Plans have been announced to build a new special needs school on the outskirts of Yeovil. A planning inspector has upheld a decision by South Somerset District Council not to allow 60 new homes to be built in Templecombe. An online exhibition is being staged of the plans to upgrade the A303 in South Somerset. £4,000 has been raised for Parkinson’s UK by Bruton Cycling Club. A new café and wine bar has opened in Bruton.
Plans have been announced to build a new special needs school on the outskirts of Yeovil. It’ll be situated off the A303 between the villages of Ash and Tintinhull and provide places to 100 children with social, emotional and mental health needs. The school’s due to open in January 2023 and will be managed by the Wave Multi-Academy Trust.
A planning inspector has upheld a decision by South Somerset District Council not to allow 60 new homes to be built in Templecombe. Planning inspector, Hayley Butcher, sat for 8-days in May and June, hearing evidence for and against the development at Manor Farm. She concluded that to allow the development at the Manor Farm site would be harmful to the grade-2 listed Manor House and nearby heritage assets.
An exhibition is being staged of the plans to upgrade the A303 in South Somerset. Highways England is to turn the three-mile stretch of single lane road between Podimore and Sparkford into dual carriageway at a cost of £250 million pounds. The online exhibition takes place next week on July 22nd and 23rd. It will give details of each section of the upgrade and show how disruption to motorists will be minimized when work starts in September. To view the exhibition, visit www.highwaysengland.co.uk/a303-sparkford-to-ilchester and follow the recommended links
£4,000 has been raised for Parkinson’s UK by Bruton Cycling Club. Ten of its members raised the money by cycling 200 miles from Kent to Somerset.
A new café and wine bar has opened in Bruton. Michelin star chef Merlin Labron-Johnson and owner of the Osip restaurant in Bruton has converted the Old Pharmacy building in the High Street into a new eating and drinking venue.
A formal planning application has been made to carry out significant improvements to Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre, costing £15 million. The Halifax Bank in King George Street in Yeovil could be converted into 17 flats. A new young people’s centre opens in Chard early in the New Year...and more.
NHS Somerset reports a strong uptake of flu jabs, but some eligible people for free vaccinations haven’t come forward. Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident on the A303 in which a pedestrian was killed. A Crewkerne woman has gone viral on TikTok after being trapped inside a Lidl store in the town... and more.
Somerset Bus Partnership has welcomed a £24.7m boost for the county's bus services. Outline planning permission has been granted to build up to 100 new homes in Ilminster. An Ilminster man has been banned from keeping animals for seven years. Residents in Chiselborough have set up a group to try and re-open the village pub...and more.
Crewkerne Community Hospital is to lose half its inpatient beds. A review will be conducted of a project to make Bridgwater more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. Chard Methodist Church is offering residents a free lunch on Christmas Day. Yeovil-based Screwfix is opening a new outlet in Minehead...and more.
Yeovil MP Adam Dance has warned that delays in ordering 30 new medium lift helicopters for the RAF is putting the future of Somerset’s defence industries at risk. Somerset's farmers are being urged to convert more cow manure into biogas to heat homes. A new visitor centre has opened at Ham Hill country park...and more
Parcel business, Evri, has been criticised by Glastonbury and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke over what she claims have been ‘widespread delivery failures’. Demand for mental health support provided by South Western Ambulance Service is running at record levels. A nine-year-old Somerset boy has completed 100 days of litter picking for charity...and more
New data shows that crime in the Avon and Somerset police area is at an all-time high. Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard has issued a warning to prospective pet owners ahead of Christmas. The owner of four pubs in Somerset has warned that many could be forced to shut unless the government reconsiders business rates...and more.
Toolstream in Yeovil has been put into administration, threatening the jobs of dozens of employees. NHS Somerset has issued a last chance call for people to get a flu jab after hospital admissions increased by 76% in a week. Police are investigating the theft of a bike valued at £7,000 in Sherborne... and more
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