Somerset Waste Partnership says it will be suspending all green waste collections for six weeks from Monday. Wessex Water is supporting changes to the law to stop polluted water from getting into the local rivers. Police are treating as suspicious a fire that destroyed a mobile home near Castle Cary. South Somerset District Council says it won’t be buying the Oscar Mayer site in Chard...and more.
Somerset Waste Partnership says it will be suspending all green waste collections for six weeks from Monday. SWP has blamed the situation on not having enough drivers and on the high number of staff self-isolating after being pinged by the NHS app.
Wessex Water is supporting changes to the law to stop polluted water from getting into the local rivers. It follows calls on the government to amend the Environment Bill to make sure water companies separate drainage water from sewerage treatment water.
Police are treating as suspicious a fire that destroyed a mobile home near Castle Cary. The unit was in a field in the village of Galhampton when it’s believed it was deliberately set alight. The incident happened in the early hours of yesterday (29-07).
South Somerset District Council says it won’t be buying the Oscar Mayer site in Chard. The ready meals manufacturer is closing the site on the A358 Furnham Road and has put the land and buildings up for sale. It was suggested SSDC might buy the site for a new school, GP surgery, and low-cost homes but the Council says it’s not interested.
Police are searching for a man who behaved in a threatening and abusive way towards two children in Yeovil. The incident happened outside the Wilko store in Lower Middle Street last Sunday at lunchtime, around 12.30 pm. If you witnessed what happened, you’re asked to call the police non-emergency number 101.
South Somerset District Council has been shortlisted for the title of Council of the Year. The judging panel for the Local Government Chronicle annual awards said SSDC was singled out for being at the cutting edge of innovation. Five other local authorities are included on the shortlist.
The fire service says they still don’t know what caused Monday’s major shop fire in Yeovil. A safeguarding review is being carried out into the case of Daniel Gunter, who was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court last week of murdering his two-week-old baby son at Yeovil Hospital. National convenience store chain, Costcutter, has taken over the empty YMCA charity shop in Middle Street in Yeovil for a new store...and more
Parents in Somerset are being advised not to leave their children unsupervised with pets. Somerset Council says it's dealing with a backlog of sixteen hundred planning applications. Ninety thousand pounds has been raised so far for Somerset Community Foundation’s appeal supporting people affected by last week’s coach crash in West Somerset...and more
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
A father has been found guilty of murdering his two-week-old son at Yeovil Hospital. From Monday, no trains will be stopping at Crewkerne until further notice. Experts say the dry weather has created ideal conditions for wasps to multiply in significant numbers across Somerset. A rare railway carriage from the 1880s, believed to have been built in Somerset, is being given a new lease of life...and more.
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.
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
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
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