Friday 20th December

Friday, 20 December 2024 05:00

By Steve Haigh

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

Somerset Council is pursuing a less ambitious plan for redeveloping Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. The scheme, which will involve spending fifteen million pounds on enhanced audience facilities, compared to the twenty-nine million originally planned, has been submitted to the Department of Culuture, Media and Sport for sign-off. Yeovil Town Council, who plan to take over running the Octogan when the improvements are completed, have agreed in principle to contribute three and a half million pounds towards the upgrade.

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he hasn’t given up on trying to keep open the town’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has backed NHS Somerset’s decision to downgrade the unit, with people in Yeovil who suffer a stroke being taken by ambulance to either Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton or the County Hospital in Dorchester. Mr Dance says the Health Secretary is wrong not to intervene because a lot of the information he based his decision on is now out of date.

Somerset Council is getting more money from the government, but warning that it's not enough to keep up with rising costs. The Local Government Settlement grant was announced earlier this week, with three billion of the seventy billion package ring-fenced for adult social care.

Households in Somerset, supplied by Wessex Water will pay around one hundred pounds more on their water bills over the next five years. This follows Wessex Water’s decision to increase its charges by 21 per cent, which it claims is one of the lowest increases of all water companies in England.

Yeovil’s new outdoor performance space in the Triangle in Lower Middle Street will open for public use early in the New Year. The amphitheatre-style entertainment area has seating for around 100 and includes a big outdoor TV screen.

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Friday 31st July

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service says July has been its busiest month ever for emergency calls. Police have recovered a 1970s Austin Mini pick-up stolen in Shepton Mallet. A specialist spinal injuries service at Yeovil Hospital has treated three hundred patients in its first year... and more
Thursday 30th July

The Environment Agency has declared a drought across Somerset as the hot weather takes its toll on the county's water supplies. Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic accident near Crewkerne. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow...and more
Wednesday 29th July

Police have arrested two suspects in connection with a series of moped thefts in Chard. A combine harvester has been destroyed in a farm fire at Forton, near Chard. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow... and more
Tuesday 28th July

The former Beales department store in Yeovil could be brought back into use as part of a wider masterplan for the future of the town. A yellow heat health alert is in place across Somerset from nine o’clock this morning until nine o’clock on Friday morning. A Somerset farmer says this year is the driest on his land since 1976... and more
Monday 27th July

Gooch and Housego, based in Ilminster and one of the town’s biggest employers, has been sold in a multi-million-pound deal to an American private equity firm. A father who shook his four-week-old baby to death at a house in Chard has been sentenced to life in prison. A doctor who works for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is one of five people to have jointly set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain... and more
Friday 24th July

Avon and Somerset Police are warning people to watch out for scammers posing as Amazon. The CEO of the company that provides Somerset's recycling is warning of a major incident if people continue to put used batteries in waste bins. A former Yeovil pub could be demolished to make way for a major hotel expansion.
Thursday 23rd July

The West Country is officially one step closer to being declared in drought. Somerset Council says it's remodelling its service after a children's home was closed following an inspection. A new McDonald's planned off the M5 at Bridgwater could create up to 120 local jobs... and more
Wednesday 22nd July

Two men have been jailed for stealing electrical items and cash from a property in Yeovil. Somerset Council has defended its use of Yeovil’s new performance area in The Triangle, in Lower Middle Street. Tintinhull Primary School, near Yeovil, has won a top national award for outdoor play... and more