Local News Friday 9th December

Friday, 9 December 2022 06:00

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh is urging the government to speed up allocating a £1.2 billion contract to build new medium-lift helicopters for the RAF. Yeovil College is being given one point two million pounds to spend on a new specialist engineering department. A pilot scheme, using a battery-driven waste collection vehicle in Somerset, has run into problems. A leading car franchise in Yeovil has changed hands...and more.

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh is urging the government to speed up allocating a £1.2 billion contract to build new medium-lift helicopters for the RAF. Leonardo in Yeovil with the AW149 shortlisted for the order. Marcus Fysh says the war in Ukraine has shown why the government needs to act more quickly on the contract.

Yeovil College is being given one point two million pounds to spend on a new specialist engineering department. The government funding will go towards facilities and equipment for teaching about hydrogen cell technology in aerospace engineering. The Department for Education says it will make sure students in Yeovil are at the forefront of developments in net-zero and cell technology.

A pilot scheme, using a battery-driven waste collection vehicle in Somerset, has run into problems. Somerset Waste Partnership has been trialing an electric waste vehicle to see if it would make a suitable replacement for its diesel-powered vehicles. However, due to electrical problems, the vehicle proved to be less than reliable and has often had to be taken out of service. SWP is carrying out a separate trial using hydrogenated vegetable oil instead of diesel to run its vehicles. A report on this trial is due out in February.

A leading car franchise in Yeovil has changed hands. Westerly BMW and Mini on the Houndtsone Business Park in Yeovil have been sold by the Helston Garages Group to Vertu Motors. The deal, worth £117 million, also sees Vertu take on a further twenty-one Helston car dealerships.

A stretch of the main road leading into Ilminster is closed for repairs today. The old A3037 between Cricket Lane and Dowlish Ford will stay closed until early this evening for ironworks, including the drains, to be repaired.

The 2023 South Somerset Heritage Calendar is now on sale. This year’s theme commemorates the Queen’s Coronation 70 years ago and the 90th anniversary of the flight over Everest of two Westland-built aircraft. The calendar can be bought at the Ninesprings Café, Yeovil Recreation Ground Café, The Emporium in Yeovil, and the Visitor Information Centre at Cartgate.

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Thursday 30th October

Bird flu has been found at a nature reserve in Somerset, closing part of it down. St Margaret’s Hospice in Somerset is calling for the hospice sector to be given more central funding. The Barrington Boar in Barrington has been placed 12th in The Good Food Guide’s list of 100 best pubs in Britain... and more
Wednesday 29th October

Police are investigating a suspected arson attack on a mobile home near Yeovil. Somerset Council is suggesting people turn their pumpkins into soup this Halloween. People in Yeovil have until Sunday to comment on controversial plans to sell off four car parks in the town centre... and more.
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