Castle Cary is a small 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 kilometres) 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 responsibility for local concerns, including setting a yearly mandate (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs as well as generating yearly represent public scrutiny. The Town Council assesses local planning applications and also works with the regional cops, district council policemans, and area watch teams on matters of criminal activity, safety and security, and also web traffic. The Community Council's role additionally consists of initiating tasks for the maintenance and repair of town facilities, along with speaking with the district council on the maintenance, fixing, and improvement of highways, drainage, paths, public transportation, as well as street cleaning. Preservation issues (consisting of trees and listed buildings) and environmental problems are the responsibility of the area council. The town drops within the Non-metropolitan area of South Somerset, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the City Government Act 1972, having previously belonged to Wincanton Rural District. The area council is accountable for neighborhood preparation as well as building control, neighborhood roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and also fairs, decline collection and also recycling, burial grounds and crematoria, recreation services, parks, as well as tourism. Somerset County Council is accountable for running the biggest and most pricey regional services such as education and learning, social solutions, collections, highways, public transportation, policing as well as fire solutions, trading criteria, garbage disposal as well as tactical preparation. The community remains in the Cary electoral ward. This extends south to the North Cadbury church, as well as south west to Babcary. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 5,502.