Somerset Council says 900 miles of the County’s roads will be gritted on a regular basis this winter. Work will start soon to strengthen Chard Reservoir to protect local communities from flooding. The first advent calendar produced by the charity Mind in Somerset has gone on sale...and more
Somerset Council says 900 miles of the County’s roads will be gritted regularly this winter. In our area, this includes the A3088 Cartgate Link Road between Yeovil and the A303. The A358 between Chard and Williton (via Ilminster and Taunton). The A359 between Yeovil and Frome (via Sparkford, Castle Cary and Bruton) and the A371 between Wincanton and Cheddar (via Shepton Mallet and Wells). Around one-fifth of Somerset's road network will be treated, with the council prioritising major commuter routes, along with main routes to schools, hospitals and other medical facilities, and interchanges with bus and rail services.
Work will start soon strengthening Chard Reservoir to protect local communities from flooding. The scheme will involve building a low wall along one section of the reservoir to reduce the risk of the reservoir failing. Somerset Council says the chances of flood waters overflowing and leading to a failure of the dam in any given year is approximately one in 5,000, whereas, with the wall in place, this reduces to about 1 in 400,000. The scheme will be phased, with work on culverts taking place before Christmas, and work on building the wall likely to start in the New Year.
Somerset Community Foundation has started its annual Surviving Winter appeal. Every year the foundation grants money to pensioners on the lowest incomes in Somerset to help with energy costs through winter. Last year it raised more than 150 thousand pounds.
The first advent calendar produced by the charity Mind in Somerset has gone on sale. They're hoping the calendar will raise money for mental health services which they say come under greater pressure during the winter months.
Two men from Yeovil have been found guilty of murdering a man in the town. A school in Chard has been named the best-run primary school in Somerset. Somerton MP Sarah Dyke is calling on the government to provide more funding for community pharmacies. Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident on the A303...and more
Public Health at Somerset Council is blaming a rise in measles cases on a drop in the number of children getting the MMR vaccination. Police have produced an online gallery to try and find the owners of hundreds of stolen items. The sale of a boxing glove in Chard claimed to have been worn by Cassius Clay, has been halted after new evidence about its authenticity came to light...and more
Somerset Council is pursuing a less ambitious plan for redeveloping Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he hasn’t given up on trying to keep open the town’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Yeovil’s new outdoor performance space in the Triangle in Lower Middle Street will open for public use early in the New Year...and more
A Somerset pensioner has criticised the government for refusing to compensate women who claim they were not given adequate warning about changes to the start date for receiving the state pension. Parents are being asked to check their children have been vaccinated against measles following a rise in cases. The use of energy-saving light bulbs is greater in the South West than in any other region in England.
The Unite union says it is becoming ‘increasingly anxious’ about a delay in awarding Leonardo in Yeovil a multi-million-pound contract to build a new medium-lift helicopter for the RAF. The government has set Somerset a target to build 3,700 new homes next year. A boxing glove once worn by Muhammad Ali is being auctioned in Chard today...and more
Emergency teams are still working across Somerset to remove trees damaged in last week’s Storm Darragh. Crewkerne Town Council has been asked to ban the Seavington Hunt from gathering in the town centre on Boxing Day. The London Standard newspaper has named the Lord Poulett Arms in Hinton St George as its "Country Pub of the Week"...and more
The government says it won’t intervene in the decision to close the hyper-acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Police are asking for witnesses to an accident in Yeovil in which a man suffered a broken leg. Shepton Beauchamp Church of England Primary School has been rated as good by Ofsted...and more.
Somerset-based social housing provider, Stonewater, is urging caution over plans by the government to relax the planning rules. The Samaritans in Yeovil are gearing up for their busiest time of the year. The curtain goes up today on this year’s Yeovil panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, at the Westlands Entertainment venue...and more.
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