More than 200 students have taken part in a performance to showcase their dance and music skills.

Students from Norton Hill, Somervale, Bath Dance College and Paulton Junior School put on a display for audiences in two sell-out shows at Norton Hill School entitled A Star Danced.

Show director Kim Glasgow said: "Both evenings were a complete sell-out where students showed off their performance skills and outstanding creative minds.

"The show demonstrated the fantastic collaboration between all schools and colleges across the federation and highlighted what is possible when such a large number of creative minds are put together."

Mrs Glasgow said one of the major factors in the success of this year's show had been the freedom the dancers had over their own choreography.

Milly Russell, Emma Davies, Emily Stenner, Louise Thomas, Chloe Dowding, Cerys Hall, Sarah Osborne, Lucy Clark, Emily Smith, Ruby Dix, Lara Barnes and Libby Edward were given the opportunity to lead groups themselves.

The Midsomer Norton Schools Federation is already preparing for next year's show which it hopes will be even bigger and better.

Planning permission is being sought for 73 new homes on a patch of land close to the cycle path in Westfield.

An outline application for the new homes off Fosseway Gardens near the Five Arches Greenway has been submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council by planning consultancy Aspect 360.

At the same time, an earlier application for 82 homes on the same piece of land has gone to appeal with a Government planning inspector after it was refused earlier this year by Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Resident Richard Wallace appealed to people in Westfield to take the time to comment on both.

Mr Wallace said he felt the new development would harm the character and appearance of the area and encouraged others to highlight their concerns.

People have until Thursday, December 12, to comment on the application with B&NES, ref: 13/03395/OUT.

Comments must be submitted for the appeal before Monday, December 30, ref: APP/F0114/A/13/2203361.

More information on how to comment on planning appeals can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website.

Grandmother Jan Perrett is celebrating after winning a helping hand with her Christmas shopping.

The lucky reader from Norton St Philip has won £500 worth of toys from The Entertainer after entering a Somerset Guardian festive competition.

To win Top Toys for Christmas, readers were asked to text the answer to a simple question and the winner was selected from those supplying the right answer.

The treasure chest of goodies included a range of toys for all ages as well as some games for all the family to enjoy.

With seven grandchildren aged from three to 19 the win has solved quite a few Christmas presents for the devoted grandmother.

Mrs Perrett said: "I am over the moon and very surprised to have won. I enter every competition in the paper and am so pleased. It will be a great help for Christmas."

A police chief has asked the community for their help to stop illegal raves.

The plea from Inspector Shirley Eden comes after her officers struggled to cope with a huge warehouse party in Westfield earlier this month.

Around 1,000 revellers are said to have attended the illegal event, which officers had to allow to carry on because of number of people and the fact that their resources were concentrated on covering Bridgwater Carnival at the time.

Inspector Eden said: "I would like to appeal for the public to be vigilant around disused warehouse-type buildings and if they see any unusual activity such as large sound system being unloaded please report it to us ASAP as it is easier to stop these events before they begin than to stop them once under way."

The Westfield rave sparked a debate on the Somerset Guardian's website with numerous people calling for such events to be decriminalised.

Other residents raised concerns about drink and drug driving, noise nuisance and mess and litter.

Local resident Lewis Jelley said any other event that attracted around five per cent of the local population would have been hailed a success.

He added: "Yes, I am sure some people were wakened and maybe even frightened by the noise, however as far as these events go, they seem to be pretty self-containing and focussed around the music and social gains, not rioting and looting nearby houses. I really think it's about time these kinds of events are looked at in a more constructive manner."

Such events have been illegal in the UK since 1994 when the government introduced the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act.

Illegal raves will be the focus of a live debate on community radio station, Somer Valley FM, at noon tomorrow when Insp Eden and Lewis Jelley will be joined by Somerset Guardian reporter Suzanne Norbury.

Meanwhile, Insp Eden has warned people to be on their guard against doorstep sellers. Over the past week there have been reports of teams of sellers operating in Paulton, Peasedown St John, Wellow and Midsomer Norton.

The gangs, known as Nottingham Knockers, knock at doors and claim to be ex-convicts attempting to mend their ways, before trying to sell everyday household products, often at high prices.

Inspector Eden said she had concerns about 'persistent selling techniques.'

