Somerset Council is looking to save ten million pounds a year in how it delivers Adult Social Care services. A parade's been held at RNAS Yeovilton to celebrate the latest group of pilots and crew completing their helicopter flight training. Cartons will no longer be accepted at Somerset’s recycling sites from next month. The annual Od Arts Festival held in the villages of East and West Coker opens to the public today...and more.
Somerset Council is looking to make big savings in how it delivers Adult Social Care. A review, to be considered at a meeting next week, has identified how up to ten million pounds a year could be cut from the annual spend of one-hundred- and-eighty-six million pounds on adult social care. One of the savings could see some adults with learning disabilities being moved out of residential homes and back into the community.
A parade has been held at RNAS Yeovilton to celebrate the latest group of helicopter pilots and crew completing their top-level flight training. After passing the training to fly the Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, they were presented with their wings and certificates.
Cartons will no longer be accepted at Somerset’s recycling sites from next month following the success of kerbside collections. Items such as liquid and juice cartons will stop being taken at all recycling sites from Monday, June 12th.
Work to upgrade public tennis courts in Crewkerne, Ilminster and Yeovil should be finished in time for Wimbledon Tennis Championships beginning July 3rd. The Lawn Tennis Association has provided funding to resurface and fit new nets at the public courts at Ilminster Recreational Ground, Yeovil Recreational Ground and Severalls Park in Crewkerne.
Some truly odd-looking art has gone on display in East and West Coker. It’s part of the annual Od Arts Festival held in the two villages, that opens today and runs to Sunday. The theme of this year's event is ‘Still and Still Moving’ - a line from the famous T S Elliot poem East Coker.
A formal planning application has been made to carry out significant improvements to Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre, costing £15 million. The Halifax Bank in King George Street in Yeovil could be converted into 17 flats. A new young people’s centre opens in Chard early in the New Year...and more.
NHS Somerset reports a strong uptake of flu jabs, but some eligible people for free vaccinations haven’t come forward. Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident on the A303 in which a pedestrian was killed. A Crewkerne woman has gone viral on TikTok after being trapped inside a Lidl store in the town... and more.
Somerset Bus Partnership has welcomed a £24.7m boost for the county's bus services. Outline planning permission has been granted to build up to 100 new homes in Ilminster. An Ilminster man has been banned from keeping animals for seven years. Residents in Chiselborough have set up a group to try and re-open the village pub...and more.
Crewkerne Community Hospital is to lose half its inpatient beds. A review will be conducted of a project to make Bridgwater more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. Chard Methodist Church is offering residents a free lunch on Christmas Day. Yeovil-based Screwfix is opening a new outlet in Minehead...and more.
Yeovil MP Adam Dance has warned that delays in ordering 30 new medium lift helicopters for the RAF is putting the future of Somerset’s defence industries at risk. Somerset's farmers are being urged to convert more cow manure into biogas to heat homes. A new visitor centre has opened at Ham Hill country park...and more
Parcel business, Evri, has been criticised by Glastonbury and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke over what she claims have been ‘widespread delivery failures’. Demand for mental health support provided by South Western Ambulance Service is running at record levels. A nine-year-old Somerset boy has completed 100 days of litter picking for charity...and more
New data shows that crime in the Avon and Somerset police area is at an all-time high. Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard has issued a warning to prospective pet owners ahead of Christmas. The owner of four pubs in Somerset has warned that many could be forced to shut unless the government reconsiders business rates...and more.
Toolstream in Yeovil has been put into administration, threatening the jobs of dozens of employees. NHS Somerset has issued a last chance call for people to get a flu jab after hospital admissions increased by 76% in a week. Police are investigating the theft of a bike valued at £7,000 in Sherborne... and more