Local News Tuesday 14th December

Tuesday, 14 December 2021 06:00

Somerset Waste Partnership has reported a deficit of £1.2million due to rising costs. Work’s started on building 630 new homes on land off Station Road in Crewkerne. The Somerset Coronavirus Helpline has received more than 17,000 enquiries since it was set up at the start of the pandemic. Martock man, Tim Howell, one of the country’s leading base jumpers, says he’s hoping to break even more records in 2022 and a giant photo of a Somerset boy is being shown on the side of the BT Tower in London.

Somerset Waste Partnership has reported a deficit of £1.2million due to rising costs. The partnership, funded by the County Council and district councils to dispose of all Somerset’s waste, including running sixteen household waste recycling centres, also blames processing record amounts of waste for the over-spend.

Work’s started on building 630 new homes on land off Station Road in Crewkerne. The development – the biggest single development ever seen in Crewkerne – includes building 50 affordable homes, a primary school, shops, and a care home.
The site is currently being searched for items that could be of archaeological importance.

The Somerset Coronavirus Helpline has received more than 17,000 enquiries since it was set up at the start of the pandemic. A joint project involving both County and District councils and partners offers advice on everything from mental health to financial support, to employment rights.

Martock man, Tim Howell, one of the country’s leading base jumpers, says he’s hoping to break even more records in 2022. Base jumping is a recreational sport that involves parachuting off fixed objects and tall buildings. This year, Tim has made record-breaking jumps in Russia and Argentina.

A giant photo of a Somerset boy is being shown on the side of the BT Tower in London. His image is part of a campaign of thanks to the cancer charity Home Start, for the help they give families. Four-year-old Oscar’s mother, Emma, receives help from the charity with running the family home.

More from News

Friday 25th July

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.
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

EDF has completed another milestone in constructing the new 'Hinkley C' nuclear power plant near Bridgwater. The Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire opens today with helicopters built in Yeovil on display. A road leading to Chard reservoir, shut two months ago for strengthening work to a dam wall, has re-opened...and more
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
Wednesday 16th July

A children’s play area in Ilminster has been closed on safety grounds after badger setts were found on the land. Somerset Council sold off £90m of property assets last year to help fight off bankruptcy. Crewkerne Community Hospital could be turned into a neighbourhood health centre...and more.