CAR parking charges in Frome look set to rise from next April.

The short-stay spaces in Badcox, Cork Street, South Parade and Vicarage Street will go up from 50p to 60p for a 30-minute slot – an increase of 20 per cent.

Under the Mendip District Council proposals the cost of parking for the first hour goes up by 10p – so when the charges are introduced it will cost £1.20 an hour to park in Badcox, South Parade and Vicarage Street and £1 to stay in all other district council car parks in the town.

Longer stay charges are set to rise by 20p, so a stay of more than four hours on the Cattle Market will only rise from £5.40 to £5.60 which, in percentage terms, is a much smaller increase than the short-stay charges.

The council is launching a consultation process over the proposals and people are asked to comment by Thursday, December 19.

There will be no changes made to the free parking concession for Blue Badge holders and season ticket charges will be frozen at their current level until March 2015. There are also no changes to the current parking tariffs for coaches and HGVs.

As in previous years, the council will be providing free half-day parking in the two weeks leading up to Christmas and free all-day parking on New Year's Day.

The proposed increase in charges reflects the increase in inflationary costs since the tariffs were last reviewed in 2011.

Councillor Nigel Taylor, portfolio holder for regulatory services, said: "These increases in charges are being proposed to cover the increase in inflationary costs associated with providing off-street parking throughout Mendip.

"We have done our best to keep these price rises low and have pledged to freeze season ticket costs until 2015.

"Our season tickets are very popular and offer great savings for drivers who use our car parks on a regular basis."

However, Frome Chamber of Commerce has expressed its disappointment over the proposed charges.

Chamber president Nigel Harris said: "The council's review did not look at the market in which Frome operates with competition from Trowbridge with large numbers of free and cheaper parking spaces.

"All the advice on best practice is that charges need to be tailored as part of a wider package. That includes signage, use of tariffs and charging systems.

"Signage means helping people find their right car park for their needs. Mendip had a report in 2008 which identified the poor signage to their car parks in Frome but they still haven't dealt with that."

Tariff structures should encourage visitors to stay longer, according to the chamber, which would also like to see pay on exit in the Cattle Market and payment options using mobile phones.

The council will consider consultation responses before any decision is made.

Comments on the proposals should be made in writing before December 19 (quoting reference: 2014 Parking Review) to Car Parks Team, Mendip District Council, Cannards Grave Road, Shepton Mallet BA4 5BT or by email to carparks@mendip. gov.uk.

Charges vary across the district. For a full breakdown use visit the district council website, www.mendip.gov.uk.

Mendip Male Voice Choir will perform their first festive concert at Midsomer Norton Methodist Church on Saturday at 7.30pm.

The 80-strong choir will be joined by Midsomer Norton and Radstock Silver Band.

Anyone interested in singing can join the choir at their weekly practice every Monday at 7.30pm at St Mary's Church of England Primary School in Timsbury.

Tickets for the latest concert are available at the church reception any morning or by calling 01761 414070 or 01761 413842.

I written before about the dangers of planning applications getting through in Mendip at the moment because there is no local plan in place.

On Saturday I spent an hour or so walking around Norton St Philip in the company of villagers concerned about the virtual siege they are under from speculative developers.

Is there a case for more housing in villages like Norton St Philip? Yes, of course. Should developers almost double the size of the village to produce more and more dormitory provision for people working in Bath and Bristol? I doubt it very much. Should we allow an historic and important community to lose its character in the process, including building on a key 17th-century battlefield and destroying the very fabric of the village? Surely not.

It is not for me either to comment or decide on any individual applications. That is the job of the district councillors elected for that purpose. But I do hope they will not feel that they are forced into an impossible situation by the way that the Government's planning reforms are, perversely, working.

And I hope the planning minister realises, as I told him on Monday in parliament, that the appeals system needs to back local communities, not attack them. The answer from him, that it's up to planning authorities to get their plans in order, is correct, but not sufficient.

The Glastonbury Gliders wheelchair basketball club will take part in their first TS5C match at the town's leisure centre this weekend.

They will take on Yeovil Lynx on Sunday for the Vale of Avalon Vintage Trophy, donated by a Glastonbury resident who read about the club in a recent Central Somerset Gazette article.

The match will take place from 12-2pm and will mark a major milestone for the club, which was set up by Somerset sports charity TS5C seven months ago.

