My name is Jenny and I now represent Chard North, which is pretty much everything on Holyrood school side of the A30 including the villages of Combe St Nicholas, Buckland St Mary, Wambrook, Howley and Whitestaunton.

With the exception of Wambrook, Chard South is everything on the Guildhall side of Chard including Tatworth and Forton (and randomly Monmouth Court and Lyddons Mead).

Your four county councillors are going to write a monthly column each for the Chard and Ilminster News so that we can keep in touch with local residents and you will know what we are working on and how to keep in touch. With that in mind, my column was going to be about all of the stuff that I have fixed, but, alas it’s not to be!

I have been working on the grass cutting in Thorndun Park Drive which had got to nearly knee length on the verges. The grass is now cut, which is a positive, but I couldn’t get an answer yet about why it has taken so long to cut or how long we will have to wait before the next cut is undertaken.

I have spent many hours trying to sort out the signage for the road closure at Crimchard. The contractors seem to have gone for quantity not quality, and people using short cuts have caused havoc along Catchgate Lane and Bondfield Way.

Chard & Ilminster News: Jenny Kenton and her councillor colleagues will write a monthly column for the Chard and Ilminster News to keep residents up to date with their work.Jenny Kenton and her councillor colleagues will write a monthly column for the Chard and Ilminster News to keep residents up to date with their work.

Both the officers at County Hall and myself had insisted that there were extra signs erected to tell people at the beginning of the road closure that there was no access to Chard/Combe St Nicholas and that Bondfield Way was closed off. However, the utility company didn’t put up these signs despite agreeing to, and now the road closure is gone.

I am also working with town councillors to replace a bench in Stringfellow Park and a dog bin in Crimchard. Neither yet are completed but they are work in progress. Nothing in the world of local government is completed as quickly as I would like having been a local business person.

My huge piece of work will be trying to repair the road surface in Touches Lane. This really is a long process as County Highways insist it is a restricted byway whereas in my childhood it was definitely a road! The residents of the lane and the many users of the access to the cycleway and Chard Reservoir should be treated with respect with regard to their safety and basic rights.

I am always available as are my fellow town, district and county councillors if you need help. Please contact me on 07921574019 or email me on jenny.kenton@somerset.gov.uk and I will try and help you….. not promising it won’t be a long job though!