OUR county town was at its best for the Somerset Day weekend with over 17,000 people thronging the town centre for the eat:Taunton food festival and it was great to be there to talk with so many of you.

After lots of hard work by the volunteers, it was a privilege to open the event, just as it is a deep privilege to be the MP for Wellington as well as Taunton.

Working in Parliament, and outside – including building bridges with other parties – has really helped keep Wellington’s need for a new railway station in the headlines and at the forefront of Ministers’ minds.

Following the recent residents’ delegation to Parliament, Transport Minister Simon Lightwood acknowledged in the House that the benefits were clear.

I’m glad to have persuaded Labour MPs in the region to add their support for the project but it was disappointing to see the project dubbed “a waste of time” by Wellington’s Reform Party representative, who joined our delegation to Parliament to see the Rail Minister.

My postbag from local residents tells me they very much believe Wellington should get its station back.

Perhaps my biggest priority, however, is to see our health and care services properly funded once again. I was pleased we won a decision to fund Musgrove Park’s much needed new maternity and paediatric unit, but a 2033 start date is too far off and we need support sooner than that.

The, hopefully temporary, closure of Yeovil District Hospital’s maternity department for safety reasons and the diversion of many more patients to Taunton is therefore deeply concerning.

I put this to the Minister the day it was announced and, working closely with our Yeovil LibDem MP Adam Dance, we are campaigning to get the NHS to reopen services at Yeovil as soon as possible.

Following my survey asking you about NHS dentistry – I’ve had a massive response for which many thanks – Taunton & Wellington Liberal Democrats and I are holding a free public meeting at the Community Innovation Centre (CICCIC) in Taunton on May 30 at 7.30pm. Two-thirds of the places have been snapped up so do reserve yours if you’d like to come along.

Meanwhile, my efforts to stop pollution going into the River Tone continues and volunteers, working with me in Stoke Gregory, put on an informative public meeting to which I brought the Environment Agency and Wessex Water to answer questions.

You can obtain a report of the meeting by contacting me, and look out for an Environment Agency event at French Weir on June 21 about more work to stop river pollution.

In recent months, I have been delighted to hold constituency surgeries in Taunton’s North Town and the town centre, in Wellington, Churchinford, Hatch Beauchamp, Priorswood, West Hatch, Staple Fitzpaine, Sampford Arundel, Creech St Michael, Stoke St Mary and North Curry.

If you have something to raise, please get in touch by emailing [email protected] or calling 01823 813763.