Somerset Council is pursuing a less ambitious plan for redeveloping Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he hasn’t given up on trying to keep open the town’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Yeovil’s new outdoor performance space in the Triangle in Lower Middle Street will open for public use early in the New Year...and more
Somerset Council is pursuing a less ambitious plan for redeveloping Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. The scheme, which will involve spending fifteen million pounds on enhanced audience facilities, compared to the twenty-nine million originally planned, has been submitted to the Department of Culuture, Media and Sport for sign-off. Yeovil Town Council, who plan to take over running the Octogan when the improvements are completed, have agreed in principle to contribute three and a half million pounds towards the upgrade.
Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he hasn’t given up on trying to keep open the town’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has backed NHS Somerset’s decision to downgrade the unit, with people in Yeovil who suffer a stroke being taken by ambulance to either Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton or the County Hospital in Dorchester. Mr Dance says the Health Secretary is wrong not to intervene because a lot of the information he based his decision on is now out of date.
Somerset Council is getting more money from the government, but warning that it's not enough to keep up with rising costs. The Local Government Settlement grant was announced earlier this week, with three billion of the seventy billion package ring-fenced for adult social care.
Households in Somerset, supplied by Wessex Water will pay around one hundred pounds more on their water bills over the next five years. This follows Wessex Water’s decision to increase its charges by 21 per cent, which it claims is one of the lowest increases of all water companies in England.
Yeovil’s new outdoor performance space in the Triangle in Lower Middle Street will open for public use early in the New Year. The amphitheatre-style entertainment area has seating for around 100 and includes a big outdoor TV screen.
Two men from Yeovil have been found guilty of murdering a man in the town. A school in Chard has been named the best-run primary school in Somerset. Somerton MP Sarah Dyke is calling on the government to provide more funding for community pharmacies. Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident on the A303...and more
Public Health at Somerset Council is blaming a rise in measles cases on a drop in the number of children getting the MMR vaccination. Police have produced an online gallery to try and find the owners of hundreds of stolen items. The sale of a boxing glove in Chard claimed to have been worn by Cassius Clay, has been halted after new evidence about its authenticity came to light...and more
A Somerset pensioner has criticised the government for refusing to compensate women who claim they were not given adequate warning about changes to the start date for receiving the state pension. Parents are being asked to check their children have been vaccinated against measles following a rise in cases. The use of energy-saving light bulbs is greater in the South West than in any other region in England.
The Unite union says it is becoming ‘increasingly anxious’ about a delay in awarding Leonardo in Yeovil a multi-million-pound contract to build a new medium-lift helicopter for the RAF. The government has set Somerset a target to build 3,700 new homes next year. A boxing glove once worn by Muhammad Ali is being auctioned in Chard today...and more
Emergency teams are still working across Somerset to remove trees damaged in last week’s Storm Darragh. Crewkerne Town Council has been asked to ban the Seavington Hunt from gathering in the town centre on Boxing Day. The London Standard newspaper has named the Lord Poulett Arms in Hinton St George as its "Country Pub of the Week"...and more
The government says it won’t intervene in the decision to close the hyper-acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Police are asking for witnesses to an accident in Yeovil in which a man suffered a broken leg. Shepton Beauchamp Church of England Primary School has been rated as good by Ofsted...and more.
Somerset-based social housing provider, Stonewater, is urging caution over plans by the government to relax the planning rules. The Samaritans in Yeovil are gearing up for their busiest time of the year. The curtain goes up today on this year’s Yeovil panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, at the Westlands Entertainment venue...and more.
Farmers from Somerset were amongst the hundreds of others from across the UK who gathered in London yesterday. Avon and Somerset Police is trialling a new way to find people with dementia when they are reported missing. A cake designer from Yeovil has been crowned Best Cake Designer in the South West...and more.
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