The Government has given Somerset Council the go-ahead to use income from selling property assets to pay day-to-day running costs. A councillor in Chard has started a petition calling for a rethink of plans to close Sunnymeade Care Home in the town. Ticket inspectors have been employed to travel on buses in Somerset to check that passengers have valid tickets...and more.
Somerset Council has been given the go-ahead to sell property assets and use the income to pay the Council’s day-to-day running costs. Somerset is one of nineteen councils in England suffering financial problems to be given government approval to use capital receipts from asset sales to top-up spending on services. Somerset Council will now take out a loan of £77 million over 20 years, paying it back as properties are sold.
A new contract has been issued to run the Number One bus service between Yeovil and Shepton Mallet. South West Coaches will operate the service, with changes to the route and timetable from April 15th. The Number One bus provides an important transport link for students living in Castle Cary, needing to get to Strode College in Street.
A councillor in Chard has started an online petition calling for a rethink of plans to close Sunnymeade Care Home in Chard. Councillor Connor Payne says shutting the home would lose Chard yet another vital provision and have a big impact on residents, their families, and staff at the home. Somerset Care, who run Sunnymeade, say the home is no longer fit for purpose and updating the building would make the home financially unviable.
Ticket inspectors will be travelling on buses in Somerset from this week checking that passengers have valid tickets. Revenue Protection Officers are being employed by First Bus to carry out the checks. Passengers are advised to have their tickets ready to show or risk a £50 fine.
Glastonbury Festival has opened a prize draw to raise money for charities supporting people affected by conflict. Twenty tickets for this year’s sold-out festival are up for grabs with the draw open to the end of March. Organisers say the money raised will be donated to the British Red Cross, Oxfam and War Child.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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