Tuesday 14th April

Tuesday, 14 April 2026 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Avon and Somerset Police has launched a new five-year plan to tackle anti-social behaviour. Additional GP appointments will soon be available at three local surgeries, following a £1 million investment to upgrade NHS facilities in Somerset. A Stoke-sub-Hamdon couple whose daughter died of cancer have raised £128,000 in her memory... and more

Avon and Somerset Police has launched a new five-year plan to tackle anti-social behaviour. The strategy focuses on prevention, and early intervention. It aims to strengthen partnership working and better identify vulnerable victims. Police say intelligence is key with information from local people, neighbourhood officers, and partner organisations helping target resources where they’re needed most.

Additional GP appointments will soon be available at three local surgeries, following a £1 million investment to upgrade NHS facilities in Somerset. Church Street Surgery in Martock and Crewkerne Health Centre are both set to expand, creating extra consulting space for patients. Millbrook Surgery in Castle Cary will see a new clinical room built. The improvements aim to make it easier for patients to access GP services.

Somerset Council has lost an appeal over plans to build a care home near Taunton. The authority had rejected proposals by developer Belstone Fox to build the home and 19 houses in the grounds of Woodlands Castle in Ruishton, saying the scheme would harm the character of the listed building and surrounding village. But following a public inquiry, the Planning Inspectorate has overturned the decision. It’s ordered Somerset Council to pay the developer’s legal costs linked to the appeal.

The Mayor of Chard, Councillor Victoria Bates, is inviting people in the town to take part in a series of community event this month. Highlights include the Mayor’s Charity Ball on Saturday April 18th, followed by the traditional St George’s Dragon Parade through the town on Sunday April 19th. On Sunday 26th April, local cyclists set off for Chard’s twin town of Helmstedt in Germany.

Stoke-sub-Hamdon couple, Dave and Julie Thomas, whose daughter, Jess, died of cancer 10 years ago have raised £128,000 in her memory. The couple began fundraising for the Teenage Cancer Trust in 2016 in recognition of the support it gave their daughter during the final stages of her life. Later this month, two family friends will take on the London Marathon in Jess’s memory.

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