With one month to go until the launch for the new unitary Somerset Council, councillors have published the priorities for the new Council. The new Council Plan was approved unanimously at a meeting of the outgoing Somerset County Council, whose councillors will form the new Somerset Council.

The Somerset Council Plan highlights four key priorities. A further Business Plan, outlining how the Council will deliver services in support of these priorities, will be developed in the coming months.

The key priorities for the new Council are:

• A Greener, More Sustainable Somerset
• A Healthy and Caring Somerset
• A Fairer, Ambitious Somerset, and
• A Flourishing and Resilient Somerset.

In his foreword to the Plan, Council Leader Bill Revans writes that the Plan "sets out clear priorities against which we will measure all our policies and actions over the coming years. Woven through all our plans are four threads: a determination to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies; a commitment to developing a fairer Somerset; the compassion to make Somerset a healthier and more caring place to live; and the ambition to create a flourishing and resilient county.

"We are councillors because we love Somerset. I can think of no better place to live and work but we want to make it better still, and better for all the people of Somerset."

The text of the Council Plan is available here.