Local News Friday 17th September

Friday, 17 September 2021 06:00

There's been a big increase in the number of phone appointments being carried out by family doctors in Somerset. It's the last day for care home workers in Somerset to get a first covid vaccine. Inquests into the deaths of two people in a crash involving a light aircraft at Buckland St Mary near Chard have been opened and adjourned. Plans for a giant solar farm that crosses into Dorset from South Somerset near South Perrott will soon be decided...and more.

There's been a big increase in the number of phone appointments being carried out by family doctors in Somerset. 20% of GP appointments were by phone in February 2021 and by July it had risen to 43% but the NHS in Somerset says despite huge demand for appointments at the moment, it is now seeing more patients in person than last summer.

It's the last day for care home workers in Somerset to get a first covid vaccine. On November 11th, it will be mandatory for staff to be fully vaccinated. Leader of Somerset county council David Fothergill says it means some employees will lose their jobs.

Inquests into the deaths of two people in a crash involving a light aircraft at Buckland St Mary near Chard have been opened and adjourned. The pilot Jonathan Mann and his passenger, Margaret Costa, were pronounced dead at the scene on August 12th. Post-mortem examinations show they died from multiple injuries. The inquests were adjourned pending a report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

Plans for a giant solar farm that crosses into Dorset from South Somerset near South Perrott will soon be decided. The 54-hectare site, close to Pipplepen Farm on School Hill and to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is predicted to generate up to 32 megawatts, enough to provide electricity for around 10,000 homes. If planning consent is given, the site is expected to take between four and six months to develop and to be in operation for 30-years.

Plans have been submitted to build a 24-bed nursing home on the site of the former Lamb Inn pub at Horton Cross near Ilminster. The site lies near the Monks Yard conference venue, about half a mile from the Southfields roundabout, where the A358 joins the A303. South Somerset District Council is expected to make a decision on the new proposals before the end of the year.

A new shop and cafe have been approved at an animal rescue centre in Wincanton. Following the granting of planning permission the new outlets, as well as holiday accommodation, will be added to the site of the Somerset and Dorset Animal Rescue Centre in Common Lane.

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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.