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News
roundup
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Following the incident on Thursday, 17 July, Somerset Council’s Highways Team has reopened the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timberscombe.
Temporary measures have been put in place to reopen the road safely until permanent repairs to damage caused by the incident can be completed.
Image courtesy of SCF
Somerset Council has confirmed it is providing a £50,000 contribution to Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) to help provide support to those affected by the tragic incident which occurred on the A396 on 17 July.
SCF has launched an emergency Appeal for the children, families and wider community affected by the tragic events of July 17 when a coach carrying pupils and staff from Minehead Middle School left the road in Exmoor.
Somerset Council Leader, Cllr Bill Revans
Somerset Council Leader, Bill Revans, has welcomed the findings of a new cross-party report calling for an overhaul of the “broken” funding model for local government.
Cllr Revans joined local government leaders from across the country in March at Parliament to put the case for a better deal for councils nationwide.
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Residents in Somerset will soon receive their latest recycling and rubbish collections calendar – which sets out collection days for the next 18 months.
As well as providing collection days, the leaflet will focus on food waste recycling, encouraging everyone to do the right thing with their food waste.
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Somerset Council and its waste collections contractor SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK are warning residents not to put gas canisters in their kerbside recycling after a serious fire was narrowly avoided at a recycling-sorting facility.
It was only thanks to the swift and effective actions of highly trained staff that no-one was injured and that the facility was not burned down.
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The results are in from the Council’s Team Repair workshops – and they’re inspiring!
A project to get Somerset’s young people learning repair skills, funded by Somerset Council and SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK through the SW:EEP community fund, has shown that 40% of the young people said they were more likely to repair something in the future and teachers rated the programme 10 out of 10.
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Somerset Council is changing the way its Development Management service works to deliver improvements. In the short term, this means that the Council is seeking to free up case officer time to reduce the current high volume of work-in-progress.
Over the past few years, the volume of planning applications received by the Council has increased significantly and the current workload remains high.
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Park and ride services from Taunton’s Silk Mills site will need to be temporarily rerouted from next week due to ongoing Wales and West Utilities (WWU) work in the area.
WWU are carrying out a major renewal of the gas mains in the Bishops Hull and Silk Mills area and Somerset Council is supporting this vital work.
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Keen walkers can tackle the entire coast of Somerset thanks to a walking challenge set by the King Charles III England Coast Path teams at Somerset Council and Exmoor National Park.
The 80 Miles in Eight Days event is taking place from 28 September to 5 October, and follows in the footsteps of the Walking Challenge that first took place last year.
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A series of recommendations have been made by the Somerset Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) following the death of a Somerset resident.
The recommendations are shared in a report published today (22 July 2025) which documents the situation of Juliet (pseudonym), who had been living primarily at her partner’s address for several years, but also had her own tenancy in Taunton, but she stayed in this property only intermittently.
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YouTube video: Cliff's Smokefree journey
Our ‘What’s Your Why?’ campaign, in partnership with NHS Somerset, aims to reduce smoking rates in the county to 5% or less by 2030 – helping around 45,000 people quit.
One success story is Cliff, who quit after 50 years of smoking and a life-changing health event, and now enjoys healthier living with support from Smokefree Somerset. Watch Cliff’s story above and visit our share your story page to inspire others.
Image courtesy of DHSC
Joe Wicks’ new Activate series, created in partnership with Studio AKA, brings five-minute animated workouts to help kids get active and have fun this summer.
Featuring the colourful Activators and supported by the UK government, these free episodes are released weekly on The Body Coach YouTube channel for families and schools nationwide.
Credit: RNLI
The RNLI works in partnership with local authorities and private beach owners each year to set up and roll out a lifeguard service, at their request.
RNLI lifeguards in Somerset have spent the last month pre-season training, which has included essential skills in casualty care, fitness testing, and lifesaving skills in and out of the water.
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