Local news Friday 21st January

Friday, 21 January 2022 06:00

Carnival clubs in South Somerset are celebrating. Work has started on demolishing the former GKN factory on the Leonardo Helicopter site. A public meeting to discuss the problems of flooding in Chard has been moved to a new date. Motorists are being warned of delays due to road works on a key route in Yeovil and a parish council in the Yeovil area is planning to scale back the prizes it gives in its annual Christmas Lights competition.

Carnival clubs in South Somerset are celebrating, after winning a planning battle to build a large shed to use for building carnival floats on the Dillington Estate, near Ilminster. The plans were opposed by several parish councils, who claimed that road access to the site where the shed will be built was inadequate to cope with wide Carnival floats. Despite the concerns, the plans were approved by a majority of one vote at a meeting of South Somerset District Council’s Area West Committee.

Work has started on demolishing the former GKN factory on the Leonardo Helicopter site in Yeovil at West Hendford. It’s to make way for a new £30 million logistics and distribution centre. Leonardo says all its Yeovil-based warehousing will transfer to the new facility when work on building it is completed in late 2023.

A public meeting to discuss the problems of flooding in Chard has been moved to a new date. The event was meant to take place in the Chard Guildhall next Monday but will now be held on Monday, February 28th, again at the Guildhall.

Motorists are being warned of delays due to road works on a key route in Yeovil that will last up to a month. Work is due to start on Monday resurfacing Combe Street Lane with the job not expected to be completed until Friday, February 25th. Somerset County Council says access for residents will be maintained but that delays can be expected with through traffic.

A parish council in the Yeovil area is planning to scale back the prizes it gives in its annual Christmas Lights competition, to discourage local residents from decorating the outsides of their houses with illuminated Christmas lighting. Members of Brympton Parish Council meet next week to discuss the move, which the Council says is aimed at reducing carbon emissions within the parish.

More from News

Monday 10th February

A dog, stolen in Norfolk seven years ago, has been found 200 miles away safe and well in Somerset. A man who lives in Seavington St Michael near Ilminster has been jailed after driving a car at police officers. One hundred new affordable homes could be built near Langport...and more
Friday 7th February

A Yeovil man has been fined £1,200 for sending hostile text messages to his ex-wife. A report into the performance of Avon and Somerset Police has found it doesn't answer emergency calls quickly enough. Twenty-two swimmers at the Trident Swimming Club in Chard have won places in this year’s Somerset County Swimming Championships...and more
Thursday 6th February

A man has appeared in court charged with murdering a one-month-old baby boy in Chard. Kingfisher Primary School in Yeovil has been highly praised by Ofsted. Somerset Council says it’s “extremely disappointed” after its bid to form a devolved Wessex group of local councils was rejected by the government...and more.
Wednesday 5th February

The Liberal Democrat Leader of Somerset Council, Councillor Bill Revans, says they had no choice but to ask the government to allow them to lift the 5 percent cap on raising Council Tax. Two teenagers have been released on bail following the stabbing in Yeovil. More than six thousand pounds has been awarded to local groups by Chard Carnival Committee...and more.
Tuesday 4th February

Somerset has been permitted to increase its Council Tax share by 7.5 percent. An Ilminster man, forced out of his house by last week's floods, says he doesn't know when he will be able to return home. Ilminster Literary Festival has launched its annual children’s writing competition, designed to encourage local children to write creative literature...and more.
Monday 3rd February

Five men have appeared in court charged with the murder of a man in Yeovil. A 16-year-old is the second person to be arrested in connection with a stabbing in Yeovil. Yeovil’s new outdoor entertainment space in Lower Middle Street has been officially opened by the town’s MP... and more.
Friday 31st January

A teenager has been arrested following a stabbing in Yeovil. Water bills in Somerset are set to go up on average by £123 from April. Yeovil MP, Adam Dance will officially open Yeovil’s new outdoor performance space later today...and more
Thursday 30th January

Lloyds bank is closing its branch in Chard. A Sherborne man has been jailed after defrauding a Yeovil woman of £40,000. A volunteer group in Chard is urging people to sign up to a flood victims register. A councillor in Shepton Mallet has become the first Reform UK member on Somerset Council... and more