It enables both disabled and non-disabled young people aged between 11 and 19 to play the sport together. TS5C provided the wheelchairs, the Somerset Activity & Sports Partnership provides the coaching and Glastonbury Leisure Centre provides the venue for the club.

Alan Gloak, chairman of TS5C, was inspired to set up wheelchair basketball clubs having seen the sport in action during last year's Paralympics.

"It is wonderful that the Glastonbury Gliders has proved to be such a success," he said. "The first game for the club promises to be a great event.

"Wheelchair basketball is a fantastic and inclusive sport and great fun for both players and spectators to enjoy. The match will also be an opportunity to see why funding of community ventures like this is so important."

One of the players who attends the weekly club is Esme Salter, a pupil at St Dunstan's school.

Having been born with Sacral Agenesis, she was not interested in sport until she was given the opportunity to join in using the specially-designed wheelchairs. She has subsequently discovered a talent for wheelchair sprinting and has won gold at national events.

Glastonbury Gliders meet from 3.30-4.45pm on Mondays at a cost of £1 per child. For more information, contact the leisure centre on 01458 830090.

A volunteer who helps to support the work of Peasedown St John's Children's Centre has spoken out about his fears for local families if £2.3 million budget cuts go ahead.

Retired teacher David Ebbage from Midsomer Norton has written to Bath and North East Somerset Council to voice his concerns over a shake-up of the centre network.

Mr Ebbage and his wife Hilary have been working as volunteers at messy play sessions for infant and pre-school children at the Peasedown centre since February last year.

They spend their time supporting professional session leaders by preparing the equipment for the arrival of children and their families.

Mr Ebbage described his work as 'rewarding' and spoke of the joy he and his wife experience by giving up their spare time to help support local families.

But he is particularly concerned about the prospect of professional staff being made redundant to give volunteers a greater role.

He said: "I have come to realise what a valuable service the sessions provide for parents. Mums confidently seek advice from the professionals.

"Our presence as volunteers enables the leaders to give their attention to families needing help. Parents have developed networks themselves which extend outside the centre, offering support and encouragement to each other. Without these and similar opportunities, insecure parents would be in danger of becoming isolated.

"Having seen the skills, enthusiasm and dedication of staff at first hand, I am greatly aware of the huge loss their absence would be for the children and the community at large.

"It is clear that those with the greatest need would suffer most. I for one do not feel equipped to compensate for any loss of expertise.

"It seems to me that cutting staff is a simple way to reduce costs. I am also aware that using volunteers to keep centres open avoids government penalties. But the cost to the community outweighs the financial savings.

"At my interview for my role as a volunteer and at subsequent meetings I made it clear that I would not countenance my voluntary work putting people's jobs at risk. This now seems most likely."

Mr Ebbage said he had sympathy with councillors faced with saving money and said he was not connected with any political party or campaign group.

The council has said that volunteers are already playing a key role and that it needs to concentrate its funding on the most vulnerable groups in society.

THIS old photograph belongs to retired herdsman Robert West.

He believes it was taken in about 1921 and features his father, uncle and aunt. They are pictured in the front row third, fourth and fifth from the right.

Mr West's father is the little boy, about eight years old with the blonde curls, in the centre of his siblings with his younger brother Rendall on the right and his baby sister Pax, also with a mop of blonde curls, on the left. Pax was her nickname and Mr West has no idea what her proper first name was.

His father, uncle and aunt were born at Edford Green in Holcombe. Their father was a miner working in local pits.

The family had a small allotment at Edford Green and Rex West would help his father deliver milk in a motorbike and sidecar up Holcombe Hill. After leaving school Rex became a herdsman and worked across the area.

His son Robert, who is now 78 and lives on the Stonebridge Estate, had a brother Michael who was killed in a motorbike accident when he was 16. His sister Shirley died aged 72 of cancer. They are both buried in the churchyard at the old church in Holcombe which Mr West tends.

He said: "I am not sure if this is a photograph of the school in Holcombe but it would be interesting to find out."

BECKINGTON residents campaigning against more than 75 new homes have been dealt a bitter blow after planners gave the two schemes the green light.

The proposals, one by Redrow Homes for up to 43 homes on Trowbridge Road and the second to the north of Warminster Road for up to 31 homes, had been deferred from the September planning board meeting for investigations into the cumulative impact on the village.

