Local News Monday 22nd November

Monday, 22 November 2021 07:16

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh has come out against plans to turn a former care home into a place for the homeless people in Yeovil. People have voted in an unofficial poll for Somerset’s new unitary council to be based in Wells. A man found hiding in the porch of a house in Yeovil has been jailed and the cost of dealing with farm fires in the South West rose by just over a third last year.

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh has come out against plans to turn a former care home into a place for the homeless people in Yeovil. Bournemouth Churches Housing Association want to shut their homeless shelter in Newton Road in Yeovil town centre and move the facility to the former care home on Hendford Hill. More than 200 people in the Hendford Hill areas are trying to stop the move. Marcus Fysh says the proposed location on Hendford Hill is ‘wholly unsuitable’. South Somerset District Council are due to make a decision on the plans early in the New Year.

A planning inquiry into building 200 new homes in Castle Cary has been unexpectedly halted. Wyke Farms and Andrew Hopkins are contesting South Somerset District Council’s decision to refuse permission for the development off Station Road. Due to technical difficulties the inquiry was halted after just one session and won’t resume until late March next year.

People have voted in an unofficial poll for Somerset’s new unitary council to be based in Wells. The County Council and four district councils are being replaced by a new single Council to be called Somerset Council that will come into force in April 2023. In the vote on social media, a majority of local residents opted for Wells as the place to base the new authority, however, a spokesperson said they have no plans to build an HQ for the new Council in Wells or anywhere else for that matter and that decisions about using existing council owned buildings would be taken at a later date.

A man found hiding in the porch of a house in Yeovil has been jailed. Taunton Crown Court was told that police found Liam Raybould hiding in a house on Glenville Road after a member of the public reported suspicious activity. Nothing had been stolen but Raybould of West Hendford was arrested and charged with dwelling burglary.

The cost of dealing with farm fires in the South West rose by just over a third last year. Insurers NFU Mutual say they paid out £8 million pounds to farmers for damage caused by fire in 2020 with electrical faults the cause of most farm fires.

More from News

Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more