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.

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