Local News Wednesday 20th July

Wednesday, 20 July 2022 06:00

Plans to build thirty-one new homes next to Wincanton Community Hospital in Wincanton have been approved. The A30 between Yeovil and Crewkerne will close overnight next week for work to be completed on a damaged wall. A full meeting of Somerset County Council is taking place in Yeovil today. A Chard woman has won her fight to have an overgrown footpath cleared...and more.

Plans to build thirty-one new homes next to Wincanton Community Hospital in Wincanton have been approved. The development off Dancing Lane will include seven affordable homes. Dancing Lane will be the only entrance and exit for the development, with no linking footpath to Verrington Lane or the nearby Cale Way estate.

The A30 between Yeovil and Crewkerne will close overnight next week for work to be completed on a damaged wall. Work started in early February on the construction of a new supporting wall at Haselbury Plucknett. The scheme was due to be completed within thirteen weeks but was extended after damage to the wall was found to be worse than thought. Somerset County Council says the A30 will shut overnight for five days, from July 25th to the 29th, to ensure all remaining work is completed.

A full meeting of Somerset County Council is taking place in Yeovil today (July 20). It’s being held at the Westlands Entertainment Venue with all one hundred and ten members of the Council in attendance and is open to the public. The meeting will endorse the appointment of Duncan Sharkey as the new Chief Executive of Somerset County Council. Mr Sharkey, who’s currently Chief Executive of Windsor and Maidenhead Council, will head-up the new Somerset unitary council when that comes into being in April next year.

A Chard woman has won her fight to have an overgrown footpath cleared. The path that runs alongside the A358 and provides an important link between Chard and Tatworth, has been out of use for three years. Now, following a campaign by Jill White, Somerset County Council has promised to have the path cleared and accessible by the end of the month.

A Chard man has appeard in court charged with stealing alcohol. Joshua Miller of Beckington Crescent pleaded guilty to theft from the Tesco store in Chard when he appeared before magistrates in Yeovil. Miller was given a twelve month conditional discharge and told to pay Tesco compensation of two hundred and five pounds.

A former Royal Marine based at RNAS Yeovilton has been presented with a national award for building houses. Tom Jupp was selected out of over four hundred other building site managers to win ‘The Quality Award’. Tom says he learnt his leadership skills through being a member of the Royal Marines.

More from News

Friday 31st July

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service says July has been its busiest month ever for emergency calls. Police have recovered a 1970s Austin Mini pick-up stolen in Shepton Mallet. A specialist spinal injuries service at Yeovil Hospital has treated three hundred patients in its first year... and more
Thursday 30th July

The Environment Agency has declared a drought across Somerset as the hot weather takes its toll on the county's water supplies. Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic accident near Crewkerne. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow...and more
Wednesday 29th July

Police have arrested two suspects in connection with a series of moped thefts in Chard. A combine harvester has been destroyed in a farm fire at Forton, near Chard. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow... and more
Tuesday 28th July

The former Beales department store in Yeovil could be brought back into use as part of a wider masterplan for the future of the town. A yellow heat health alert is in place across Somerset from nine o’clock this morning until nine o’clock on Friday morning. A Somerset farmer says this year is the driest on his land since 1976... and more
Monday 27th July

Gooch and Housego, based in Ilminster and one of the town’s biggest employers, has been sold in a multi-million-pound deal to an American private equity firm. A father who shook his four-week-old baby to death at a house in Chard has been sentenced to life in prison. A doctor who works for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is one of five people to have jointly set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain... and more
Friday 24th July

Avon and Somerset Police are warning people to watch out for scammers posing as Amazon. The CEO of the company that provides Somerset's recycling is warning of a major incident if people continue to put used batteries in waste bins. A former Yeovil pub could be demolished to make way for a major hotel expansion.
Thursday 23rd July

The West Country is officially one step closer to being declared in drought. Somerset Council says it's remodelling its service after a children's home was closed following an inspection. A new McDonald's planned off the M5 at Bridgwater could create up to 120 local jobs... and more
Wednesday 22nd July

Two men have been jailed for stealing electrical items and cash from a property in Yeovil. Somerset Council has defended its use of Yeovil’s new performance area in The Triangle, in Lower Middle Street. Tintinhull Primary School, near Yeovil, has won a top national award for outdoor play... and more