Monday 24th November

Monday, 24 November 2025 05:00

By Steve Haigh

A church leader has warned that “irrevocable damage” will be caused to town centres if Somerset Council starts charging for Sunday parking. Fifty new homes are to be built in Castle Cary following a successful planning appeal. A call has been made for a memorial to the victims who died in a plane crash on the Blackdown Hills 80 years ago...and more.

A church leader has warned that the introduction of Sunday car parking charges in Somerset will do “irrevocable damage” to town centres. Somerset Council held a consultation in September and October on implementing Sunday parking charges across all its car parks. But Judith Butler, a pastor at Kingdom Faith Church in Taunton, says implementing the charges will damage Somerset’s struggling high streets, with fewer people using the car parks to shop, eat out and attend religious services. The results of the consultation show that 93 per cent of respondents either disagree or strongly disagree with charging for Sunday parking. Somerset Council is due to decide on the issue before the end of December.

Fifty new homes are to be built in Castle Cary following a successful appeal to the Planning Inspectorate by developers Castle Cary LLP. Their application to build off South Street, close to the town’s cemetery, was turned down by Somerset Council’s planning committee in January. But after a planning inspector visited the site, the decision was overturned. In his report, the Inspector dismissed concerns that the new homes would harm the town's conservation area, saying the site was "almost wholly screened" by mature trees and other vegetation.

A call’s been made for a permanent memorial to the twenty-seven people who died in a plane crash on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset 80 years ago. The flight had taken off from the Merryfield air base near Ilminste with mostly military personnel on board when it crashed near Hare Lane at Castle Neroche on November 22nd 1945. Diana Hughes, whose father, Major Harry Staunton, was one of those killed, is asking for a permanent plaque to be put up in Buckland St Mary church in memory of all those who died.

A ten-million-pound upgrade of Bridgwater's Dunball roundabout, that's led to a year of disruption, has been completed. The junction connects junction 23 to the town. Somerset Council says the new 'through-about' will help ease congestion in the town.

Wells MP Tessa Munt says people living with chronic fatigue and ME are desperate, calling on the government to speed up investment into care and research into the condition. The government has spent over £6 million on ME research over the last five years. Still, a plan to tackle ME published in July admitted that resources to turn the research into action were inadequate.

A top international award has been given to the school in Wincanton. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Primary School has been presented with a Live Simply Award by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development for its efforts in supporting struggling communities around the world.

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