Local News Thursday 22nd July

Thursday, 22 July 2021 06:56

Somerset is to be run by ONE council with a single county-wide unitary authority being the government’s preferred option for the future of local government in Somerset. Visit Somerset says the so-called "pingdemic" is causing chaos for the tourism sector. The County Council is bidding to win millions of pounds in extra funding to improve bus services in Somerset. Plans have been submitted for an equestrian centre with horse gallops in Crewkerne...and more.

Somerset is to be run by ONE council with a single county-wide unitary authority being the government’s preferred option for the future of local government in Somerset. In a written statement, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, rejected a rival suggestion from the county's four district councils to set up two separate councils - one in charge of the east of the county, the other covering the western half. It’s expected that elections for the new council will be held next year with the new unitary authority coming into being in April 2023.

Visit Somerset says the so-called "pingdemic" is causing chaos for the tourism sector. Holidaymakers are having to cancel their stays due to being pinged by the NHS Test and Trace app - which is also impacting businesses who have staff off work self-isolating. The government says from the 16th of August people who have been fully vaccinated will not have to self-isolate if they're pinged. But John Turner from Visit Somerset thinks that's too late in the holiday season.

The County Council is bidding to win millions of pounds in extra funding to improve bus services in Somerset. The government is making £3 billion available to support a new National Bus Strategy that local councils can apply for a share of. Somerset County Council is now drawing up a blueprint for future bus service provision in the county for submitting to the government.

Plans have been submitted for an equestrian centre with horse gallops in Crewkerne. If approved by South Somerset District Council, the centre would be built at Peckmoor Farm, Henley Cross in Crewkerne.

Chard has been chosen again to host the annual British Disabled Strongman championships. Gary Clarke, who founded the competition in 2015, will stage the event at Holyrood Academy on Sunday, September 5th.

As South Somerset remains under an amber alert for extreme heat this morning, the NHS is advising that elderly people drink extra water and young people get themselves fully protected against sunburn.

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.