Thursday 21st March

Thursday, 21 March 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

A four-year-long, one-million-pound regeneration project in Chard, to improve the look of the town centre is nearing completion. Bus users have criticised a decision to cut a bus route between Wells and Yeovil. Yeovil is one of only three towns in Somerset to win a place in the finals of the national Britain in Bloom competition...and more

A one-million-pound regeneration project in Chard, aimed at improving the look of the town centre, is nearing completion. The work, including laying new footpaths, repairing listed buildings and smartening up shop fronts with money from the government’s High Street Fund, has been ongoing for four years. Somerset Council, who manage the project, are hoping the improvements will attract new investment in Chard.

Bus users have criticised a decision to cut a bus route between Wells and Yeovil. The 77 bus that leaves Wells at 6.40 pm for Yeovil Monday to Saturday will run for the last time on April 6th. The Somerset Bus Partnership claims that students at Strode College who work late will be left without a bus to get them home, along with people who rely on the 77 service for journeys too-and-from work.

Wetlands in Somerset are to receive eight hundred thousand pounds of government funding to restore habitats. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust says the money will be used to improve more than three-hundred-and-seventy hectares of habitats at Steart Marshes and Bridgwater Bay.

Yeovil is one of only three towns in Somerset to win a place in the finals of this year’s national Britain in Bloom competition. Yeovil in Bloom is a finalist in the Large Town category, after winning gold in last year’s South West in Bloom Awards. The other towns to win through to the finals are Glastonbury and Cannington. Britain in Bloom judges will visit each of the finalists this summer with the winners announced in the autumn.

The South Somerset Tourist Information Centre at Cartgate will close at the end of the month. The TIC, located off the Cartgate roundabout on A303, has fallen victim to spending cuts at Somerset Council. The last day for the centre will be Saturday, March 30th.

More from News

Friday 27 March

There's been a big improvement in ambulance response times in Somerset. Three local people have been charged with offences linked to the theft and supply of prescription-only drugs. A fragment of a jawbone found in a cave in Cheddar Gorge appears to show that humans kept dogs as pets as far back as 5,000 years ago... and more
Thursday 26th March

Somerset Council is offering food vouchers during the school easter holidays to families whose children receive free school meals. A local man has been charged in connection with an incident involving a firearm in Yeovil. The Environment Agency says it could take up to 10 years to protect homes at Holway House Park and Home Farm Park in Ilminster from flooding...and more.
Wednesday 25th March

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has raised concerns in the House of Commons about the planned closure of Yeovil Hospital’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Police in Yeovil are appealing for information after a man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm. A 13-year-old terrier named Mole has been rescued after becoming trapped underground...and more
Tuesday 24th March

Yeovil College has received a glowing report following an Ofsted inspection. The main road between Chard and Ilminster is to be better protected from flooding. A six-thousand-year-old wooden walkway has been uncovered on the Somerset Levels... and more
Monday 23rd March

A wildcat helicopter belonging 815 Squadron based at RNAS Yeovilton has been in action tracking two Russian ships in the English Channel. People living in Somerset will have to pay to use Dorset’s household waste recycling centres from today. A road in Ilminster has closed to traffic today and will stay shut for the next ten days... and more
Friday 20th March

Police are appealing for witnesses to a three-vehicle crash in Sherborne. The jobs of housing maintenance staff at Somerset Council could be outsourced to a private contractor. A pie throwing event is taking place in Chard today for Red Nose Day ... and more
Thursday 19th March

Farmers in Somerset say they're struggling after a doubling in the price of red diesel. Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised Donald Trump over his comments about people with learning disabilities. A Somerset woman whose father was killed in a crash on the M5 is running the London Marathon to raise money for South West Ambulance...and more
Wednesday 18th March

The murder of a two-week-old baby by his father at Yeovil Hospital could not have been predicted, according to a new report. A road in Ilminster is to close to traffic for eleven days later this month. A new Post Office counter is to open in Somerton... and more