A move to permanently close the road through Chinnock Hollow near Yeovil has been thrown out. Further work is to be carried out to strengthen flood defences around Chard Reservoir. Somerset Council is buying thirty properties to provide safe homes for refugees....and more.
A move by Somerset Council to permanently close the road through Chinnock Hollow near Yeovil has been voted down. The route, connecting the A30 in East Chinnock with Odcombe, was closed three years ago following a landslide. The decision to oppose the closure has put pressure on Somerset Council, who are seeking to make cuts of £100 million, to find the money to get Chinnock Hollow re-opened.
Somerset Council is buying 30 properties to provide safe homes for refugees. The homes are being bought with money from the government's local authority housing fund, allowing councils to purchase accommodation for refugees coming to the UK. The council says the homes will be in urban areas to ensure refugees can easily access local services but has not confirmed where in Somerset the homes will be.
More than 1,000 people in Somerset have now completed training to become Orange Button holders. It means they've had training in suicide prevention and mental health and are able to offer support to those in need.
Further work is to be carried out to strengthen flood defences around Chard Reservoir. It will involve installing an additional structure along Chaffcombe Lane, with the work due to start in the late summer. Somerset Council had originally allocated £99,000 for the improvements but due to their precarious finances, only £21,000 will now be spent.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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