Tuesday 3rd October

Tuesday, 3 October 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Yeovil Town Council meets tonight to vote on giving financial support to the £29 million project to upgrade the Octagon Theatre. Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was punched in the face in Chard. Yeovil Library is taking part in Libraries Week on the theme of ‘Green Libraries’ encouraging communities to become more sustainable...and more.

Yeovil Town Council meets tonight to consider giving financial support to upgrade Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. The project costing £29M would see the Octagon virtually rebuilt with three hundred extra seats, a bigger stage, two boutique cinemas and a new restaurant. It has been put at risk due to increased building costs and higher interest rates. At tonight’s meeting, starting at 7 pm in the Town House and which is open to the public, councillors will hear arguments for and against, before voting to commit Yeovil Town Council to financially support the project. Separately, the Executive at Somerset Council, which owns and manages the Octagon, meet tomorrow to make a decision about the Octagon.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was punched in the face in Chard. It happened in Boden Street on Sunday 17th September between 1 and 2 am when a car stopped, a man got out and attacked the man who was walking on the footpath with his wife. The attacker is described as white, in his early 20’s with dark, wavy hair. Anyone with information is asked to call the non-emergency number 101.

Royal Mail says it is committed to restoring service levels after complaints about long delays delivering the post in Yeovil. Royal Mail is legally obliged to deliver letters six days a week and parcels five days a week. Regional Secretary of the Communication Workers Union, Kevin Beazer, says the problem is due to staff shortages at the Yeovil sorting office and wage levels that aren’t high enough to attract new staff.

NHS Somerset is warning of disruption to hospital appointments this week with junior doctors and consultants on strike for higher pay. Today, members of the Society for Radiographers have joined the stoppage for 24 hours, affecting Minor Injury Units.

Yeovil Library is taking part in Libraries Week on the theme of ‘Green Libraries’ encouraging communities to become more sustainable. The activities at Yeovil Library are based on supporting life-long learning, together with the causes of climate change.

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Monday 16th June

The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.
Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Monday 9th June

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.