People in South Somerset are to get a vote on the planned shake-up of local government in the County. Meanwhile, Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh has come out against holding the poll. A man who lives in High Ham has appeared in court charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer. Somerset's Director of Public Health has been made a professor. Trudi Grant has led the county council's response to the covid-19 pandemic...and more.
People in South Somerset are to get a vote on the planned shake-up of local government in the County. Voting will take place both online and by post between now and early June. All interested parties are now agreed that Somerset’s system of local government with four district councils and a county council has to change. The issue is what that change should be; should it be one council to run all services across Somerset or two councils, one based on the Western side of the County, the other on the Eastern side. The poll will not be legally binding with the outcome being sent to the Local Government Minister, Robert Jenrick, before the government announces a final decision, expected sometime in July.
Meanwhile, Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh has come out against holding the poll. He’s called it a waste of public money and suggested that South Somerset District Council should spend the money earmarked for the poll on smartening up Yeovil town centre.
A man who lives in High Ham has appeared in court charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer. Elliott Ash of Orchard Bank at High Ham pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined £333 and ordered to pay compensation of £225.
Somerset's Director of Public Health has been made a professor. Trudi Grant has led the county council's response to the covid-19 pandemic. She's now been made a Visiting Professor of health at University of the West of England but will also remain working for the county council.
Aspiring young actors in South Somerset can audition to take part in a musical being put on at Glastonbury Abbey this summer. Acclaimed Director Andrew Wright is behind the production of Joseph of the Technicolour Dreamcoat and is recruiting locally for cast members.
Yeovil Town FC have sent a strongly worded letter to the Football Association asking for plans to end FA Cup replays to be dropped. A Somerset woman who's spent the last 32 years living with Hepatitis C, says better support is needed for those affected by the contaminated blood scandal. A new school of musical theatre has opened in Chard...and more.
Two teenage boys have admitted animal cruelty after filming themselves throwing a lamb down a stone staircase at Montacute. Somerset Council could lose around £5 million by selling the Marks and Spencer building in Yeovil. Chard, Wincanton, Castle Cary and Ansford are on a list of fifteen places in Somerset where new 20 mph speed limits could soon be introduced...and more.
The parents of a two-week-old baby boy, accused of his murder at Yeovil Hospital, are to stand trial. Protesters have splashed red paint across the front of County Hall in Taunton for a second time. A comedy film about the world of competitive marrow-growing and made in Shepton Mallet has opened in cinemas across the UK...and more.
Work starts today building a new eastbound carriageway as part of dualling the A303 between Sparkford and Podimore. A childhood obesity clinic in Somerset has revealed that it is treating children as young as eight months old. Somerset Wildlife Trust has launched a campaign to recruit an army of young people to act as conservation champions...and more.
A Martock man has been jailed after admitting to shining lasers at aircraft flying over Yeovil. Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the TK Maxx store at Babylon Hill. Nearly four hundred people have put their names forward for redundancy at Somerset Council...and more.
Three local primary schools have been named on a list of England's top five hundred primary schools. A new co-working space for businesswomen has opened in Wincanton. Urgent repairs are being carried out to Ilminster's new public clock after it started showing the wrong time...and more
A new operator has been found to run a Chard care home that has been at risk of closure. A licence has been granted to run a new music festival in West Dorset. People have until midnight tonight to register for a vote in the election for a Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset...and more.
Four people have been arrested as part of an investigation into the illegal supply of prescription-only drugs in Yeovil. A Yeovil man has appeared in court in connection with two burglaries in Langport. A well-known farm and restaurant business in South Petherton has been put up for sale. New figures have shown a further decline in the number of House Sparrows in Somerset...and more.
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