Somerset Council announces heritage and access projects while asbestos claims near £370,000

Somerset Council announced a set of public-access and heritage initiatives within three days, at the same time that the authority's long-running asbestos liabilities were reported to have cost almost £370,000.

On 18 August, Somerset Council said its library service is using a British Library-funded 3D hand scanner to make a digital replica of the Ilminster Ring, a Roman object dated to 297 AD [1]. By 20 August, the council said it had launched a rural active travel toolkit to help communities develop schemes from multi-user paths to smaller local improvements [4]. It also said Ham Hill Country Park now has an off-road mobility scooter for hire, introduced with Disability Together [5].

The council also confirmed that five candidates will contest the Frome West by-election on 3 September: Dominic Ellison (Green Party); Drew Gardner (Liberal Democrats); David Quantrill-Simon (Conservative Party); Christopher Wildridge (Labour Party); Joesph Williams (Reform UK) [6].

The announcements came the same week as the Somerset County Gazette and Bridgwater Mercury reported that Somerset Council has paid £369,882 in relation to asbestos-related claims over 12 years and has hundreds of buildings containing asbestos-containing materials [2], [3].