Local News Monday 3rd July

Monday, 3 July 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Waste collection crews in Somerset are threatening strike action. The Mayor of Yeovil has spoken of the importance of Yeovil's ethnic minority communities to the local economy. Plans have been submitted to install solar panels on the roof of Chard Guildhall. West Country-based wheelchair tennis star Lucy Shuker says she's 'as hungry as ever for success'...and more.

Talks are due to resume this week to try and avert a planned strike by waste collection crews in Somerset. Members of the Unite Union are threatening to stop work for three days each week starting Wednesday, July 13th. A pay increase of eight per cent made by Suez UK; the contracted waste collectors for Somerset Waste Partnership, was rejected in a ballot of Unite members, in favour of industrial action. Crews are also refusing to do overtime and catch-up collections. SWP says contingency planning is underway to try and limit the impact on households and businesses should the strike go ahead.

The Mayor of Yeovil has spoken of his support for Yeovil’s ethnic minority communities. Councillor Andy Kendall, who was attending the Yeovil Together gathering held yesterday at the Westland Entertainment venue, said people from other nations living in Yeovil were essential to the local economy and to the delivery of local services.

Plans have been submitted to install solar panels on the roof of Chard Guildhall. If approved by Somerset Council, twenty-eight photo-voltaic solar panels would be fitted to the West facing roof slope at the rear of the Guildhall.

Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage to crash on the A30 near Yarcombe in which a man was killed. It happened on Saturday and involved a white Ford Fiesta. No other vehicle was involved. Police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash or has dash cam footage to please call the non-emergency number 101.

Seven buildings in Somerset, including the former NatWest Bank in Crewkerne, have been put on a list of buildings in England considered to be ‘at risk’. The list’s been compiled by Save Britain’s Heritage.

West Country-based wheelchair tennis star Lucy Shuker says she's 'as hungry as ever for success' as she takes part in her thirteenth Wimbledon beginning today. The paralympic silver medalist has been given a wildcard at this year’s championships and will be competing in both the singles and doubles events. Lucy says her focus is on winning a title.

More from News

Monday 16th June

The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.
Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Monday 9th June

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.