With ‘World Refill Day’ today, Somerset Council has partnered with Wessex Water to provide free water bottle refilling stations in five of the county’s busiest high streets to help residents save money and to prevent thousands of single-use plastic bottles going to waste.

An estimated 7.7 billion plastic water bottles are used in the UK every year, however, Somerset’s water refill stations have prevented the need for more than 70,000 single-use plastic bottles.

Glastonbury Festival will be taking place between 21-25 June this year, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) South West and Somerset Council are reminding visitors to enjoy the Festival but remember to stay safe and be aware of possible risks to their health including measles, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and weather related illness.

With National Diabetes Week taking place this week (12 to 18 June), Public Health leaders in Somerset are urging people who suffer from the condition to take part in a programme which could radically improve their quality of life.

The county is one of just 21 areas of the country offering a free NHS programme to support residents with the life-threatening condition to lose weight and potentially achieve remission.

Chinnock Hollow near Yeovil will not reopen Somerset Council has confirmed after an independent report outlined a cost of up to £2.7 million to make it safe.

The road, which links the villages of East Chinnock and Odcombe, has been closed since 21 February 2021 following a significant landslide involving 20 tonnes of rock and sand as well as a large tree.

Somerset residents are being reminded that they can sign up for a fortnightly home garden waste collection.

The service run by Somerset Council has more than 56,000 subscribers and with spring well and truly here and gardens bursting into life, now is the perfect time to sign up.

Collections are made fortnightly year-round (apart from a short break during Christmas and New Year). Residents can either sign up to a pre-paid 180-litre wheeled bin or 90-litre compostable paper sacks. 

Somerset Council’s highways teams are resurfacing sections of both the A378 North Street in Langport and the A372 Somerton road in Huish Episcopi, starting in July.

North Street preparatory work is due to start on Monday 17 July and will last for five days; two-way signals will be in use for that week.

Due to high volumes of waste and staff sickness, recycling collections could not be completed in Milborne Port and Wincanton today (Friday, 16 June); and in Somerton, Cheddar, Martock, Bridgwater, Taunton, Glastonbury, Street and Yeovil yesterday (Thursday, 15 June).

Somerset Council will be reaffirming its commitment to the Armed Forces by signing the Armed Forces Covenant at a service and ceremony on Monday 19 June, the start of Armed Forces Week.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Liz Leyshon, and National Hydrographer Rear Admiral Rhett Hatcher, will sign the Covenant when civic dignitaries and Armed Forces representatives gather at County Hall in Taunton to pay tribute to the Armed Forces.

Somerset Council’s highways team are repairing a section of Station Road in Ilminster later this month.

The work will be carried out on the B3168 from the Southfields roundabout to the roundabout on Station Road.

The work is due to start on Thursday 22 June and should be completed on Friday 30 June.

A dead maple tree is to be felled on safety grounds in Somerset Council’s Vivary Park in Taunton next week.

The notable tree which is situated in the sensory garden, next to a well-used main footpath, has been deemed unsafe as falling branches are likely as the dead tree’s branches become brittle.