Local News Tuesday 15th August

Tuesday, 15 August 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh has joined the fight to keep open Yeovil leather firm Pittards. Plans to build six new homes at Whitelackington have been turned down. A studio has opened in Ilminster, aimed at helping people to upcycle clothing and create new designs. A new way of offering spiritual guidance to older people is being trialled by the Diocese of Bath and Wells...and more.

The fight to save Yeovil leather manufacturer Pittards from closure is far from over according to Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh. The company that employs around 230 staff at its factory on Sherborne Road was put into the hands of administrators last week after failing to raise one-point-one million pounds in cash to keep it afloat. Marcus Fysh believes Pittards has a future and says he’s working with the administrators to explore options for keeping the business going.

Plans to build six new homes at Whitelackington near Ilminster have been turned down. Somerset Council gave highway safety concerns as one reason for rejecting the proposed development off Hanning Close.

A new studio has opened in Ilminster, aimed at helping people to upcycle clothing and create new designs. Sew What! launched last week after receiving cash from a start-up loan programme.

People in Chard are being asked for their views on a proposed new housing development on the town’s northern edge. If it goes ahead, sixty-seven homes would be built between the A358 Furnham Road and Chaffcombe Lane. The consultation is being led by Greenslade Taylor Hunt and can be accessed via their website.

A new way of offering spiritual guidance to older people is being trialled by the Diocese of Bath and Wells. It's setting up a team of so-called 'Anna Chaplains' specifically to help older people worried about what happens at the end of their lives.

The Duke of York pub in Shepton Beauchamp has been put up for sale with a price tag of five-hundred-and-fifty-thousand pounds. It has a main bar, a thirty-seater restaurant, four self-contained ensuite letting rooms and a skittle alley.

Yeovil Lions and Options have raised ten thousand pounds for the Yeovil Breast Cancer Unit Appeal with a charity event held at Lanes Hotel in West Coker. The donation has taken the total raised for the new unit so far to more than two-point-four million pounds.

More from News

Friday 13th March

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

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
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