GREEN Party leader Natalie Bennett was in Crewkerne last week as part of a tour of the region.

Ms Bennett said they were keen to push forward ideas on electoral reform and highlighted that at May’s local election on Crewkerne Town Council, the Green Party candidates polled 30 per cent of the vote, but failed to win a seat.

“We’ve got good Green Party members here and we need to get them on the town council and then the district council.”

She said there were a number of key issues facing Crewkerne which the Green Party was prepared to campaign for – improving traffic flow through the town, supporting small businesses and securing the future of the community hospital.

“These are all essential for a strong local community which in turn produces a strong local economy,” she said.

“If you lose those things that make a community it makes it harder for the smaller businesses and you lose the heart of the town.”

Ms Bennett met with Green Party supporters at the historic Lucombe Oak at Henhayes.

The Lucombe Oak – the 41st biggest in England according to the Tree Register of the British Isles and estimated to be about 150-years-old - was at the centre of a local environmental storm back in 2008 when it was deemed infected and should be cut down.

But Green Party campaigners and others joined forces to ensure that the tree was not cut down.