Friday 19th April

Friday, 19 April 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Work starts today building a new eastbound carriageway as part of dualling the A303 between Sparkford and Podimore. A childhood obesity clinic in Somerset has revealed that it is treating children as young as eight months old. Somerset Wildlife Trust has launched a campaign to recruit an army of young people to act as conservation champions...and more.

Work starts today building a new eastbound carriageway as part of dualling the A303 between Sparkford and Podimore. National Highways says a section of the A303 will be shut with the newly built westbound carriageway used for traffic to create a safe working area to build the new eastbound carriageway between Steart Hill and Gason Lane. The work is due to be completed by 6 am on Monday.

A childhood obesity clinic in Somerset has revealed that it is treating children as young as eight months old. The Splash clinic is the only one of its kind in the country, providing families with a dietician and paediatric support.

Somerset Council says it hopes to continue a project supporting vulnerable homeless people in the county, despite its financial pressures. Step Together has helped nearly 600 people in the county in the last five years. Earlier this year, it was told its funding was at risk as Somerset Council struggled to balance its budget. It's now been given a one-year reprieve but says its clients need a more secure commitment.

Somerset Wildlife Trust is appealing for donations to raise £40,000 to support its Wilder Youth initiative, aimed at enabling young people to become conservation champions. Surveys have shown that many young people lose their connection to nature after the age of 10 and it can take up to 20 years for the connection to be re-established. Somerset Wildlife Trust believes the Wilder Youth initiative is a way of reconnecting young people with nature.

In cricket, the ECB has announced Somerset will be among the eight Tier 1 counties that will host sides at the top of the women’s domestic game from 2025, with two more guaranteed to be added by 2027. The governing body intends to grow that number to 12 by 2029, to have an 80% increase in female players by then.

Somerset Art Weeks Festival will return this year with a new theme. The festival which has been run every year since 1994 is inviting artists to contribute to the theme of Landscape: Flux and Flow. Organisers say it’s aimed at drawing attention to the changing local landscape and intimacy with the natural environment.

More from News

Wednesday 1st May

SUEZ, the company that collects Somerset’s waste is warning it may cease operations. Twenty thousand pounds is being spent cleaning red paint off the front of County Hall in Taunton following a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. An occupational therapist at Yeovil Hospital has won an award for her smart appearance at work...and more.
Tuesday 30th April

Somerset Council is taking legal action to remove an arms company from one of its commercial properties. Waste collection days across Somerset are set to change next month due to two impending bank holidays. An archaeological survey has begun on the proposed site of a new skate park in Bruton... and more.
Monday 29th April

Somerset’s busiest speed camera in 2023 has been revealed as the camera on the westbound carriageway of the A303 between the Podimore Roundabout and the Hazelgrove Roundabout. Bus campaigners are calling on Somerset Council to keep the public toilets open at Yeovil bus station. The funeral has taken place in Yeovil of D-Day veteran, Bill Tolley, who has died at the age of 97...and more.
Friday 26 April

A man has been arrested in Castle Cary and charged with stalking, harassment and making threats to kill. The NHS in Somerset says its staff retention rate has improved over the past two years. A farmer in South Petherton is preparing to cycle 1,000 miles to raise money for charity...and more.
Thursday 25th April

The NHS is offering spring COVID-19 vaccines to people in Somerset who are at increased risk of serious illness from the virus. A new way of making roads safer for children in Somerset has started this week. A Yeovil-based apprentice has been named as a winner in the JTL Regional Awards. Haselbury Mill near Crewkerne has been put up for sale...and more
Wednesday 24th April

Yeovil Town FC have sent a strongly worded letter to the Football Association asking for plans to end FA Cup replays to be dropped. A Somerset woman who's spent the last 32 years living with Hepatitis C, says better support is needed for those affected by the contaminated blood scandal. A new school of musical theatre has opened in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 23rd April

Two teenage boys have admitted animal cruelty after filming themselves throwing a lamb down a stone staircase at Montacute. Somerset Council could lose around £5 million by selling the Marks and Spencer building in Yeovil. Chard, Wincanton, Castle Cary and Ansford are on a list of fifteen places in Somerset where new 20 mph speed limits could soon be introduced...and more.
Monday 22nd April

The parents of a two-week-old baby boy, accused of his murder at Yeovil Hospital, are to stand trial. Protesters have splashed red paint across the front of County Hall in Taunton for a second time. A comedy film about the world of competitive marrow-growing and made in Shepton Mallet has opened in cinemas across the UK...and more.