Local News Friday 12th May

Friday, 12 May 2023 11:00

By Steve Haigh

Yeovil Town Football Club say a deal has been agreed to sell the club. Communities across South Somerset are being told to prepare for more extreme weather events. Motorists are being advised that the westbound carriageway of the A30 at Babylon Hill will be closed to traffic on Wednesday May 24th. Work has been completed installing new play equipment in Upper Henson Park in Chard...and more.

Yeovil Town Football Club say a deal has been agreed to sell the club. In a statement on their website, Chairman, Scott Priestnall, says after a lot of hard work a buyer has been found to purchase the club and a deal has been agreed. The club aren’t saying who the new owner is but say further details will be announced later today. News of the sale of Yeovil Town follows months of uncertainty at Huish Park and fears that the club’s future was at risk.

Communities across South Somerset are being told they need to prepare for flooding and more extreme weather conditions due to climate change. Somerset Council is asking every town and village to draw up emergency plans for dealing with flooding following Tuesday’s major flooding event which damaged homes and businesses in Queen Camel, West Camel, North and South Cadbury, Bruton and Galhampton.

Work has been completed installing new play equipment in Upper Henson Park in Chard. The equipment is aimed primarily for use by children aged 8 to 13 and includes monkey bars and a climbing wall. The Mayor of Chard will officially open the new play area, near to Avishayes Community School, next Thursday, May 18th at 11 am.

Motorists are being advised that the westbound carriageway of the A30 between Yeovil and Sherborne at Babylon Hill will be closed to traffic on the evening of Wednesday May 24th. It’s to allow for Wessex Water to carry out work to a side road leading to the Compton Service Reservoir. The A30 at Babylon Hill westbound will be shut from 8 pm on Wednesday May 24th to 6 am on Thursday May 25th with diversions in operation.

Councillor Gary Shortland has been elected as the new Mayor of Chard. Councillor Shortland takes over from Councillor Jenny Kenton who resigned from the role without completing her 1-year term of office. Councillor Claire Brown was re-elected as the Deputy Mayor of Chard at a special meeting of Chard Town Council held earlier this week.

More from News

Monday 16th June

The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.
Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Monday 9th June

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.