Local News Tuesday 23rd May

Tuesday, 23 May 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

National Highways says it plans to go ahead with dualling the A358 linking the Ilminster bypass with the M5 despite government policy shifting towards cheaper road schemes. Permission has been given to build fifteen new houses in the village of Ilton. A creation by a Yeovil garden designer is on display at this week’s Chelsea Flower Show...and more.

National Highways says it plans to go ahead with the major project to dual the A358 linking the Ilminster bypass with the M5 despite a shift in government policy towards building smaller and cheaper road schemes. The promise to dual the A358 at the cost of three-hundred-and-twenty-eight million pounds is contained in the latest National Highways road investment strategy up to 2030. National Highways aren’t saying however when the plans to dual the A358 will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate.

A creation by a Yeovil garden designer is on display at this week’s Chelsea Flower Show. Julie Haylock has designed a garden in celebration of the Dorset fossil hunter, Mary Anning. Julie, who launched her business Sandhurst Garden Design only three years ago, says she feels very lucky to have her work displayed at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Permission has been given to build fifteen new houses in the village of Ilton. The development on land to the south of St Peter’s Close has been delayed by the Dutch N court ruling that requires that any new development should not increase phosphate levels within the Somerset Levels catchment. Somerset Council says permission was granted to build the new houses after the developer agreed to further phosphate mitigation measures on the site.

Somerset Council says waste collection pick-up days next week will be different due to Monday being a Bank Holiday. If your recycling and/or refuse is usually collected on Monday, then it will be collected on Tuesday, if your usual day is Tuesday, it will be collected on Wednesday and so on. Collections that take place on Friday, June 2nd will take place on Saturday, June 3rd. To help crews speed up collections, you’re asked to have bags and bins ready by 7 am on the day of collection, or better still, ready the night before.

Combe St Nicholas Primary School near Chard has been given a prestigious Artsmark Award. It’s in recognition of the school going above and beyond to give pupils a wide range of art and cultural experiences.

More from News

Monday 16th June

The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.
Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Monday 9th June

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.