Plans to add a roof terrace to a Yeovil pub have been aborted after more than three years. A major Chard housing development could still be going ahead but with fewer homes. More than one hundred schools in Somerset expect to go over their budgets this year...and more.
Plans to add a roof terrace to a Yeovil pub have been aborted after more than three years. The original proposals for a £1.5m terrace at the William Dampier pub on Middle Street were given the go-ahead in 2019, with work starting in March 2020. The mix of indoor and outdoor seating would have accommodated around 280 people. However, Wetherspoons now say they’ve decided against the development.
A major Chard housing development could still be going ahead, but with fewer homes than the developer originally requested. Persimmon Homes South West applied in July 2016 to build on the outskirts of the town, between Tatworth Road and Forton Road. This plan was then revised to 252 homes but after South Somerset District postponed its decision, the developer has further reduced the proposed number to 236.
More than one hundred schools in Somerset expect to go over their budgets this year. Somerset Council is blaming low government funding, inflation and falling birth rates in the county. The Department for Education says they are investing an extra £2 billion into schools, this year and next, describing school funding as being at the highest level in history.
And one of the major A roads in the area has received drivers’ highest satisfaction score in a recent survey. 85% of A303 drivers surveyed were more than happy with the stretch, whilst the M5 came close behind thanks to what is described as “good traffic flow” and the road “not being too busy”.
Somerset Olympic Rower, Helen Glover, will be carrying the Team GB flag, together with diver Tom Daley, at this evening's opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. Work has been completed building a new mental health ward in Yeovil. Martock Library is reducing its opening hours after losing funding from the Parish Council...and more.
A crowdfunding appeal has been launched raising money to help find a Chard man missing for almost two weeks in Sardinia. Somerset Council is to sell off some of its buildings to help balance the books. Building work on the UK's biggest electric vehicle battery factory near Bridgwater will begin next month...and more.
Drivers at Buses for Somerset are involved in a second day of strike action today. Police in Yeovil confiscated a motorbike that was being ridden without insurance. This year’s Charter Fair in Crewkerne will take place over three days from the 6th to the 8th of September. The main road through the cliffs at Cheddar Gorge is closed again today for filming...and more.
A sub-postmistress from Wells, falsely accused of stealing by the Post Office, is celebrating after finally being paid compensation. An amateur jockey from near Sherborne is in hospital after sustaining a serious back injury in a fall. A man who became violent towards staff at Hollywood Bowl in Yeovil has been jailed...and more.
The RSPCA in Somerset has reported a big increase in cases of animal cruelty. The mother of a Chard man, missing for more than a week in Sardinia, has launched a desperate plea to find him. A book detailing the life of one of Stalbridge’s most famous sons, the author Douglas Adams, has been gifted to Stalbridge Town Council...and more.
Glovers Walk shopping centre in Yeovil is to be demolished. The Rock and Ribs music festival starts at Wincanton racecourse today. A mobile clinic, part of the UK’s largest-ever health research programme, is coming to Chard and Yeovil. A new community magazine has been launched in Sparkford...and more.
Plans have been submitted to build 650 new houses in Wincanton. Farmers in Somerset have criticised Avon and Somerset Police for re-deploying four officers from the rural crime team. Glastonbury and Somerton MP, Sarah Dyke, has written to the new Transport Secretary asking for a meeting about restoring a rail link between Langport and Somerton...and more.
Work to upgrade the gas network on Preston Road in Yeovil begins later this month. Somerset Council has been given the go-ahead to deliver the final phase of the Yeovil Refresh project. The wet weather is being blamed for a big drop in visitor numbers to Somerset this summer...and more.
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