News in Wells

Mendip District Council staff have raised a total of £1,459 for their Staff Charity of the Year, Time is Precious.

Every year, Council staff nominate a new cause to support for 12 months. Previous beneficiaries have been CLIC Sargent, YMCA Mendip, Alzheimer's Society, Age UK, and We Hear You. Staff have raised more than £9,000 for these good causes in recent years.

A rural insurance expert is urging South West farmers and landowners to take extra steps to protect themselves against fly-tipping this winter, with latest figures revealing a rise in cases.

According to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), a total 55,162 fly-tipping incidents were recorded across the region in 2020/21, up from 50,506 during the previous 12 months. Incidents on agricultural land increased, year-on-year, from 241 to 563.

Businesses, individuals and charities have just two weeks left to enter the Somerset Business Awards 2022 – and with 14 categories there is something for firms .

Wells fire service were out earlier today (January 23)

Fire control received a call from a member of the public who had woken up to a house filled with smoke in Coxley at just before 9 am.

A senior council officer in Somerset was dismissed following allegations that she used council staff to build glamping pods, lay turf and remove a dead pig from her Dorset vineyard.

Clare Pestell joined South Somerset District Council in 2012, eventually becoming its director of commercial and income generation and at one point was in line to become the new interim chief executive.

Four Somerset carnivals have been thrown a lifeline by councillors after controversial plans for a new construction shed were narrowly approved.

The South Somerset carnival circuit comprises the towns of Chard, Ilminster, Taunton and Wellington, with dozens of local groups building and entering carts each year before the coronavirus pandemic.

Five Catholic primary schools across Somerset will become academies under new proposals put forward by the Department for Education (DfE).

Schools in Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Wells, Wincanton and Yeovil will form a new multi-academy trust following an academy order by education secretary Nadhim Zahawi MP.

This week's property of the week in Wells is all about location.

This lovely family property is just a short walk from the heart of the city, yet enjoys a secluded garden and is on a quiet and almost traffic-free road.

Somerset County Council has published its last draft proposed budget ahead of the creation of a new unitary Somerset Council in April 2023.

The increase in funding for Adult Social Care in part reflects the council's recent decision to support an increase in carers pay and to provide a retention bonus for care staff in Somerset. This is intended to support the recruitment and retention of staff in a challenging job market for care services.

Mendip District Council's pledge to provide much-needed social housing across the district is moving forward.

Housing association, Aster Group, partnered Mendip in November 2020 to build affordable homes across several different sites. A development at Cemetery Lane, in Street, is now the first to come forward. It features 33 homes near Portland Drive.