Local News Tuesday 11th April

Tuesday, 11 April 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Health managers say merging Yeovil Hospital with Musgrove Park in Taunton will mean patients in Yeovil having to travel further for specialist treatments. Chard and Ilminster are being given £150,000 of government funding to improve flood protection. Passenger numbers on buses in Somerset went up by fourteen per cent in the first three months of the year. Work to improve the environment at Yeovil Recreation Ground could be copied in other public parks in other parts of the country...and more.

Health managers say a merger of Yeovil Hospital and Musgrove Park in Taunton together with mental health services into one trust should not impact the level of care that patients receive. But they admit that patients in Yeovil may have to travel further for some specialist treatments.

Chard and Ilminster are being given £150,000 of government funding to improve flood protection. The money is being shared between the two towns to support homes and businesses that have been subjected to repeated flooding events.

Passenger numbers on buses in Somerset went up by fourteen per cent in the first three months of the year, according to Somerset Council. It follows the introduction of a £2 single journey fare in January and the launch of the ‘Bus It’ campaign by Somerset Council. The £2 single journey fare is set to run until the end of June.

Work that’s being done to improve the environment at Yeovil Recreation Ground could be used in other public parks. Last year, the council-run site won national recognition at the Grounds Management Association’s Industry Awards for its sustainability projects, beating Premier League club Leicester City into second place.

Yeovil Town fell to yet another defeat playing at home to Dorking yesterday. The one-nil scoreline in Dorking’s favour has left Yeovil six points adrift of safety in the National League with just four games remaining. Mathematically Yeovil can still avoid relegation but it will need Torquay and Aldershot to lose games for them to survive. The Glovers are next in action next Saturday when they play away against Solihull Moors. Their other remaining games are away to Wrexham at home against Oldham; with their last game of the season away to Boreham Wood.

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