Local News Friday 20th May

Friday, 20 May 2022 06:00

A threat of closure that’s been hanging over Somerset’s minor injuries units has been lifted. More people than ever are working on the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. Cyclists travelling across Chard could soon enjoy a much safer ride under plans to complete a coast-to-coast cycle route through the West Country. A new 'super' national nature reserve is being created on the Somerset Levels and Moors and a Somerset cider producer has teamed up with one of the world’s largest whisky brands to create a new alcoholic product.

A threat of closure that’s been hanging over Somerset’s minor injuries units has been lifted. The county’s seven minor injuries units, including one in Chard, were due to shut and be replaced by the new GP community pharmacy service but in a statement, Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group, says the setting up of the new GP community pharmacy service will not lead to any MIU being closed down or replaced.

More people than ever are working on the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. More than seven-and-a-half thousand workers are on-site and another one thousand will join them this year. It means plenty of jobs for Somerset but there are also concerns the project is pushing up the cost of renting or buying a home in the local area.

Cyclists travelling across Chard could soon enjoy a much safer ride under plans to complete a coast-to-coast cycle route through the West Country. Sustrans cycle route 33, known as the Stop Line Way, runs for 75 miles from Weston-super-mare to Axminster, via Chard and Ilminster. South Somerset District Council area west committee has committed £12,000 to a new study to identify options for diverting the route off-road, which could be implemented by the new unitary Somerset Council that comes into being in April next year. The Stop Line Way is named after the Stop Taunton Line, built by the military in 1940 as a defence against a land invasion by German troops during the Second World War.

A new 'super' national nature reserve is being created on the Somerset Levels and Moors. It's only the second one of its kind and will see more than six thousand hectares form the 'Somerset Wetlands'. Seven organisations will oversee the reserve.

A Somerset cider producer has teamed up with one of the world’s largest whisky brands to create a new alcoholic product. Somerset Cider Brandy Company at Kingsbury Episcopi has joined forces with Glenfiddich to produce a new apple whisky.

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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.