Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil say winning an order to supply the AW 149 helicopter to the British government is vital to the future of the Yeovil factory. A public inquiry starts in Castle Cary today into controversial plans to build 200 new houses on a greenfield site next to Castle Cary railway station. New LED flood warning signs are being installed in Martock. Lyde Road in Yeovil between Sherborne Road and Buckland Road will shut from today for 18-days for laying new cabling...and more.
Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil say winning an order to supply the AW 149 helicopter to the British government is vital to the future of the Yeovil factory. The 149 is being promoted to replace the RAF’s ageing fleet of Puma helicopters. Managing Director of Leonardo’s in Yeovil, Nick Whitney, believes the 149 meets all the MOD’s requirements. A decision on the contract is due at any time.
A public inquiry starts in Castle Cary today into controversial plans to build 200 new houses on a greenfield site next to Castle Cary railway station. The inquiry’s being held after the plans were rejected by South Somerset District Council and both Castle Cary and Ansford parish councils on the grounds the development would place an added burden on the area’s local infrastructure. The inquiry is being held at Caryford Hall and is scheduled to last for four days.
New LED flood warning signs are being installed in Martock. They're being put up along Stoke Road, and are linked to river level sensors. Martock's flood warden coordinator, Gordon Swindells says it's a really dangerous stretch of road when it floods.
Lyde Road in Yeovil between Sherborne Road and Buckland Road will shut from today for 18-days for laying new cabling. The work’s being carried out by Jurassic Fibre to provide faster broadband in Yeovil.
People in Chard say they’re looking forward to using the town’s new leisure centre that opened to the public yesterday. It has a five-lane swimming pool, learner pool, gym, soft play area and café. The centre is run by Freedom Leisure in partnership with South Somerset District Council and has cost 16-and-a-half-million pounds to build.
In local sport, Yeovil Town have been drawn at home against MK Dons or Stevenage in the Second Round of the FA Cup.
A new website has been launched to support people in Somerset with mental health issues. One of Yeovil’s oldest pubs has been sold. Artwork on the theme of aviation produced by students at Yeovil College has gone on display at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil.A pupil at Tatworth Primary School near Chard has won a prize in a national competition for writing a book review...and more
Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil is to continue for a further two months. Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has set up in business as a professional gardener...and more.
Somerset Council seeking to save £40 million by cutting one thousand jobs says 201 employees have so far applied to leave the authority based on voluntary redundancy. East Somerset Railway near Shepton Mallet has been used for filming the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals. An old-style red phone box in Castle Cary is being turned into Somerset's smallest museum...and more
Somerset's Chief Medical Officer says GP surgeries using healthcare professionals alongside doctors to provide treatments has freed up GP appointments. A farmer has been fined £15,000 for polluting a household water supply. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner has officially started work in the role. Chard Post Office is closed today for the handover of the business to new owners...and more.
Health inspectors have criticised Somerset's maternity services, including those at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset Council says re-opening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre in its original form could cost up to £200,000 if a multi-million-pound upgrade of the building falls through. A film made by a Yeovil man on a budget of just five thousand pounds was screened at the prestigious British Independent Film Festival...and more.
The Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard says it needs an immediate injection of £100,000 to keep going. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has returned to Yeovil Rugby Club where she began her rugby career 20 years ago. Twenty-five Town criers from across the South will be in Ilminster tomorrow competing in the annual Ilminster Town Criers' Competition...and more.
Train services through Somerset are again being disrupted today due to continued strike action by the train driver’s union ALSEF. A campaign has been launched in Somerset aimed at stopping people overdosing on opioids. A Somerset business is raising a smile with its name.‘Top Of The Clops’, a tack shop near Taunton has won a place in the top ten of the UK’s funniest business names...and more.
A woman driver has been told she faces a prison term for causing the deaths of two people in a crash on the A303. The AA says there are more potholes than ever on Somerset’s motorway network, leading to an increase in damage to vehicles. The new cancer treatment unit at Yeovil Hospital should be open before the end of the year...and more.
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