Local News Thursday 25th May

Thursday, May 25th, 2023 7:00am

By Steve Haigh

Bridgwater is expected to be confirmed as the site to build a major new factory, making batteries for electric vehicles. Permission has been granted to convert the former village shop in Bradford Abbas into a home. A local man who set himself the task of climbing Mount Snowden, Scafell Pike, and Ben Nevis for charity, has completed the challenge in just twelve days...and more.

Bridgwater is expected to be confirmed as the site to build a significant new factory, making batteries for electric vehicles, creating nine thousand local jobs. The so-called Gigafactory will be located at the Gravity Business Park; a 635-acre "smart campus" currently under construction next to the M5 at Puriton. The Head of the Indian company, Tata, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, is due to meet with the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak next week to draft an agreement to build the Gigafactory in Bridgwater. It’s believed the government has offered Tata a subsidy of five-hundred-million pounds to build the plant in Somerset rather than in Spain.

Councillors have rejected plans for two new housing developments in South Somerset. Plans to build forty-nine homes in Horton near Ilminster, and sixty-seven homes close to Wadham School in Crewkerne, were turned down at a meeting of the South Planning Committee of Somerset Council. This, despite planning officers recommending the applications should be approved. A decision on a planning application to build ninety-five homes in the village of Tatworth, near Chard, was deferred.

Permission has been granted to turn the former village shop and post office in Bradford Abbas into a home. After the shop closed, The Old Post Office House in Church Road was used for tearoom and hairdressing business, but each closed due to a lack of trade.

A man from Barrington, who set himself the task of climbing Mount Snowden, Scafell Pike, and Ben Nevis for charity, has completed the challenge in just twelve days. Dean Lewis, who works in the ambulance service, was raising money for mental health charities.

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