Friday 19th April

Friday, 19 April 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Work starts today building a new eastbound carriageway as part of dualling the A303 between Sparkford and Podimore. A childhood obesity clinic in Somerset has revealed that it is treating children as young as eight months old. Somerset Wildlife Trust has launched a campaign to recruit an army of young people to act as conservation champions...and more.

Work starts today building a new eastbound carriageway as part of dualling the A303 between Sparkford and Podimore. National Highways says a section of the A303 will be shut with the newly built westbound carriageway used for traffic to create a safe working area to build the new eastbound carriageway between Steart Hill and Gason Lane. The work is due to be completed by 6 am on Monday.

A childhood obesity clinic in Somerset has revealed that it is treating children as young as eight months old. The Splash clinic is the only one of its kind in the country, providing families with a dietician and paediatric support.

Somerset Council says it hopes to continue a project supporting vulnerable homeless people in the county, despite its financial pressures. Step Together has helped nearly 600 people in the county in the last five years. Earlier this year, it was told its funding was at risk as Somerset Council struggled to balance its budget. It's now been given a one-year reprieve but says its clients need a more secure commitment.

Somerset Wildlife Trust is appealing for donations to raise £40,000 to support its Wilder Youth initiative, aimed at enabling young people to become conservation champions. Surveys have shown that many young people lose their connection to nature after the age of 10 and it can take up to 20 years for the connection to be re-established. Somerset Wildlife Trust believes the Wilder Youth initiative is a way of reconnecting young people with nature.

In cricket, the ECB has announced Somerset will be among the eight Tier 1 counties that will host sides at the top of the women’s domestic game from 2025, with two more guaranteed to be added by 2027. The governing body intends to grow that number to 12 by 2029, to have an 80% increase in female players by then.

Somerset Art Weeks Festival will return this year with a new theme. The festival which has been run every year since 1994 is inviting artists to contribute to the theme of Landscape: Flux and Flow. Organisers say it’s aimed at drawing attention to the changing local landscape and intimacy with the natural environment.

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A boat used for sightseeing trips on the River Parrett at Langport has sunk after being vandalised. A union representing firefighters in Somerset says former retained staff are missing out on pension payments. Thirty-nine new affordable homes are to be built in Merriot...and more
Friday 25th July

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Thursday 24th July

Tourism leaders in Somerset are hoping to reverse last year’s downturn in visitor numbers now that the six-week-long school summer holiday is underway. A Chard woman who was driving a van without insurance that crashed has been given a 16-month driving ban. A Somerset hedgehog rescue centre says a lack of rain and hard ground conditions are making it difficult for hedgehogs to survive this summer...and more.
Wednesday 23rd July

Somerset Council is planning to open twelve new Special Educational Needs units in mainstream schools. Yeovil Hospital is participating in a trial that could revolutionise the treatment of sepsis within the NHS. A 55-acre site in Chard, with plans approved to build 295 homes and a new football ground, has been put up for sale...and more
Tuesday 22nd July

Somerset Community Foundation has launched a "Together for West Somerset Appeal" to help families affected by last Thursday's school coach crash on Exmoor. People in Somerset are being encouraged to improve their recycling of food waste. Free family cooking sessions are being held in Chard. A new children’s soft play area is soon to open in Yeovil...and more
Monday 21st July

A GoFundMe page set up to support families of last week’s Exmoor bus crash, in which a 10-year-old boy died, has raised over forty thousand pounds. A local councillor is calling for the introduction of speed cameras on the A30, from Yeovil to Sherborne. A group from a school in Ilchester have hiked 26 miles across the Jurassic Coast to fundraise in memory of a school colleague...and more
Friday 18th July

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Thursday 17th July

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he has serious concerns about plans that could see the closure of inpatient beds at Crewkerne Community Hospital. Ilminster residents are being asked to vote in a referendum on adopting a new neighbourhood plan for the town. An event in which people take part in a race against horses is returning to Somerset later this year...and more