South Somerset District Council says it’s exploring all options to complete the pavement improvements to Westminster Street in Yeovil. Somerset has been named as one of the fifty-five places in England to get extra investment in education. The police share of the council tax is set to rise by £10 from April and Chard Rugby has been accepted onto the prestigious training programme at Bath Rugby.
South Somerset District Council says it’s exploring all options to complete the pavement improvements to Westminster Street in Yeovil after the company carrying out the upgrade stopped work last Friday. It follows the announcement that Midas Construction has run to financial difficulties and plans to put the business into administration. SSDC also awarded Midas the contract to upgrade the bandstand area in Lower Middle Street in Yeovil with amphitheatre seating, a giant outdoor TV screen and a central water feature. Work on that scheme has yet to start.
Somerset has been named as one of the fifty-five places in England to get extra investment in education. The government's announced extra cash and support for schools, early years, and further education in areas which are lagging behind like Somerset, as part of its ‘levelling up’ strategy.
The police share of the council tax is set to rise by £10 from April. It’ll mean an average band-D property paying an extra 83 pence per month for policing. Avon and Somerset Police say the additional money will allow it to manage inflationary pressures and make it less likely that savings will be needed in frontline services.
Chard Rugby has been accepted onto the prestigious training programme at Bath Rugby. The programme is aimed at giving local rugby teams a chance to access more professional coaching and training facilities.
Somerset Council has approved a seven-and-a-half percent increase in council tax. People are being asked to return boxes of paracetamol bought from Boots Chemists in Somerset. It’s been revealed that five members of staff at Somerset Council are being allowed to work from home outside the UK...and more
Somerset Council has been told that hundreds of millions of pounds in loans taken out by former district councils, including South Somerset, have to be paid back. A Somerset charity says it needs more volunteers to help with research into new treatments for dementia. A local shop owner has welcomed Somerset Council’s decision to scrap plans to charge for parking after 6 pm...and more.
The population of Somerset has reached record levels with nearly one in ten born outside the UK. Stanchester School in Stoke-sub-Hamdon has been rated as ‘requiring improvement’. Experts have been called in to appraise a 15th-century piece of artwork in Sherborne...and more.
A woman from Crewkerne has been fined £280 for assaulting two emergency workers. Plans have been announced to open new NHS dental surgeries in Chard and Crewkerne. A Yeovil man has been thanked for raising £10,000 for the cardiac charity Heartbeat...and more
A local man has been charged after allegedly driving a tractor while under the influence of alcohol. One hundred bikes, collected with household waste in Somerset, have been donated to charity. The junction of the A37 Ilchester Road and Stiby Road in Yeovil will again shut this evening for resurfacing...and more.
Fourteen hundred people have added their names to a petition against Somerset Council's plans to scrap free car parks. St Margaret’s Hospice has won a share of £25 million of government funding. A man from Charlton Adam is preparing to visit Ukraine as an Aid Worker for a tenth time...and more
A local man has been charged with possessing an air weapon following an incident in Yeovil town centre. The Labour government has removed funding to the Amulet Theatre in Shepton Mallet that the previous Conservative government had allocated. Entries are now open for this year’s Minster Miles 10K fun run with organisers aiming to exceed last year’s number of runners...and more.
A new report says Avon and Somerset Police is struggling to cope with a big increase in cases involving the abuse of sexual images of children. Three primary schools in our area have been chosen to take part in a pilot of the Government’s free breakfast clubs for pupils scheme. A new TV documentary has captured footage of 50,000 starlings in a group gathering over the Somerset Levels...and more