Monday 17th February

Monday, 17 February 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Somerset Council Leader, Councillor Bill Revans, has been defending putting up council tax by seven-and-a-half percent. Two men have been jailed for life for the murder of a man in Yeovil. Somerset’s new Local Plan won’t be completed until spring 2029. Work is about to start building a new visitor centre at Ham Hill Country Park...and more

Somerset Council Leader, Councillor Bill Revans, has been defending putting up council tax by seven-and-a-half percent. The government has given Somerset Council permission to break the five-percent cap on increasing council tax to help it avoid bankruptcy. Councillor Revans says despite the seven-and-a-half percent increase, Somerset’s council tax will still be below the national average. Meanwhile, the Leader of the Conservative opposition group on Somerset Council, Councillor Mandy Chilcott says more clarity is needed on the impact of cutting 550 staff jobs at Somerset Council.

Two men have been jailed for life for killing a man in Yeovil. Appearing at Bristol Crown Court for sentencing, Mark Sothcott, aged 56, of Stiby Road and Martin Carty, aged 56, of Raglan Terrace, were each given life sentences for the murder of Frank Ingram, aged 68, at a flat in Raglan Terrace in Yeovil in June last year.

Somerset’s new Local Plan won’t be completed until the spring of 2029, one year later than originally intended. A Local Plan allocates sites for new housing, employment growth, protected green spaces and necessary amenities, such as new schools and doctors’ surgeries. The council said in 2023 that the new Local Plan for Somerset would be in place by March 2028 but now says that won’t happen until March the following year.

Work is about to start building a new visitor centre at Ham Hill Country Park, on the outskirts of Yeovil. The project has been funded through the National Lottery, as well as Leonardo and the Clarks Foundation.

Drainage works in Chard have moved from Victoria Avenue to Furnham Road. There have been delays to traffic on roads in the town since December when Wessex Water and Wales and West Utilities began work upgrading the sewage systems. The stretch of Furnham Road to Victoria Avenue will stay closed until the end of May.

Somerset Council is to stop maintaining the floodgates between Muchelney and Langport on the Somerset Levels that are in place to stop people driving on the road when it's underwater. The Council says the floodgates are not being respected and are continually being vandalised.

More from News

Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more