News in Shepton Mallet

Temporary traffic lights are scheduled to be used for roadworks on the A371 through Croscombe next week.

The lights are due to be in place on Wednesday (October 7) and Thursday (October 8) on Long Street, in the area around Long Street House.

Mendip District Council has rejected calls to adopt the international definition of anti-Semitism – claiming it is already doing enough to protect people from abuse.

Mendip was asked in February to adopt the widely-recognised definition of anti-Semitism set by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

A reshuffle has taken place at Mendip District Council after the Liberal Democrats assumed outright control for the very first time.

The council was run by the Conservatives between 2003 and 2019, but shifted to no overall control (no party having a majority) in May 2019 as the Tories lost ground in the local elections.

The East Somerset Railway in Cranmore has welcomed a new addition to its fleet of locos with the arrival of GWR Small Prairie 5542 2-6-2T which was formerly based at the South Devon Railway and the Gloucester and Warwick Railway.

Built in 1928 and withdrawn from service with British Rail in December 1961, 5542 spent 14 years at a Barry Scrapyard before moving to the West Somerset Railway in 1976.

With the festive season in sight, Dobbies Garden Centres have announced their Christmas events offering for 2020 in the Shepton Mallet store.

This year's programme has a focus on bringing together communities, and with social distancing measures in place.

The Office of National Statistics recently revealed that 13.4 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds are now unemployed.

This comes some months after the government announced they would pay employers £1,000 for each trainee they provide a work placement for, and that traineeships are also now available to those with a qualification of Level 3 and below.

With several favourites, like local celebrity Michael Eavis, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, Rachel Johnson, Gina Millar and Michael Wood, all sold out at Cedars Hall for the Wells Festival of Literature there is no need to despair.

Thanks to the festival live streaming of all the events you can watch all your favourites online. Don't miss out, register now by going to https://www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk/live-streaming.

Plans for two bungalows to be built in Shepton Mallet have been approved by Mendip District Council.

The planning application for the building of two two-bedroom bungalows with six parking spaces, courtyard gardens, and cycle/refuse/recycling storage on land at Monmouth Road, Shepton Mallet, had been submitted by Vougar Mamedou.

The kerbside recycling service in Shepton Mallet is about to undergo a major change with the Somerset Waste Partnership's new Recycle More scheme.

The aim is to get more of our waste recycled and to encouraged people to put fewer items in our general waste wheelie bins.

The Green Homes Grant scheme will open tomorrow (September 30) for Mendip residents to apply for vouchers worth thousands of pounds to make homes more energy efficient.

All Mendip homeowners and landlords can apply for vouchers for green home improvements where the government will fund two-thirds of the cost of eligible works, up to £5,000, which could help families save up to £600 a year on energy bills. Low income households will be eligible for up to 100 per cent government funding up to £10,000.