Local News Monday 18th July

Monday, 18 July 2022 06:00

There’s been a delay to work starting on a £30 million pound upgrade of Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. A hospital ward in Yeovil has introduced a booking system for visitors after an outbreak of coronavirus. The Liberal Democrats have won a council by-election in Yeovil. A voluntary group in Ilminster, aiming to plant a tree for every resident of the town has so far planted nearly half its target number of trees. A new NHS facility has opened in Yeovil town centre...and more.

There’s been a delay to work starting on a £30 million pound upgrade of Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. The Octagon was due to close in January for work to begin but will now stay open until May. The theatre’s owners, South Somerset District Council said a number of key milestones with the Octagon project have still to be reached before the upgrade can start. The revamped Octagon Theatre will include an increase in seating capacity in the main auditorium from 622 to 900. Two cinema/ studio spaces for film screenings, a dance studio, and a new café and restaurant area. The Council recently allocated a further six million pounds to the project to offset a rise in material costs.

A hospital ward in Yeovil has introduced a booking system for visitors after an outbreak of coronavirus. Rowan Ward at Summerlands Hospital has brought in the measure to minimise the spread of the virus. Rowan ward has a total of 18 beds and provides assessment and treatment for adults who are experiencing acute mental health problems.

The Liberal Democrats have won a council by-election in Yeovil. It was to represent the Brympton ward on South Somerset District Council. Barbara Appleby for the Lib Dems topped the poll with 582 votes. Tony Power for the Conservatives came second with 251 votes. Alan Flint for the Greens was third with 71 votes. Terry Ledlie for Labour was fourth on 61 votes and Ashley Richards, the Independent, came fifth with 29 votes. The turnout was 15.7 per cent, meaning less than one in six of those eligible to vote turned out to vote.

A voluntary group in Ilminster, aiming to plant a tree for every resident of the town has so far planted nearly half its target number of trees. The Ilminster Tree Group set out three years ago to plant seven-and-a-half-thousand trees, one for each adult person in Ilminster.

A new NHS facility has opened in Yeovil town centre. The centre that offers a variety of eye treatments, including those for glaucoma, is based in the Quedam shopping centre in a unit previously occupied by Monsoon.

An Ilchester cheese supplier has won seven commendations for the quality of its cheeses. Norseland was recognised for its dairy and plant-based products at the International Cheese Awards.

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Friday 17th May

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
Thursday 16th May

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.
Wednesday 15th May

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
Tuesday 14th May

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.
Monday 13th May

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.
Friday 10th May

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.
Thursday 9th May

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.
Wednesday 8th May

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.