‘Our overall vision is of a dynamic, successful modern economy that supports, respects and develops Somerset’s distinctive communities and unique environment.’
The county for us represents a balanced, sustainable heritage – a legacy that makes Somerset a landscape for the future.
Local people want to preserve what they like best about Somerset:
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Its heritage, landscape and rich wildlife
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The many different communities and groups that come together to make one county
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The strong sense of leadership in those communities and in the many special interest groups
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The desire to support one another through voluntary work and through contributions as active members of their community
Somerset sits at the gateway to the South West, astride the main road and rail links. It is also in an enviable position at the centre of the larger South West Region. This regional perspective is recognised by the significant role that Taunton, Yeovil and Bridgwater play in the Regional Spatial Strategy as urban centres and a focus for cultural life in the South West.
Across Somerset there are communities and individuals that do not have the same quality of life, job prospects or life expectancy as others might. People living in rural communities can find it more difficult to gain the services they need. Endeavouring to ‘Narrow the gap’ has emerged as really important in the Strategy.
A forum of young people summed up their views on Somerset as a place to live in the words ‘Hard to go local, easy to go far’. The young people said that this rang true for the issues they discussed such as transport, their knowledge and ability to get to events, food and the environmental impact of the distance it travelled. Wider consultation has shown that these views resonated with other people as well. The opposite of this is ‘Easy to be local, no need to go far’ which neatly brings together much of what is common across all our aims for Somerset in so far as offering choice and ease of access and opportunity to all.
The Strategy identifies six aims and these can be viewed in brief at Imagine Somerset in 2026 or in more detail at Aims.
To help achieve these six aims over the longer term, there are some ambitious projects that will be embarked upon to make a real difference and these can be viewed at Our Big Ideas.
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