Tuesday 16th July

Tuesday, 16 July 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Members of Yeovil Town Council meet tonight to vote on taking over a host of local services that Somerset Council says it can no longer afford to provide. Yeovil’s e-scooter trial is being temporarily halted. A new cafe is soon to open for people who worked at the Morlands sheepskin factory in Glastonbury to share memories...and more.

Members of Yeovil Town Council meet tonight to vote on taking over a host of local services that Somerset Council says it can no longer afford to provide. If agreed, the Town Council will assume the management, staffing and funding responsibilities for Yeovil Recreation Centre and Café, Yeovil Country Park and Nine Springs Café, Westlands Entertainment Venue and South Somerset Heritage Collection. Meanwhile, Somerset Council is writing to the new Labour government asking for the financial problems in local government to be given priority. Council Leader, Bill Revans says the Lib Dem-controlled authority is selling assets and carrying out a staffing restructure to help cut costs. But Councillor Revans says what’s also needed is for the new government to formulate a new business model for local government, to protect vital services like adult social care and children’s services.

Yeovil’s e-scooter trial is being temporarily halted, with immediate effect. Operators, Zipp Mobility, says it’s due to an unexpected supplier issue. E-scooters will be removed in Yeovil while the service is suspended. The trial is not due to end until May 2026.

Shepton Mallet prison has been presented with a Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Award. The jail, which closed in 2013 and now operates as a tourist attraction was given a perfect 5.0 score in 3200 reviews on Tripadvisor.

A new cafe will launch later this year for people who worked at the Morlands sheepskin factory in Glastonbury to share memories. The café at the Redbrick building in Glastonbury will be held next to where the Morlands factory once operated.

Four owlets have been named in a public vote run by the Somerset Wildlife Trust. They were born in an owl nesting box on the Blackdown Hills.

More from News

Thursday 26th February

Workers at Leonardo in Yeovil have been to Downing Street to hand-in a petition calling on the government to back British jobs. The decision to grant planning permission to upgrade Yeovil's Octagon Theatre has been enthusiastically welcomed by staff who work there. The search is on to find a defibrillator that has gone missing in Chard... and more
Wednesday 25th February

Plans have been passed to carry out a £15 million upgrade of Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. A new medical unit providing NHS and private treatments has opened in Shepton Mallet. Manor Court Community Primary School in Chard is celebrating after receiving a Gold Artsmark for excellence in arts and cultural education...and more
Tuesday 24th February

First Bus has announced changes to bus timetables on routes across Somerset. A Somerset drone company is celebrating getting through the audition round of ITV’s Britain's Got Talent. A public footpath in South Somerset is set to remain closed for up to two years... and more
Monday 23rd February

Yeovil MP Adam Dance is warning of a scaling back of jobs at the Leonardo helicopter factory in Yeovil. Work is underway on the multi-million-pound refurbishment of Yeovil police station. The A361 across the Somerset Levels has reopened... and more
Friday 20th February

10,000 incidents of potholes on Somerset’s roads have been reported to Somerset Council in the past four weeks. The Met Office is warning of more unsettled weather into March for Somerset. The Crowshute link in Chard will close for eight nights next month for road repairs... and more
Thursday 19th February

Yeovil fire station is to undergo a major refurbishment. A Yeovil based charity is appealing for adults to become mentors to young people. A Somerset woman has completed a 10,000 kilometre solo bike ride across Africa... and more
Wednesday 18th February

New figures have shown a rise in cases of suicide involving farmers, including in Somerset. Plans to merge the parishes of Castle Cary and Ansford have been scrapped. A Somerset-based charity working to end homelessness is marking its 50th anniversary... and more
Tuesday 17th February

Avon and Somerset Police are asking the owners of replica guns to hand them in. It's claimed motorists in the Bruton and Wincanton area are paying out hundreds of pounds in repairs due to the poor state of local roads. And, Yeovil Town take on Aldershot at Huish Park tonight... and more