Local News Monday 10th July

Monday, 10 July 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Bin collectors in Somerset are set to go on strike from Wednesday this week in a dispute over pay. Funding has been secured to write a business case to reopen Chard Junction railway station. The A3088 Cartgate Link Road in Yeovil is shut to traffic at night all this week. Voters in Somerton and Frome have until Wednesday to apply for a free photo ID...and more.

Bin collectors in Somerset are set to go on strike this week in a dispute over pay. Members of the Unite union will stop work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and on the same days every week for the next four weeks. Suez UK, the company contracted by Somerset Council to collect the waste, has offered staff an eight per cent pay rise that has been rejected. Householders whose waste is not collected on Wednesday are asked to put it out again next Monday. Those whose waste is not collected on Thursday should put it out again next Tuesday. And, those whose waste is not collected on Friday should put it out again the following Friday. SWP says recycling centres are not affected by the stoppage and will open as normal.

Funding has been secured to prepare a business case to reopen Chard Junction railway station. The Chard Active Travel and Transport Group has raised twenty-three thousand pounds to write an outline business proposition that will be submitted to the Department of Transport. The campaign group wants Chard Junction station, which closed in 1966, re-opened as Chard Parkway station, providing hourly services to Exeter and London.

The A3088 Cartgate Link Road in Yeovil is shut to traffic at night all this week. Somerset Council says from today the road will close at 7 pm and re-open at 7 am tomorrow for the drainage system to be cleaned.

A care home in Yeovil is closing. Somerset Care says Sunningdale Lodge care home on Sunningdale Road is no longer fit for purpose and will shut in October. Residents are being supported to find alternative care provision.

A new convenience store could soon be opening in Wincanton. Plans have been submitted to locate a ‘One Stop’ shop on the site of Bridge Motors at The Batch. The application is to change the use of a motor vehicle workshop to a retail outlet.

Voters in Somerton and Frome have until Wednesday to apply for a free photo ID. The upcoming by-election in Somerton and Frome will be the first time that voters will have to produce a photo ID to vote. Anyone who doesn't have a passport, driver’s licence or another photo ID and wants to vote in the Somerton and Frome by-election on Thursday, 20th July, should apply for a voter authority certificate through the Somerset Council website.

More from News

Thursday 3rd July

Dorset County Hospital is preparing to handle an increased number of births from now until the end of the year, following the closure of Yeovil Hospital's Maternity Unit. A number of former and current serving military personnel are pursuing the Ministry of Defence for compensation. Vandals have damaged a wooden shelter at the recreation ground in Ilminster...and more
Wednesday 2nd July

Business owners in Chard say ongoing roadworks in Fore Street are hurting their trade. A vehicle has been destroyed in a fire at a farm at Charlton Mackrell. A new recycling scheme has been launched to support Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. Castle Carey has created a Scarecrow Festival...and more
Tuesday 1st July

A murder trial starts today of the parents of a baby boy who died in Yeovil Hospital. Somerset residents are being asked to keep an eye on elderly neighbours, with temperatures expected to reach the high 20s again today. A tiny black kitten has been found inside a crate of laundry delivered to a cleaning business in Yeovil...and more
Monday 30th June

The Care Quality Commission has published its report into the running of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital. A public consultation has been launched into plans to build 150 new homes at Horton near Ilminster. A Chard man has embarked on walking 75 miles across Somerset, raising money for the Devon Air Ambulance...and more
Friday 27th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance is calling for Yeovil Hospital to be included in the government's national review of NHS maternity services. A Yeovil man has appeared in court charged with four counts of fraud. Yeovil Town players will be modelling the club’s new home and away strip at Huish Park this evening...and more.
Thursday 26th June

Thousands more music fans will arrive at Worthy Farm for the start of Glastonbury Festival. The government has granted Somerset Council a stay of execution, allowing it to defer a spending deficit on special needs education. A party has been held to mark the 100th birthday of a Somerset woman who has lived in the same house for 100 years...and more.
Wednesday 25th June

Businesses at the Cartgate services off the A303 near Yeovil say they feel threatened by Welcome Break Ltd's plans to build a new, bigger services area right next door. A man who lives in Tintinhull, found nearly double the drink drive limit, has been given a 20-month driving ban. Police are warning of fake tickets being on sale for Glastonbury Festival...and more
Tuesday 24th June

There’s been a drop in the number of potholes being filled in on Somerset’s roads. A Somerset company has developed a new type of un-crewed helicopter. A man has cycled from Spain to Somerset to attend Glastonbury Festival...and more