Somerset Council says 900 miles of the County’s roads will be gritted on a regular basis this winter. Work will start soon to strengthen Chard Reservoir to protect local communities from flooding. The first advent calendar produced by the charity Mind in Somerset has gone on sale...and more
Somerset Council says 900 miles of the County’s roads will be gritted regularly this winter. In our area, this includes the A3088 Cartgate Link Road between Yeovil and the A303. The A358 between Chard and Williton (via Ilminster and Taunton). The A359 between Yeovil and Frome (via Sparkford, Castle Cary and Bruton) and the A371 between Wincanton and Cheddar (via Shepton Mallet and Wells). Around one-fifth of Somerset's road network will be treated, with the council prioritising major commuter routes, along with main routes to schools, hospitals and other medical facilities, and interchanges with bus and rail services.
Work will start soon strengthening Chard Reservoir to protect local communities from flooding. The scheme will involve building a low wall along one section of the reservoir to reduce the risk of the reservoir failing. Somerset Council says the chances of flood waters overflowing and leading to a failure of the dam in any given year is approximately one in 5,000, whereas, with the wall in place, this reduces to about 1 in 400,000. The scheme will be phased, with work on culverts taking place before Christmas, and work on building the wall likely to start in the New Year.
Somerset Community Foundation has started its annual Surviving Winter appeal. Every year the foundation grants money to pensioners on the lowest incomes in Somerset to help with energy costs through winter. Last year it raised more than 150 thousand pounds.
The first advent calendar produced by the charity Mind in Somerset has gone on sale. They're hoping the calendar will raise money for mental health services which they say come under greater pressure during the winter months.
Somerset Council is asking the government for permission to raise next year’s Council Tax by more than 5 per cent. Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident on the A3088 Cartgate Link Road in which a pedestrian was killed. A trainee at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil has been presented with a Rising Star award...and more.
Attacks on local ambulance crews have more than doubled in the past five years. The trial has begun of two Yeovil men, charged with murdering a neighbour. Somerset Council is due to make a decision early in the New Year on controversial plans to build 47 new homes at Horton, near Ilminster...and more.
Two weeks after Storm Bert, people in the village of Chaffcombe near Chard still do not have broadband and landline phones. A new report warns that drivers are far more likely to be killed or seriously injured on rural roads in Somerset than on urban roads. Staff and children at Tatworth Primary School near Chard are celebrating after winning the annual Somerset School's Maths Challenge.
Police are appealing for witnesses to an incident in Shepton Mallet in which a man was beaten up. A major emergency exercise is taking place at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil today. A Crewkerne dental surgery has been voted UK Dental Practice of the Year...and more.
Wessex Water has issued an apology for last Friday’s major disruption to water supplies in Yeovil. Planned reforms to stroke services at Yeovil Hospital could be delayed following the discovery of asbestos in parts of the building. Rail travellers are being warned of disruption on the West of England Line over the Christmas and New Year period...and more.
Work has started demolishing Glovers Walk in Yeovil. Chard Town Football Club says being given planning permission to build a new ground is a huge step forward for the Club. Police are appealing for information concerning the theft of farm equipment and a Land Rover. The Christmas lights are being turned on in Crewkerne tonight...and more
Residents in Somerset had the worst level of access to NHS dental treatment in England last year. Plans have been passed to build 300 new homes on the northern edge of Chard. Fourteen people have been arrested and 18 vehicles seized in five days of co-ordinated road policing operations by Avon and Somerset Police...and more
NHS Somerset says one hundred thousand people in the county have yet to receive the latest Covid booster jab. The road between Merriot and Lopen at Eggwood Hill remains closed following a landslip. Guests at a B&B in Cornwall can now book an overnight stay in a Lynx helicopter...and more.
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