A red flood alert has been issued for the next 36 hours along the banks of the River Yeo between Sherborne and Yeovil. Plans have been submitted to build up to 85 new homes on land off Watercombe Lane in Yeovil. A survey has been launched asking people for their experiences of booking GP appointments in Somerset. Former Mayor of Yeovil, Julian Freke, has died at the age of 75...and more.
The Environment Agency has issued a red flood alert for the next 36 hours along the banks of the River Yeo between Sherborne and Yeovil. It means flooding can be expected in the area, with properties at risk of flooding. People living along the route of the Yeo are being advised to protect their properties from flooding.
Plans have been submitted to build up to 85 new homes on land off Watercombe Lane in Yeovil. The application from Abbey Manor Developments Ltd is in addition to another of their planning applications to build up to 100 new homes on an adjoining site. The two proposed developments would be on agricultural land between Watercombe Lane and Broadleaze Farm. Vehicular access is proposed through Watercombe Lane.
Former Mayor of Yeovil, Julian Freke, has died at the age of 75. Julian, described as a ‘Yeovillian through and through’, was Mayor of the town from 2002 to 2004 and a long-standing member of Yeovil Town Council and South Somerset District Council.
A survey has been launched asking people for their experiences of booking GP appointments in Somerset. Healthwatch Somerset says early returns show that people are being made to wait too long to see a GP.
Friends of the former Yeovil Town Coach, Marcus Stewart, have completed a week-long bike ride, raising money for Motor Neurone Disease. Marcus was diagnosed with the illness just over a year ago. His supporters cycled between his former clubs, including Yeovil Town, covering nearly six hundred miles.
The boundary wall of St Mary’s Church in Whitelackington near Chard is to be rebuilt. Somerset Council has approved plans to restore the wall outside the Grade-2 Listed building after it collapsed due to damage caused by tree roots.
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.