Trudi Grant, Director of Public Health at Somerset County Council
Somerset’s Director of Public Health is urging people to do Covid tests before meeting with other people and to meet up in well-ventilated spaces. South Somerset District Council has confirmed that two senior members of staff have left the organisation after an investigation into multiple potential breaches of their code of conduct. A teaching union is calling for a staggered start to the return to school in January and for additional on-site testing facilities to help deal with the spread of Omicron...and more.
Somerset’s Director of Public Health is urging people to do Covid tests before meeting with other people and to meet up in well-ventilated spaces. Trudi Grant says it's only a matter of time before the Omicron becomes the dominant Covid variant in Somerset.
South Somerset District Council has confirmed that two senior members of staff have left the organisation after an investigation into multiple potential breaches of their code of conduct. Earlier this year the council says it was made aware of allegations against two senior team members. The investigation was kept confidential to ensure that the appropriate evidence was gathered and any disciplinary proceedings resulting from the investigations were fair and legal. The names of those involved and the exact reasons for their departure have not been made public
A teaching union is calling for a staggered start to the return to school in January and for additional on-site testing facilities to help deal with the spread of Omicron. The NASUWT in Somerset says in some schools up to half of the teaching workforce is not at work due to Covid related illnesses.
Chard’s Emily Greenway has taken the bronze medal at the European Powerlifting Championships in Sweden. Her final score in the three categories was 190kg squat; 92.5kg bench and a 200kg deadlift that was a new personal best. Next for Emily is the British Championships in March, where she will compete for a place in Team GB, but before that and perhaps more importantly for Emily, she will be getting married early in the New Year.
Another artist has been announced for Live in Somerset in Taunton next year. Rag and Bone Man will perform at Vivary Park on Saturday 27th August. Ollie Murs and Simply Red have already been confirmed for the late Bank holiday weekend live event.
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
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
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
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