SUEZ, the company that collects Somerset’s waste is warning it may cease operations. Twenty thousand pounds is being spent cleaning red paint off the front of County Hall in Taunton following a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. An occupational therapist at Yeovil Hospital has won an award for her smart appearance at work...and more.
SUEZ, the company that collects all of Somerset’s waste, is warning it may cease operations unless it is paid more for its services. SUEZ was awarded a 6-year contract worth £24 million a year by Somerset Council in 2020 to collect all kerbside waste, recycled waste, and garden waste but says the contract is no longer viable. It's asking Somerset Council to pay millions more to keep the contract going. Somerset Council is now negotiating a new deal with SUEZ to stop it exiting the contract.
Agratas, the company building the four-billion-pound car battery factory at Puriton near Bridgwater, says it aims to have the plant ready for use by 2026. The factory on the Gravity site, between Puriton and Woolavington, will create four thousand new jobs.
Twenty-thousand pounds of taxpayers' money must be spent cleaning red paint off County Hall in Taunton. The front of the building was splashed with red paint in a protest against Somerset Council providing office space to a defence company with alleged links to Israel. The company has denied the allegation.
An occupational therapist at Yeovil Hospital has won an award for her smart appearance at work. Emily Alden has been given a Uniform Hero Award after entering a photo of herself in her white tunic and green trousers to a competition held as part of International Uniform Day.
Chard Cricket Club has reduced its carbon footprint by installing solar panels on the clubhouse roof. The installation of the solar panels has been paid for with a grant from the English Cricket Board.
A formal planning application has been made to carry out significant improvements to Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre, costing £15 million. The Halifax Bank in King George Street in Yeovil could be converted into 17 flats. A new young people’s centre opens in Chard early in the New Year...and more.
NHS Somerset reports a strong uptake of flu jabs, but some eligible people for free vaccinations haven’t come forward. Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident on the A303 in which a pedestrian was killed. A Crewkerne woman has gone viral on TikTok after being trapped inside a Lidl store in the town... and more.
Somerset Bus Partnership has welcomed a £24.7m boost for the county's bus services. Outline planning permission has been granted to build up to 100 new homes in Ilminster. An Ilminster man has been banned from keeping animals for seven years. Residents in Chiselborough have set up a group to try and re-open the village pub...and more.
Crewkerne Community Hospital is to lose half its inpatient beds. A review will be conducted of a project to make Bridgwater more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. Chard Methodist Church is offering residents a free lunch on Christmas Day. Yeovil-based Screwfix is opening a new outlet in Minehead...and more.
Yeovil MP Adam Dance has warned that delays in ordering 30 new medium lift helicopters for the RAF is putting the future of Somerset’s defence industries at risk. Somerset's farmers are being urged to convert more cow manure into biogas to heat homes. A new visitor centre has opened at Ham Hill country park...and more
Parcel business, Evri, has been criticised by Glastonbury and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke over what she claims have been ‘widespread delivery failures’. Demand for mental health support provided by South Western Ambulance Service is running at record levels. A nine-year-old Somerset boy has completed 100 days of litter picking for charity...and more
New data shows that crime in the Avon and Somerset police area is at an all-time high. Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard has issued a warning to prospective pet owners ahead of Christmas. The owner of four pubs in Somerset has warned that many could be forced to shut unless the government reconsiders business rates...and more.
Toolstream in Yeovil has been put into administration, threatening the jobs of dozens of employees. NHS Somerset has issued a last chance call for people to get a flu jab after hospital admissions increased by 76% in a week. Police are investigating the theft of a bike valued at £7,000 in Sherborne... and more