Castle Cary is a tiny market town as well as civil parish in south Somerset, England, 5 miles (8 kilometres) north west of Wincanton as well as 8 miles (12.9 km) south of Shepton Mallet, at the foot of Lodge Hill as well as on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett. The Town Council has duty for regional issues, consisting of setting a yearly precept (neighborhood price) to cover the council's operating expense as well as generating annual represent public scrutiny. The Town Council examines local preparation applications as well as works with the local authorities, area council officers, and also area watch groups on issues of criminal activity, security, as well as website traffic. The Town Council's function also includes initiating jobs for the repair and maintenance of community facilities, along with speaking with the area council on the maintenance, repair work, and improvement of highways, drainage, paths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees as well as provided buildings) as well as ecological problems are the duty of the district council. The town falls within the Non-metropolitan district of South Somerset, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Wincanton Rural District. The district council is accountable for regional preparation and also structure control, local roads, council housing, ecological wellness, markets as well as fairs, reject collection and also recycling, cemeteries as well as crematoria, leisure solutions, parks, and tourism. Somerset County Council is responsible for running the biggest and also most expensive local solutions such as education, social solutions, collections, main roads, public transport, policing and also fire solutions, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning. The town is in the Cary selecting ward. This extends southern to the North Cadbury parish, as well as south west to Babcary. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 5,502.