Thursday 4th September

Thursday, 4 September 2025 06:00

A new leisure complex on the edge of Yeovil will be built, after plans were approved by Somerset Council. Landmarks across the south-west will be illuminated from Monday to mark Air Ambulance Week. YAOS are hoping to trace passengers stranded at Gander Airport in Newfoundland after the 9/11 attacks...and more.

A new leisure complex on the edge of Yeovil will be built after Somerset Council approved plans. The development, including a gym, spa, two swimming pools, soft play and a business area, will be constructed on the Bunford Park employment zone on the corner of the A3088 and Watercombe Lane to the west of the town. Construction is expected to begin within the next six months and is anticipated to create the equivalent of 100 full-time jobs once it is fully operational.

Landmarks across the south-west will be illuminated from Monday to mark Air Ambulance Week. The annual event raises awareness for the 21 air ambulance charities across the country, highlighting the organisations’ life-saving work and raising funds for their continued operation. Glastonbury Tor and Wookey Hole are amongst the six sites set to be illuminated yellow and green on Monday night.

Use Ilminster’s public bins correctly, or risk losing them. That’s the message from the Town Council, who are asking the public to stop putting household waste in the recreation ground bins and warning that otherwise the facilities will be permanently removed. The Council report that oven chip packages, plant cuttings and even discarded saucepans have recently been discovered in the bins, leading to refuse overflowing at the recreation ground. There have been similar problems with inappropriate rubbish outside the Co-op.

The Yeovil Amateur Operatic Society are working to trace passengers who were stranded at Gander Airport in Newfoundland after the September 11th terror attacks. Their latest production is ‘Come From Away’, a stage musical based on real events, where 38 airliners carrying 7,000 passengers had to divert and land at the airport urgently. It is thought that several people from South Somerset and North Dorset were caught up in the 2001 events, and the society would like to hear people’s stories and get them to meet the cast. If you can help, you can contact them on their website www.yaos.org

More from News

Friday 13th March

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
Thursday 12th March

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
Wednesday 11th March

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
Tuesday 10th March

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
Monday 9th March

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
Friday 6th March

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
Thursday 5th March

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
Wednesday 4th March

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