Local News Monday 22nd November

Monday, 22 November 2021 07:16

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh has come out against plans to turn a former care home into a place for the homeless people in Yeovil. People have voted in an unofficial poll for Somerset’s new unitary council to be based in Wells. A man found hiding in the porch of a house in Yeovil has been jailed and the cost of dealing with farm fires in the South West rose by just over a third last year.

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh has come out against plans to turn a former care home into a place for the homeless people in Yeovil. Bournemouth Churches Housing Association want to shut their homeless shelter in Newton Road in Yeovil town centre and move the facility to the former care home on Hendford Hill. More than 200 people in the Hendford Hill areas are trying to stop the move. Marcus Fysh says the proposed location on Hendford Hill is ‘wholly unsuitable’. South Somerset District Council are due to make a decision on the plans early in the New Year.

A planning inquiry into building 200 new homes in Castle Cary has been unexpectedly halted. Wyke Farms and Andrew Hopkins are contesting South Somerset District Council’s decision to refuse permission for the development off Station Road. Due to technical difficulties the inquiry was halted after just one session and won’t resume until late March next year.

People have voted in an unofficial poll for Somerset’s new unitary council to be based in Wells. The County Council and four district councils are being replaced by a new single Council to be called Somerset Council that will come into force in April 2023. In the vote on social media, a majority of local residents opted for Wells as the place to base the new authority, however, a spokesperson said they have no plans to build an HQ for the new Council in Wells or anywhere else for that matter and that decisions about using existing council owned buildings would be taken at a later date.

A man found hiding in the porch of a house in Yeovil has been jailed. Taunton Crown Court was told that police found Liam Raybould hiding in a house on Glenville Road after a member of the public reported suspicious activity. Nothing had been stolen but Raybould of West Hendford was arrested and charged with dwelling burglary.

The cost of dealing with farm fires in the South West rose by just over a third last year. Insurers NFU Mutual say they paid out £8 million pounds to farmers for damage caused by fire in 2020 with electrical faults the cause of most farm fires.

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