Local News Monday 10th July

Monday, 10 July 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Bin collectors in Somerset are set to go on strike from Wednesday this week in a dispute over pay. Funding has been secured to write a business case to reopen Chard Junction railway station. The A3088 Cartgate Link Road in Yeovil is shut to traffic at night all this week. Voters in Somerton and Frome have until Wednesday to apply for a free photo ID...and more.

Bin collectors in Somerset are set to go on strike this week in a dispute over pay. Members of the Unite union will stop work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and on the same days every week for the next four weeks. Suez UK, the company contracted by Somerset Council to collect the waste, has offered staff an eight per cent pay rise that has been rejected. Householders whose waste is not collected on Wednesday are asked to put it out again next Monday. Those whose waste is not collected on Thursday should put it out again next Tuesday. And, those whose waste is not collected on Friday should put it out again the following Friday. SWP says recycling centres are not affected by the stoppage and will open as normal.

Funding has been secured to prepare a business case to reopen Chard Junction railway station. The Chard Active Travel and Transport Group has raised twenty-three thousand pounds to write an outline business proposition that will be submitted to the Department of Transport. The campaign group wants Chard Junction station, which closed in 1966, re-opened as Chard Parkway station, providing hourly services to Exeter and London.

The A3088 Cartgate Link Road in Yeovil is shut to traffic at night all this week. Somerset Council says from today the road will close at 7 pm and re-open at 7 am tomorrow for the drainage system to be cleaned.

A care home in Yeovil is closing. Somerset Care says Sunningdale Lodge care home on Sunningdale Road is no longer fit for purpose and will shut in October. Residents are being supported to find alternative care provision.

A new convenience store could soon be opening in Wincanton. Plans have been submitted to locate a ‘One Stop’ shop on the site of Bridge Motors at The Batch. The application is to change the use of a motor vehicle workshop to a retail outlet.

Voters in Somerton and Frome have until Wednesday to apply for a free photo ID. The upcoming by-election in Somerton and Frome will be the first time that voters will have to produce a photo ID to vote. Anyone who doesn't have a passport, driver’s licence or another photo ID and wants to vote in the Somerton and Frome by-election on Thursday, 20th July, should apply for a voter authority certificate through the Somerset Council website.

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There’s been a call for the Somerset Levels to be designated a National Landscape. A Yeovil man has raised £2,000 for a new school minibus at Fairmead School in Yeovil by running the London Marathon. Exmoor Ales, which provides cask ales across the region and beyond, is closing its Somerset brewery and moving the business to Surrey...and more.
Wednesday 30th April

The long-awaited refurbishment of Yeovil police station is finally to get underway this summer. Plans have been approved to build 185 new homes off Bunford Lane in Yeovil. Police have arrested three men in Yeovil for being involved in the supply of Class A drugs. A Somerset jockey has been named Champion Conditional Jockey of 2025...and more.
Tuesday 29th April

New figures have shown that registering as a new patient with an NHS dentist in Somerset is still just as difficult as it was six months ago. The go-ahead has been given to build 160 new houses on Station Road in Castle Cary. A sailor from South Petherton has been chosen to lead a team in the round-the-world Clipper Race...and more.
Monday 28th April

Somerset Council is being criticised for taking too long to re-open Yeovil's Octagon Theatre. The Liberal Democrats have won a seat on Chard Town Council by one vote. Dates have been announced for this year’s illuminated carnival processions in South Somerset...and more.
Friday 25th April

Police are investigating the theft of a motorbike in Ilminster. Tributes have been paid to the former Yeovil Town player-manager, Cecil Irwin, who has died aged 83. Town criers from across the South West will be in Yeovil tomorrow competing for the loudest voice in the Yeovil Town Crier Competition 2025...and more
Thursday 24th April

Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident in which a child was struck by a car in Yeovil. This week, a planning inquiry is being held into plans to turn a Somerset shopping centre into a retirement complex. A Somerset woman is planning to walk the 70-miles of Hadrian's Wall to mark her 90th birthday...and more.
Wednesday 23rd April

Tourism bosses in Somerset say they feel confident the County will have a good summer for visitors this year. A group representing care providers in Somerset is warning that some residential homes are at risk of going out of business due to rising costs. A Somerset animal charity has taken into care, three orphaned badger cubs...and more.
Tuesday 22nd April

The Care Quality Commission has given two GP practices in Yeovil a 'good' overall rating. According to insurers, AXA, thefts at commercial premises in Somerset are on the rise. Bus users in Somerset could see changes to the frequency of services when the new West of England mayor takes office. Martock is to host its first Pride event in June...and more.