Local News Thursday 30th June

Thursday, 30 June 2022 06:00

Eleven thousand more people now live in South Somerset compared to ten years ago, according to the 2021 Census. A bypass for Chard, planned seven years ago, is coming under fresh scrutiny. A further eleven thousand homes in South Somerset are to get ultrafast broadband. Anyone who sets up unauthorised camps in Somerset could now be given a prison sentence and a fine of £2,500 and a new book is due out soon telling the story of Montacute.

Eleven thousand more people now live in South Somerset compared to ten years ago, according to the 2021 Census, details of which have just been published. The Census shows 172,700 people living in South Somerset, up 7 percent from 161,243 in the last census of 2011. The balance of men and women in South Somerset has also changed with 48.9 percent of the population male and 51.1 percent female. The population is also aging. A decade ago, 21.6 percent of people in South Somerset were aged over 65s, now over 65-year-olds account for 25.5 percent of the local population.

A bypass for Chard, planned seven years ago, is coming under fresh scrutiny. The Chard Eastern Relief Road is meant to divert traffic away from the town centre but a petition has been launched asking for the road to be routed well away from the town's reservoir and nature reserve.

A further eleven thousand homes in South Somerset are to get ultrafast broadband, thanks to extra funding from the government. It brings the number of homes and businesses in South Somerset provided with ultrafast broadband by Wessex Internet to 4,700 with places like Isle Abbotts, South Petherton, Tintinhull and Bower Hinton better connected.

Anyone who sets up unauthorised camps in Somerset could now be given a prison sentence and a fine of £2,500. The new Police Act has introduced extra legislation to protect landowners.

A new book is due out soon telling the story of Montacute. The ‘Book of Montacute’ is the second in a series of histories of the village written by local author, Clarence Bradley, who has lived in Montacute since 1944.

More from News

Friday 31st July

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service says July has been its busiest month ever for emergency calls. Police have recovered a 1970s Austin Mini pick-up stolen in Shepton Mallet. A specialist spinal injuries service at Yeovil Hospital has treated three hundred patients in its first year... and more
Thursday 30th July

The Environment Agency has declared a drought across Somerset as the hot weather takes its toll on the county's water supplies. Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic accident near Crewkerne. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow...and more
Wednesday 29th July

Police have arrested two suspects in connection with a series of moped thefts in Chard. A combine harvester has been destroyed in a farm fire at Forton, near Chard. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow... and more
Tuesday 28th July

The former Beales department store in Yeovil could be brought back into use as part of a wider masterplan for the future of the town. A yellow heat health alert is in place across Somerset from nine o’clock this morning until nine o’clock on Friday morning. A Somerset farmer says this year is the driest on his land since 1976... and more
Monday 27th July

Gooch and Housego, based in Ilminster and one of the town’s biggest employers, has been sold in a multi-million-pound deal to an American private equity firm. A father who shook his four-week-old baby to death at a house in Chard has been sentenced to life in prison. A doctor who works for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is one of five people to have jointly set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain... and more
Friday 24th July

Avon and Somerset Police are warning people to watch out for scammers posing as Amazon. The CEO of the company that provides Somerset's recycling is warning of a major incident if people continue to put used batteries in waste bins. A former Yeovil pub could be demolished to make way for a major hotel expansion.
Thursday 23rd July

The West Country is officially one step closer to being declared in drought. Somerset Council says it's remodelling its service after a children's home was closed following an inspection. A new McDonald's planned off the M5 at Bridgwater could create up to 120 local jobs... and more
Wednesday 22nd July

Two men have been jailed for stealing electrical items and cash from a property in Yeovil. Somerset Council has defended its use of Yeovil’s new performance area in The Triangle, in Lower Middle Street. Tintinhull Primary School, near Yeovil, has won a top national award for outdoor play... and more