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.
The public will be consulted on how best to spend fifty million pounds of government funding to tackle flooding in Somerset. Avon and Somerset Police are backing a new road safety campaign aimed at reducing motorcycle fatalities. New welcome signs have been installed at entrances to the Mendip Hills National Landscape... and more
The government has announced a £50 million investment to strengthen Somerset’s flood defences. A woman from Stoke-sub-Hamdon has been banned from driving for 14 months after admitting drink-driving. Somerset Council has been told it must improve its adult social care services... and more
Plans for a new railway station in Langport remain stalled in Whitehall, according to Somerset Council. Plans to build 50 new homes in Broadway, near Ilminster, have been refused. The new water fountains in Yeovil’s Triangle, in Lower Middle Street, are being switched off during very hot weather because of safety concerns... and more.
A new NHS dental practice in Crewkerne says it won’t start operating at full capacity until July due to staff shortages. Somerset Council says it has no plans to show England matches in the World Cup on the Big Screen in Yeovil town centre due to safety concerns. A Somerset family has been thanked after completing a 73-mile walk raising money for a third world charity... and more
An investigation continues today into the crash of a Royal Navy helicopter, based at RNAS Yeovilton, in which all three aircrew were killed. Somerset Council has confirmed that a new operator will take over several leisure centres across the county. The new live-action Masters of the Universe movie, filmed in Somerset, is released this week...and more
A Yeovil man has appeared in court charged with assaulting three police officers. Somerset Council has begun legal action to recover more than £320,000 owed by housing developers. The line-up has been announced for this year’s Ilminster Midsummer Experience...and more
Somerset Prostate Cancer Support Group says a decision not to introduce mass screening for prostate cancer is the wrong one. A Martock woman has been banned from driving for 28 months. Somerset Council is marking Volunteers’ Week by thanking the volunteers who help deliver council services... and more
People in Somerset with Football Banning Orders are being reminded they must surrender their passports by the end of today ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup tournament. A road in Yeovil will close for nine days later this week. Farmers from Somerset were among the winners of this year's ITV Britain's Got Talent final...and more