Both proposals had attracted about 300 objections and many residents packed into the Wells Town Hall council chamber to hear councillors debate the proposals.

Planning officer Laura McKay told the meeting she had looked at all the issues related to the cumulative impact that the new homes could have on the village, including road safety, the pressure it would put on the village school, as well as the doctors' surgery, drainage and sewerage, the social infrastructure and character of the village.

She explained there would be a transitional period over the several years at the village school to accommodate the new homes.

She said all of the issues could be mitigated but negotiations were continuing with NHS England over the over-subscription of the surgery and asked councillors to delegate authority to her to approve the applications, subject to the agreement of a section 106 agreement.

But she added that if the two could not come to a satisfactory agreement, the application would be automatically refused.

Beckington Parish Council chairman Stan Wilson said he was disappointed that the investigations had not been properly undertaken and believed it was impossible to make an informed decision if some of the statutory consultees had not looked at the cumulative impact since the deferment in September.

He said the residents did want to see development in Beckington but with a much more phased approach.

Resident Deb Byrne, who had formed an action group and commissioned an independent report, said there were glaring discrepancies in the cumulative impact report on paper for Beckington to what it is in real life.

She said all the issues had been mitigated not resolved and she said there were serious concerns over the "cursory assessment" completed by NHS England for the doctors' surgery capacity to cope with these many new homes.

Peter Stacey, who spoke in support of the 43 homes on Trowbridge Road, said several changes had been made to accommodate village concerns, that the school and highways did not object and subject to a section 106 agreement, the doctors' surgery was not objecting and concluded there was no planning reason for the application not to go ahead.

Andrew Panna, who spoke in support of the scheme, said the proposal had been reduced from 45 to 31 homes, a car park had been proposed not to expand the doctors' surgery but to help with existing parking problems and he was confident a solution could be found with regards to the surgery amenities.

District councillor Peter Knibbs spoke on both and said he felt neither was sustainable, that prematurity had not been dealt with in the reports, that the highways safety had not been met and urged councillors to reject both.

Councillors debated both applications separately for some time and voted in favour of them going ahead.

FROME Magistrates' Court sitting empty is costing about £3,500 a month, it has emerged.

But it comes as no surprise to solicitor John Killah, who called the announcement an "outrage".

Mothballed former courthouses in Frome, Bridgwater and Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, Coleford and Cirencester in Gloucestershire and Sherborne, Bridport and Wimborne in Dorset are running up maintenance and security bills of £22,000 a month.

During a parliamentary hearing held last week it was also claimed that former publicly owned courthouses that have been sold have often fetched below market rate.

Mr Killah, who has represented thousands of people from Frome for more than 20 years, said: "This news can come as no surprise at all. At the time it was proposed to close Frome courthouse, the false economy of closure was pointed out.

"But what has not been mentioned are the many thousands it costs from the Avon and Somerset Constabulary budget for Frome police to arrest local defendants on warrants and then having to take them all the way down to the court at Yeovil. As predicted, the sad reality is that many defendants cannot or will not pay the fare to Yeovil so we, the taxpayer, now end up paying.

"The other shocking waste of public money has been the £100,000-plus spent on renovating the court cells complex in Frome only for the court to be closed.

"With the dismantling of the Legal Aid system, this government and its supporters have shown nothing but contempt for the criminal justice system-and in particular what was once a proud system of local justice. That we are still having to pay a small fortune for the upkeep heating and maintenance of our unused local courts is an outrage."

Labour has called on the influential Public Accounts Committee to investigate the Coalition's programme to close and sell off 142 magistrates' and county courts, which ministers say will save £41.5 million a year.

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said some of the courts sold on the open market fetched less than he expected, highlighting Brentford Magistrates' Court which was sold for £650,000 – the same price as an average family house in the area.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures released in response to parliamentary questions tabled by Mr Khan showed a breakdown of the £19.6 million recouped by the Government from selling 48 courts around the country since May 2010 as part of the court estate reform programme.

In the West the most expensive monthly bills are for Wimborne (£5,396), Bridgwater (£4,908) and Frome (£3,462).

The court closure programme was widely criticised at the time for making justice less accessible, with participants having to travel further to attend court hearings.