Work to improve the facilities and energy efficiency at three leisure centres in Yeovil and Wincanton will begin this spring. Plans have been submitted for a new drive-thru hot food outlet in Chard. It’s thought more families will be holidaying in the UK this year, as pressure mounts on household budgets. People are being advised to check their polling cards for the local elections as the location of some polling stations has changed and Cheddar Caves re-open today.
Work to improve the facilities and energy efficiency at three leisure centres in Yeovil and Wincanton will begin this spring. South Somerset District Council has earmarked six million pounds for new equipment at Goldenstones and the Westlands Fitness Centre in Yeovil, together with fresh exercise spaces and new equipment at Wincanton Sports Centre.
Plans have been submitted for a new drive-thru hot food outlet in Chard. The unit would be built off Tapstone Road, near the Lidl and Tesco stores. South Somerset District Council is expected to make a decision on the application before the summer.
It’s thought more families will be holidaying in the UK this year, as pressure mounts on household budgets. According to tourism managers, Somerset’s B&B’s, hotels, and attractions could be amongst those to benefit with families booking local stays in preference to holidaying abroad. Meanwhile, the Somerset Community Credit Union is encouraging people to speak to them about managing their household bills.
People are being advised to check their polling cards for the local elections as the location of some polling stations has changed. If you haven’t been sent a polling card you should make sure that your name is on the electoral register, if not, then you need to register before the deadline of April 14th. If you’re planning to vote by post, you need to apply for a postal ballot by the deadline of April 19th. Further details about how to vote in the local elections on May 5th can be found on the South Somerset District Council website.
Cheddar Caves re-open today, almost two years to the day after the attraction was forced to close due to Covid restrictions.
A new website has been launched to support people in Somerset with mental health issues. One of Yeovil’s oldest pubs has been sold. Artwork on the theme of aviation produced by students at Yeovil College has gone on display at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil.A pupil at Tatworth Primary School near Chard has won a prize in a national competition for writing a book review...and more
Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil is to continue for a further two months. Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has set up in business as a professional gardener...and more.
Somerset Council seeking to save £40 million by cutting one thousand jobs says 201 employees have so far applied to leave the authority based on voluntary redundancy. East Somerset Railway near Shepton Mallet has been used for filming the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals. An old-style red phone box in Castle Cary is being turned into Somerset's smallest museum...and more
Somerset's Chief Medical Officer says GP surgeries using healthcare professionals alongside doctors to provide treatments has freed up GP appointments. A farmer has been fined £15,000 for polluting a household water supply. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner has officially started work in the role. Chard Post Office is closed today for the handover of the business to new owners...and more.
Health inspectors have criticised Somerset's maternity services, including those at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset Council says re-opening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre in its original form could cost up to £200,000 if a multi-million-pound upgrade of the building falls through. A film made by a Yeovil man on a budget of just five thousand pounds was screened at the prestigious British Independent Film Festival...and more.
The Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard says it needs an immediate injection of £100,000 to keep going. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has returned to Yeovil Rugby Club where she began her rugby career 20 years ago. Twenty-five Town criers from across the South will be in Ilminster tomorrow competing in the annual Ilminster Town Criers' Competition...and more.
Train services through Somerset are again being disrupted today due to continued strike action by the train driver’s union ALSEF. A campaign has been launched in Somerset aimed at stopping people overdosing on opioids. A Somerset business is raising a smile with its name.‘Top Of The Clops’, a tack shop near Taunton has won a place in the top ten of the UK’s funniest business names...and more.
A woman driver has been told she faces a prison term for causing the deaths of two people in a crash on the A303. The AA says there are more potholes than ever on Somerset’s motorway network, leading to an increase in damage to vehicles. The new cancer treatment unit at Yeovil Hospital should be open before the end of the year...and more.
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