Local news Friday 21st January

Friday, 21 January 2022 06:00

Carnival clubs in South Somerset are celebrating. Work has started on demolishing the former GKN factory on the Leonardo Helicopter site. A public meeting to discuss the problems of flooding in Chard has been moved to a new date. Motorists are being warned of delays due to road works on a key route in Yeovil and a parish council in the Yeovil area is planning to scale back the prizes it gives in its annual Christmas Lights competition.

Carnival clubs in South Somerset are celebrating, after winning a planning battle to build a large shed to use for building carnival floats on the Dillington Estate, near Ilminster. The plans were opposed by several parish councils, who claimed that road access to the site where the shed will be built was inadequate to cope with wide Carnival floats. Despite the concerns, the plans were approved by a majority of one vote at a meeting of South Somerset District Council’s Area West Committee.

Work has started on demolishing the former GKN factory on the Leonardo Helicopter site in Yeovil at West Hendford. It’s to make way for a new £30 million logistics and distribution centre. Leonardo says all its Yeovil-based warehousing will transfer to the new facility when work on building it is completed in late 2023.

A public meeting to discuss the problems of flooding in Chard has been moved to a new date. The event was meant to take place in the Chard Guildhall next Monday but will now be held on Monday, February 28th, again at the Guildhall.

Motorists are being warned of delays due to road works on a key route in Yeovil that will last up to a month. Work is due to start on Monday resurfacing Combe Street Lane with the job not expected to be completed until Friday, February 25th. Somerset County Council says access for residents will be maintained but that delays can be expected with through traffic.

A parish council in the Yeovil area is planning to scale back the prizes it gives in its annual Christmas Lights competition, to discourage local residents from decorating the outsides of their houses with illuminated Christmas lighting. Members of Brympton Parish Council meet next week to discuss the move, which the Council says is aimed at reducing carbon emissions within the parish.

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Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more