Local News Thursday 31st March

Thursday, 31 March 2022 06:00

Somerset County Council says no date is planned for when Chinnock Hollow will re-open. Politicians of all parties have begun preparations for the local elections in Somerset in May. Council officials have forcibly removed a caravan from farmland at Westport, near Langport. A report has been published following a two-year review into racial disproportionality in the Avon and Somerset Criminal Justice System and organisers of the Somerset Steam and Country Show at Low Ham near Pitney have confirmed that the event will go ahead this year.

Somerset County Council says no date is planned for when Chinnock Hollow will re-open. The road that links East Chinnock with Odcombe has been closed to traffic for more than a year following a landslip. Local residents attending a public meeting to discuss the delay were told it would be many more months before Chinnock Hollow would re-open.

Politicians of all parties have begun preparations for the local elections in Somerset in May when 110 seats will be up for grabs on the new Somerset unitary council. If you want a vote in the local elections on May 5th, check that you are registered on the Electoral Roll by the 14th of April.

Council officials have forcibly removed a caravan from farmland at Westport, near Langport. South Somerset District Council took the action following three years of talking to the landowner about the land on which the van was parked needing to have planning permission for residential use.

A report has been published following a two-year review into racial disproportionality in the Avon and Somerset Criminal Justice System. It found people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds were more likely to be excluded from school and more likely to be stopped and searched. It makes eighty-three recommendations for the police service, prisons, the local Youth Offending Team, schools and other agencies. The Police and Crime Commissioner welcomed the report. The Chief Constable accepted the recommendations and said they are already implementing them.

Organisers of the Somerset Steam and Country Show at Low Ham near Pitney have confirmed that the event will go ahead this year. The show has been cancelled for the last two years due to Covid.

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The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

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Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more