Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

It is also part of the Glastonbury and Somerton county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The circular crenellated water tower was retained,[5] as was the small doric Temple of Laocoon[6] and an Oriental Summerhouse.

It was built during the Second World War as a training base for the Fleet Air Arm, which commissioned it as HMS Dipper.

The Ministry of Defence sold the airfield in 1957 and today it is mainly used as a base for general aviation and is an active training centre for autogyros (gyrocopters).