both for local people and visitors.

Alongside this, we’ve been working with local businesses and residents to tackle anti-social behaviour.

We have commissioned additional CCTV in Goodland Gardens and agreed to board up a commercial unit which is being misused - engaging with local artists to ensure it is visually appealing.

The Town Council is now responsible for the range of events going on around the town for Remembrance and also for the Christmas festivities.

You can find out more about timings and dates on the Events page on our website.

Councillors agreed to take part in a Community Review Project (CRP), asking local people to tell us their priorities for Taunton.

This will support the town council with the drafting of a Community Plan. More details will follow on this.

I am so excited about the possibilities this new town council brings to our county town and I hope you can see that action is already being taken and improvements made.

We always want to hear ideas about how our town can be improved, find our contact details on our website www.taunton-tc.gov.uk.

This is just the start, there is more to come. You can keep up to date by following us on Facebook and Twitter, and by heading to our website to sign up for our newsletter.

Written by Tom Deakin, Taunton Town Council leader