Thursday 27th March

Thursday, 27 March 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor for not reforming business rates in her Spring Statement. Fifteen schools in Somerset are to be equipped with new facilities for children with special educational needs. A charity in Yeovil is appealing for donations of new underwear to give to people who are homeless...and more

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor for not reforming business rates in her Spring Statement. Speaking in the Commons, he said Rachel Reeves had missed an opportunity to help hard-pressed businesses and, in particular, high street retailers. Mr Dance also hit out at the Chancellor for not scrapping the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions and reversing the family farm tax. He said rather than targeting businesses, the government should raise revenue by taxing big banks, social media giants, and online gambling companies.

Fifteen schools in Somerset are to be equipped with new facilities to cater for children with special educational needs and disabilities. The new SEND units are a response to specialist schools operating at full capacity, and a rise in the number of young people with special educational needs requiring places at state schools. The schools in our area to be equipped with new SEND units are: Maiden Beech Academy and Wadham School in Crewkerne, Reckleford Infant School and St. Michael's Academy in Yeovil, and Wincanton Primary School.

Somerset Council has launched a review into local government in Langport and Huish Episcopi. It follows a petition signed by people living in both local council areas, calling for Langport Town Council and Huish Episcopi Parish Council to be replaced by a single council. The review will start by consulting key stakeholders, including the local MP and elected local councillors. Final recommendations will be considered this autumn, with the decision implemented in April 2027.

People in Yeovil are being asked to have their say on plans to extend dog control measures in Ninesprings Country Park.
The measures, which include a dog exclusion zone as well as making owners keep their animals on leads in public places, are already in place but expire at the end of June. Somerset Council wants to extend the existing Public Space Protection Orders by three years and has started a public consultation that runs until the 5th May.

A charity in Yeovil is appealing for donations of new underwear. The Roost, based at The Gateway in Adlewell Lane, is asking for items of underwear to give to people who are homeless in South Somerset.

A new High Sheriff has been appointed to the role in Somerset. Janet Montgomery takes over from Rob Beckley, who has completed his one-year term of office.

More from News

Monday 31st March

Yeovil Town owner Martin Hellier has announced his intention to put the club up for sale. Somerset Chamber of Commerce says small businesses are bracing themselves for a challenging year. The Children's Hospice South West founder, Eddie Farwell, has died. Tintinhull Gardens near Yeovil have reopened for the new season...and more
Friday 28th March

First Bus has invested £12 million in buying 26 electric buses to run on routes in Somerset. Approval has been given to build 18 new homes in South Petherton. Somerset’s recycling sites, including Yeovil, will revert to their spring opening times next week. This year’s Somerset Drama Festival has been won by Ilminster Entertainments Society...and more.
Wednesday 26th March

The remains of a Roman settlement have been discovered near Langport. Chard Town Council has issued a formal apology over some of its recent conduct. Visitors to Ham Hill Country Park are being asked to tread carefully and keep pets on leads to protect breeding skylarks nesting at ground-level...and more
Tuesday 25th March

A teenage boy has been arrested following an incident in Castle Cary. Somerset Council has announced “wide-ranging improvements” to bus services. Work has started upgrading a doctor’s surgery in Chard. The finalists have been announced for this year’s Somerset Business Awards...and more
Monday 24th March

Numatic International Ltd in Chard has been given planning permission to build a giant solar farm off the A30 Crewkerne Road. The RSPCA says incidents of dropped litter impacting the lives of animals in Somerset is a growing problem. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is marking 25 years of saving lives across the two counties...and more
Friday 21st March

Leonardo in Yeovil is developing a new type of self-flying helicopter. A report into the creation of Somerset Council has found the case for it to be 'weak' and marked by 'poor decision making'. The village of Montecute has been told that it may have one of the country's oldest working clocks...and more.
Thursday 20th March

There has been a further delay to reopening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident in Wincanton in which a motorcyclist was killed. A debt advice charity in Somerset is recruiting more volunteers to help with an expected increase in people going into debt...and more.
Wednesday 19th March

A new report says survival rates from ovarian cancer in Somerset are among the best in England. Farmers say it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed due to criminal gangs using farmland for illegal hare coursing. A Victorian chemist shop, originally situated on the High Street in South Petherton, is being moved to a theme park in County Durham...and more