Great Elm near Frome has chosen to get rid of its local council – because no one wants to sit on it.

Great Elm lies to the west of Frome, comprising the eponymous village and the hamlet of Hapsford, with 127 people on the electoral roll.

Great Elm Parish Council has struggled to find local people willing to serve on it, being two councillors short "for some time" and with no one coming forward to stand in the recent local elections held on May 5.

In light of this ongoing apathy, residents applied to Mendip District Council to officially disband the parish council – a decision which was approved on Monday evening (May 23).

Great Elm Parish Council is supposed to have five members, but currently only has three – with the odds of new councillors coming forward deemed to be "extremely remote".

It has also struggled to recruit a parish clerk and responsible financial officer to fulfil its financial and legal obligations.

David Clark, the district council's head of service for law and governance, said that "interested parties were scant", and the amount of training and the time commitment involved was deemed "excessively onerous compared to the limited remuneration that the parish council could offer."

At a meeting on April 8, parish councillors – in the presence of 15 local residents – voted to ask the district council to "dissolve" the parish council, under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972.

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Councillor Richard Pinnock, portfolio holder for housing services and governance, told the full council in Shepton Mallet on Monday evening (May 23): "I personally can't remember anything like this coming up before.

"This is a request that has come from the parish council – it is not something that we as a council are doing to them."

With this change, Great Elm will still be able to hold a parish meeting at least once a year to discuss major issues – but it will no longer be a statutory consultee when it comes to housing developments or other major local issues.

The parish council could be revived in the future if the demand materialises – and any funds associated with the parish council will be retained by the parish meeting in the meantime.

Councillor Alison Barkshire – whose Ammerdown ward includes Great Elm – said: "This is really just regularising a situation that's been ongoing on several years now."

Councillor Chris Inchley described the situation as "quite sad", adding: "The lifeblood of our communities is the parish council. Why can't we merge it [Great Elm] with the parish next door?

"At parish meetings, you just turn up, there's a report and then everyone goes home. That's not really acceptable to my way of thinking."

Councillor Tom Killen responded: "Parish meetings needn't be a negative event. It brings the community together – it's almost like a cheese and wine event, without the cheese and wine.

"It needn't be looked upon as a backwards step, and I think we should listen to the local people and what they want."

After a short debate, the council voted unanimously to allow Great Elm Parish Council to be disbanded.