Local News Thursday 14th October

Thursday, 14 October 2021 06:00

It’s been announced that Chard's new public swimming pool will open on Monday, November 8th. Businesses in Martock are being advised by police to properly secure their vehicles when parking them outside overnight. The organisation seeking to convert a former care home on Hendford Hill in Yeovil into a homeless shelter has hit back over claims the facility will create anti-social behavior in the area. National Highways have published their latest designs for dualling the A358 between Ilminster and Taunton...and more.

It’s been announced that Chard's new public swimming pool will open on Monday, November 8th. The five-lane pool, part of Chard’s new leisure centre, also includes a beginners' pool, soft play area, gym and café. Costing 16-million pounds to build, the leisure centre is part of the Chard Regeneration project, with funding provided by the government and South Somerset District Council.

Businesses in Martock are being advised by police to properly secure their vehicles when parking them outside overnight. It follows a spate of thefts in which the fuel tanks of vehicles left overnight at Martock Business Park have been syphoned.

The organisation seeking to convert a former care home on Hendford Hill in Yeovil into a homeless shelter have hit back over claims the facility will create anti-social behaviour in the area. A Hendford Hill residents group is trying to block plans for a change of use on the former Acacia House residential home. Bournemouth Churches Housing Association, who are behind the scheme, say it will shut its Newton Road shelter in Yeovil town centre and transfer clients to Hendford Hill if the change of use is approved. They say the shelter will be more secure, have a higher standard of accommodation than the unit in Newton Road and have more internal and external communal spaces, set back from the roadside. South Somerset District Council is due to make a decision on the change of use application before the end of the year.

National Highways have published their latest designs for dualling the A358 between Ilminster and Taunton. People are invited to go online to comment on the plans before National Highways submit a formal application to the government next year.

Churches in Somerset have been in demand for providing campers with a place to sleep – the so-called craze of ‘Champing’. The Churches Conservation Trust says ‘Champing’ has grown in popularity due to restrictions on travelling abroad and people looking for a different kind of holidays experience in this country.

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