Local News Friday 18th August

Friday, 18 August 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Network Rail is investigating what services could be provided at a re-opened Chard railway station. Plans have been submitted to extend Keinton Mandeville Primary School. Somerton Town Council has introduced a dress code for its members. Yeovil is bidding for new honours in this year’s Britain in Bloom competition...and more.

Network Rail has agreed to investigate what services could be provided as part of plans to bring back a railway station to Chard. Chard Junction station fell victim to the Beeching cuts in 1966 and now a group of councillors and local business people are campaigning to have it re-opened. They’ve raised twenty thousand to prepare a business plan that will be submitted to the government before the end of the year.

Plans have been submitted to build an extension at Keinton Mandeville Primary School. Land within the school grounds that was previously a car park would be used for the two-classroom modular building.

Somerton Town Council has introduced a dress code for its members. It bans councillors from wearing summer shorts or sports clothing at meetings, also hats of any kind. The new rules apply to full council meetings, committee meetings and other events where a councillor is acting in an official capacity.

A collection of twenty ventriloquist dolls, some dating back more than one hundred years, will be sold in Sherborne later this month. They’re due to be auctioned at Charterhouse Auctions on August 31st and September 1st.

Police are searching for the driver of a blue Suzuki car believed to have left the scene of a road traffic accident in Glastonbury. The accident involving the Suzuki and a scooter happened on Old Wells Road last Friday. If you witnessed or have dashcam footage of the crash you’re asked to call the non-emergency number 101.

Yeovil is bidding for new honours in this year’s Britain in Bloom competition. It’s the twenty-seventh year the town has taken part in the South West section having won gold every year since 2011. Britain in Bloom judges visited Yeovil in July and were shown the flower displays in St. John’s Churchyard together with hearing about the charity, Able2Achieve helping with the planting.

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Wednesday 29th October

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Tuesday 28th October

Plans have been submitted to build 12 new homes in Chard. A nursery in Yeovil has been rated ‘overall good' by Ofsted. A Somerset mortgage broker has achieved national recognition. A stretch of the M5 at Wellington will be shut every night this week...and more
Monday 27th October

The Unite union has announced four days of strikes by its members at Leonardo in Yeovil. One of Yeovil’s busiest roads is closed to traffic today. Staff at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard raised £3,000 taking part in a Sleeping Ruff challenge at the weekend...and more
Friday 24th October

New figures show that 500 young people were either injured or killed on roads in Somerset and Devon last year. The Old School Community Centre in Queen Camel has reopened, thanks to a donation of £10,000 from Somerset Freemasons. Two Fleet Air Arm engineers based at RNAS Yeovilton have recreated a family moment from 26 years ago...and more
Thursday 23rd October

Yeovil-born actress Sarah Parish is supporting efforts to reopen the Octagon theatre. Mobility scooter campaigners in Somerset have welcomed a government review of the legislation governing the use of mobility scooters on public highways. Changes are being made to the dates when garden waste is collected in Somerset...and more
Wednesday 22nd October

A major house builder in the South West says government targets for new house building in Somerset are 'unrealistic'. Pizza Hut is closing its restaurant in Yeovil. Staff at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard will be taking part in a ‘Sleeping Ruff’ challenge tomorrow...and more .
Tuesday 21st October

Reckleford in Yeovil is to shut for 15 days for essential drainage works. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has paid out compensation of £23 million for claims related to birth injuries. A Grade II listed building in Glastonbury has been converted into a health and wellbeing centre...and more