Monday 6th November

Monday, 6 November 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Plans by Somerset Council to sell £220 million of commercial properties could take up to two years to complete. Ninety per cent of care home residents in Somerset have received a Covid-19 jab. Ilchester Football Club is seeking financial help following damage to its ground in last week’s torrential rainstorms. A mother from Somerset has been talking to Princess Anne about how hard it is to be a parent carer...and more.

Plans by Somerset Council to sell £220 million of commercial properties could take up to two years to complete. The portfolio of properties includes shops like the Marks and Spencer store and former Wilko store in Yeovil, offices and other buildings both in Somerset and other parts of the country, The buildings are currently valued at substantially less than what was paid for them with Somerset Council facing a £70 million loss on the sale. This week, the Council is expected to declare a financial emergency as it battles to sort out its spending to stave off bankruptcy.

Ninety per cent of care home residents in Somerset have received a Covid-19 jab, according to NHS Somerset. 128,000 Covid-19 vaccinations have been given since the winter campaign was launched in Somerset in September.

A mother from Somerset has been talking to Princess Anne about how hard it is to be a parent carer. Tina Amery was presented with an OBE by the Princess Royal for her services to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Tina says the Princess listened very carefully to all her points.

Ilchester Football Club is seeking financial help following damage to its ground in last week’s torrential thunderstorms. The club says its pitches and the clubhouse were left waterlogged when the River Yeo burst its banks. A GoFundMe page has been launched asking people to contribute towards getting the Club back up and running again.

A Somerset man who is planning to build a house says he is "confused" and "frustrated" by river pollution rules that are preventing him from starting work. Tony Fuller wants to build the house in Winsham, near Chard but has been told by planners that he needs to spend £55,000 on environmental credits or his planning application will be refused. Mr Fuller says the longer the delay goes on, the more it will cost him to build the house.

The go-ahead has been given to build a new care home in Yeovil. The 66-bedroom care home will be built on a vacant plot on Highfield Road, off St Michael’s Avenue. Planning permission had previously been granted to build 14 new homes on the land.

More from News

Monday 16th June

The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.
Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Monday 9th June

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.