Local News Thursday 23rd June

Thursday, 23 June 2022 06:00

Somerset County Council is warning that some primary schools in rural areas may have to close due to a fall in the county’s birth rate. South Somerset District Council is to spend a further £1.3m on top of the £1.6m already allocated to make its leisure centres ‘greener’. Work is about to start on repairs to Langport's historic Hanging Chapel. Local businesses have an opportunity to promote their products and services at a new event to be held in Yeovil next month...and more.

Somerset County Council is warning that some primary schools in rural areas may have to close due to a fall in the county’s birth rate. The council predicts there will be 476 fewer primary-age pupils in Somerset by 2026, a drop of 8.6 per cent compared to the number of primary-age pupils at present. In financial terms, the council would receive £16.2m less funding from the Department for Education to run primary schools.

South Somerset District Council is to spend a further £1.3m on top of the £1.6m already allocated to make its leisure centres ‘greener’. The money will be invested in decarbonizing Wincanton Sports Centre in Wincanton, and both Goldenstones Leisure Centre and Westlands Sports and Leisure Centre in Yeovil. Each of the buildings will be fitted with solar panels and air source heat pumps, which the council estimates will save around 435 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

Work is about to start on repairs to Langport's historic Hanging Chapel. The grade one listed structure was damaged back in April when a lorry tried to squeeze through it narrow archway.

Local businesses have an opportunity to promote their products and services at a new event to be held in Yeovil next month. The Yeovil Business Fair is the first event of its kind to be organized by the Yeovil Chamber of Commerce. It takes place at the Yeovil Innovation Centre on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th of July.

A father and daughter have set up a fishing group in Somerton to entice older people to be more active. Becky and Steve Bostock are offering retired people the chance to be involved in coarse fishing sessions at a local lake, as a way of overcoming isolation. Becky, who works for Age UK Somerset, says angling is good for older people’s mental and physical health, as well as being a great social activity.

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.