WELLINGTON will be getting its hanging baskets this summer - even though cash-strapped Somerset Council will not be paying for them.

The council has no funds available for the baskets which are a feature of the town every year.

But Wellington Town Council will now be forking out the bill which includes the purchase of the baskets and their maintenance throughout the summer.

It is one of many cutbacks being made by the council which has already voted cuts to services totalling £35million, as well as increasing people's tax bills.

The Liberal Democratic-run authority declared 'a financial emergency' some time ago, saying it needed to find £100 million to avoid effectively going bankrupt.

The council has blamed the cost of delivering services, particularly adult social care, which has risen considerably faster than its income.

It is also blaming inflation and higher interest rates for its problems.

A NEW hair and beauty salon - KGHD - will be opening in South Street, Wellington, on Saturday afternoon (between 2pm and 4pm for a look around).

Kerry Thorne, a 29-year-old married mother of two, will be running the saloon which used to be the cat protection charity shop.

There will be five salon chairs plus two nail bars. 

THE Bank of England continues to dither over whether to cut interest rates despite inflation almost to where it wants it to be - around the two per cent mark.

Whether you're running a business or keeping an eye on family finances you want certainty, not uncertainty.

The bank was slow to tackle inflation when it got out of hand, and now it is slow in coming to a decision as to whether to cut interest rates.

It makes it very difficult too for those wishing to buy or sell a house. It would appear that there could be a cut in interest rates next month but the bank is giving nothing away. But borrowers want the bank to be more positive.

The bank thinks the rate of inflation will fall to around two per cent in the next couple of months. Surely it can be a little more positive than this.

Buying and selling houses are stressful at the best of times.

APART from a few days last week, it seems to have been raining almost every day of the year.

While hay fever sufferers like myself are not grumbling, it has not been much fun for our farmers looking to plant their crops or, indeed, anyone who relies on good weather for their income.

I spoke to one local builder earlier this week and he told me he had lost 27 days in total through the bad weather. It had been the worst spell he had known.

If you're on your own and relying on that money, you could be in serious trouble. Especially if you've got a family to feed.

But this country's weather has a habit of balancing itself out. No doubt by September there will be talk of a hosepipe ban.

It seems that our reservoirs are simply not big enough to cope with extreme spells of dry weather.

But there should never be a shortage of water around here. There are vast underground reservoirs between here and Tiverton which could be tapped into if need be. Now there's an idea.

A FEW weeks ago I spotlighted the never-ending problem of fly tipping - and the fact that culprits no longer go into the countryside to dump waste.

Building waste was left in a car park at Wardleworth Way, Tonedale, by two young men in a white van who left seven black bags in broad daylight.

Sadly, those bags are still there. . .