Drivers employed by Buses of Somerset are on strike today in a pay dispute. The go-ahead has been given to build 185 new homes on the outskirts of Yeovil. Major repair works to Chard’s sewerage system are due to start later this month. A thirty-four-million pound defence contract to upgrade torpedo launch systems on board Navy frigates has been awarded to a Somerset firm and the outgoing Lord Lieutenant of Somerset says being in the role for the past eight years has been an immense privilege.
Drivers employed by Buses of Somerset are on strike today in a pay dispute. The stoppage by members of the RMT union has led to the cancellation of local services.
The routes are:
6 from Yeovil to Crewkerne
30 through Ilminster and Chard to Taunton
51 to Abbey Manor Park via Cavalier Way
54 from Yeovil and calling at Langport and Somerton
55 Curry Rivel to Strode College
58/58A from Yeovil to Henstridge and Wincanton
Meanwhile, the RMT says that unless they’re made an improved pay offer, their members will stop work on Friday, October 21st, and again on the 4th and 11th of November.
The go-ahead has been given to build 185 new homes on the outskirts of Yeovil. The new development will be located off Tintinhull Road, near the Brimsmore Garden Centre. Road access to the site will be from Tintinhull Road, with the existing junction with Coppits Hill Lane closed. To prevent any increase in phosphates, a wastewater treatment plant will be constructed on the site.
Major repair works to Chard’s sewerage system are due to start later this month. Wessex Water is planning to reline an 800-metre stretch of pipework along Furnham Road - between Chaffcombe Road and Glynswood. The work’s due to begin on Monday, October 24th last for two weeks with temporary traffic lights in operation.
A thirty-four-million pound defence contract to upgrade torpedo launch systems on board Navy frigates has been awarded to a Somerset firm. Systems Engineering and Assessment, who are based in Frome, say it will secure up to 150 jobs within the business.
The outgoing Lord Lieutenant of Somerset says being in the role for the past eight years has been an immense privilege. Annie Maw retires at the end of the month and says she will leave the role with many fond memories.
A new website has been launched to support people in Somerset with mental health issues. One of Yeovil’s oldest pubs has been sold. Artwork on the theme of aviation produced by students at Yeovil College has gone on display at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil.A pupil at Tatworth Primary School near Chard has won a prize in a national competition for writing a book review...and more
Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil is to continue for a further two months. Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has set up in business as a professional gardener...and more.
Somerset Council seeking to save £40 million by cutting one thousand jobs says 201 employees have so far applied to leave the authority based on voluntary redundancy. East Somerset Railway near Shepton Mallet has been used for filming the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals. An old-style red phone box in Castle Cary is being turned into Somerset's smallest museum...and more
Somerset's Chief Medical Officer says GP surgeries using healthcare professionals alongside doctors to provide treatments has freed up GP appointments. A farmer has been fined £15,000 for polluting a household water supply. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner has officially started work in the role. Chard Post Office is closed today for the handover of the business to new owners...and more.
Health inspectors have criticised Somerset's maternity services, including those at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset Council says re-opening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre in its original form could cost up to £200,000 if a multi-million-pound upgrade of the building falls through. A film made by a Yeovil man on a budget of just five thousand pounds was screened at the prestigious British Independent Film Festival...and more.
The Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard says it needs an immediate injection of £100,000 to keep going. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has returned to Yeovil Rugby Club where she began her rugby career 20 years ago. Twenty-five Town criers from across the South will be in Ilminster tomorrow competing in the annual Ilminster Town Criers' Competition...and more.
Train services through Somerset are again being disrupted today due to continued strike action by the train driver’s union ALSEF. A campaign has been launched in Somerset aimed at stopping people overdosing on opioids. A Somerset business is raising a smile with its name.‘Top Of The Clops’, a tack shop near Taunton has won a place in the top ten of the UK’s funniest business names...and more.
A woman driver has been told she faces a prison term for causing the deaths of two people in a crash on the A303. The AA says there are more potholes than ever on Somerset’s motorway network, leading to an increase in damage to vehicles. The new cancer treatment unit at Yeovil Hospital should be open before the end of the year...and more.
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