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.

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Friday 28th November

Somerset Council has failed to stop 150 homes being built in Crewkerne. Posters of a drag act coming to Somerset, displayed in Shepton Mallet, have been vandalised. Avon and Somerset police are using proceeds from drug crime to fund community projects...and more,
Thursday 27th November

A new NHS dentist in Chard will start seeing its first patients next Tuesday. The go-ahead has been given to install five new lighting and CCTV columns on Milfield Road in Chard. Work is to start in January, replacing ageing traffic signals at the A39 junction with Clarks Village in Street...and more
Wednesday 26th November

Workers at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil, belonging to the Unite union, have accepted a new pay offer of 8% over two years. Yeovil Town has appointed a new first-team Manager. A new NHS dental practice is due to open in Chard next month...and more
Tuesday 25th November

Yeovil MP, Adam Dance, is calling on the Chancellor to deliver ‘real economic growth’ for Yeovil in her budget tomorrow. The government has given Yeovil College £2 million to upgrade its engineering facilities. A Chard-based charity has sent 7,000 boxes filled with Christmas gifts to Ukraine...and more.
Monday 24th November

A church leader has warned that “irrevocable damage” will be caused to town centres if Somerset Council starts charging for Sunday parking. Fifty new homes are to be built in Castle Cary following a successful planning appeal. A call has been made for a memorial to the victims who died in a plane crash on the Blackdown Hills 80 years ago...and more.
Friday 21st November

A public inquiry is being held into plans to build a large solar farm in the village of Wayford. Fire crews have put out a small blaze at Tesco in Ilminster. Canadian firm KDC One is closing its Wellington factory, putting dozens of jobs at risk. It's Ilminster's turn to switch on the Christmas lights tonight... and more.
Thursday 20th November

Taunton Town Council has agreed to provide funding for five years to support the town's Brewhouse Theatre. The Environment Agency is warning that Somerset could experience a drought next spring if this winter is drier than usual. We’re being asked to look out for rough sleepers during the current cold snap...and more
Wednesday 19th November

Yeovil MP Adam Dance is calling for stronger preventative measures to stop sewage discharges into local waterways. Somerset Council is to provide three new children's homes across the County. Street Football Club has appointed a father-and-son team to manage the club... and more.