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.

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Yeovil MP Adam Dance has backed calls for a cap on heating oil prices. Invitations are being sent out to those in Somerset eligible for the latest Covid vaccine. A pub near Chard has closed just four months after reopening... and more
Thursday 16th April

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Wednesday 15th April

Yeovil College has been upgraded to a Defence Technical Excellence College. Somerset Council is taking legal action against a housing developer that owes £35,000 in contributions towards local services in Broadway. An Ilminster couple have covered the first 400 miles of their epic walk around the coastline of mainland Britain... and more
Tuesday 14th April

Avon and Somerset Police has launched a new five-year plan to tackle anti-social behaviour. Additional GP appointments will soon be available at three local surgeries, following a £1 million investment to upgrade NHS facilities in Somerset. A Stoke-sub-Hamdon couple whose daughter died of cancer have raised £128,000 in her memory... and more
Monday 13th April

Yeovil MP Adam Dance is calling for better support for survivors of domestic abuse living in rural communities. The RSPB in Somerset is urging people to stop feeding birds to prevent the spread of disease. Yeovil Town Football Club says an issue that had threatened it with removal from the register at Companies House has been resolved... and more
Friday 10th April

Maternity services at Yeovil Hospital will reopen on Tuesday April 21st. A Somerset woman, who relies on a wheelchair for mobility, has criticised changes to the Motor Motability scheme. Somerset Freemasons have presented a cheque for forty-three thousand pounds to Young Somerset, a charity that supports young people in the county... and more
Thursday 9th April

Yeovil Town Football Club has received a warning that it could be struck off the register at Companies House. Somerset Council has been given £22 million to provide assistance to people facing cost of living pressures. Members of 1st Ilminster Scout Group have spent a night sleeping outdoors to experience the challenges faced by homeless military veterans... and more
Wednesday 8th April

A Yeovil school teacher has been banned from teaching for sharing inappropriate details about her private life with pupils. A Stoke-sub-Hamdon woman has been given a 17-month driving ban. A Yeovil woman who survived bone cancer is raising is running the London Marathon... and more