Radio Ninesprings

17/02/2025

Local News Monday 17th February

Somerset Council Leader, Councillor Bill Revans, has been defending putting up council tax by seven-and-a-half percent. The government has given Somerset Council permission to break the five-percent cap on increasing council tax to help it avoid bankruptcy. Councillor Revans says despite the seven-and-a-half percent increase, Somerset’s council tax will still be below the national average. Meanwhile, the Leader of the Conservative opposition group on Somerset Council, Councillor Mandy Chilcott says more clarity is needed on the impact of cutting 550 staff jobs at Somerset Council.

Two men have been jailed for life for killing a man in Yeovil. Appearing at Bristol Crown Court for sentencing, Mark Sothcott, aged 56, of Stiby Road and Martin Carty, aged 56, of Raglan Terrace, were each given life sentences for the murder of Frank Ingram, aged 68, at a flat in Raglan Terrace in Yeovil in June last year.

Somerset’s new Local Plan won’t be completed until the spring of 2029, one year later than originally intended. A Local Plan allocates sites for new housing, employment growth, protected green spaces and necessary amenities, such as new schools and doctors’ surgeries. The council said in 2023 that the new Local Plan for Somerset would be in place by March 2028 but now says that won’t happen until March the following year.

Work is about to start building a new visitor centre at Ham Hill Country Park, on the outskirts of Yeovil. The project has been funded through the National Lottery, as well as Leonardo and the Clarks Foundation.

Drainage works in Chard have moved from Victoria Avenue to Furnham Road. There have been delays to traffic on roads in the town since December when Wessex Water and Wales and West Utilities began work upgrading the sewage systems. The stretch of Furnham Road to Victoria Avenue will stay closed until the end of May.

Somerset Council is to stop maintaining the floodgates between Muchelney and Langport on the Somerset Levels that are in place to stop people driving on the road when it's underwater. The Council says the floodgates are not being respected and are continually being vandalised.

16/02/2025

It’s a valentine’s special on The Carnival Hour tonight as Jeff digs back though the carnival archive and plays you tracks used in carnival with a love theme.
Plus the regular features including the rewind quiz for fun, birthdays & what’s ons. Join us from 7pm when it’s an hour of all things carnival.
Message the studio on 84433 with Yeovil at the start of the text or email [email protected].
For updates on West Country carnivals and to listen to any previous shows visit thecarnivalhour.co.uk

16/02/2025

Steve Bulley's Sunday Survey Quiz:

Research shows that members of which profession get the most valentines cards?

15/02/2025

Final score for Yeovil Town FC

FT | Yeovil Town 1-2 Wealdstone

Defeat for the Glovers.

💚

15/02/2025

*LISTEN NOW*

This week, Steve talked with Harriet Laurie, the Horse Whisperer Lady, who runs The Horse Course in Weymouth where she used horse therapy or horse whispering techniques to help people improve their mental health.

Last year her charity helped more than 600 people with their complex challenges, so tune in tonight from 7pm to learn more about how horses play an important role in supporting people with their mental health and how you – if you suffer with mental health issues – can find that help.

15/02/2025

Steve Bulley's BIG Question Quiz:

The first WHAT was sold in the UK 164 years ago?

14/02/2025

Join Vicky from 4pm on Sunday for a collection of songs you’ll know from classic Motown artists – as well as top tracks that somehow flew under the radar, with tunes from the Jacksons, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and much more!

Hit and Miss with Victoria Welton
Every Sunday from 4 – 5pm

Tune in!
On 104.5FM
Online - radioninesprings dot com
On Smartspeaker: "Alexa, play Radio Ninesprings please"

14/02/2025

This week’s edition of From the Potting Shed with Julie Haylock of Sandhurst Garden Design

14/02/2025

Local News Friday 14th February

The police say footage from dashcams has become an important way to clamp down on dangerous driving. More than 8,000 dashcam clips were submitted to Avon and Somerset Police last year with 90% leading to a prosecution or a warning letter to the driver.

Plans for a skatepark in Langport are moving forward. Dorset-based Mavericks, which built skateparks in Crewkerne and Stoke Sub Hamden, is working with Skate Langport to build the venue.

Dozens of tech equipment items have been donated to the Digital Poverty Alliance in Somerset. The gadgets, including laptops, phones and tablets were donated during January for giving to low-income households to get them online.

NHS Somerset says it's going to review a trial respiratory hub in Yeovil, set up to handle chronic illnesses. The Hendford Lodge Medical Centre offers same-day appointments for patients registered with GPs in Yeovil. NHS Somerset says it’ll be assessing if the trial helped in preventing patients from developing more serious complications.

More than 60,000 primary school children have benefitted from lessons in waste reduction thanks to Somerset Council. School’s Against Waste Reduction workshops are delivered on behalf of the Council by the Carymoor Environmental Trust. The programme, which began in 2018, reached a milestone last year with 60,000 schoolchildren in Somerset learning about recycling.

13/02/2025

13/02/2025

This week, Steve talks with Harriet Laurie, the Horse Whisperer Lady, who runs The Horse Course in Weymouth where she used horse therapy or horse whispering techniques to help people improve their mental health.

Last year her charity helped more than 600 people with their complex challenges, so tune in tonight from 7pm to learn more about how horses play an important role in supporting people with their mental health and how you – if you suffer with mental health issues – can find that help.

The Community Show on Radio Ninesprings with Steve Haigh
Every Thursday from 7 – 9pm

Tune in!
On 104.5FM
Online - radioninesprings dot com
On Smartspeaker: "Alexa, play Radio Ninesprings please"

13/02/2025

Local News Thursday 13th February

Councillors have voted to cut 555 jobs at Somerset Council. The authority is undergoing a major restructuring following the merger of five district councils in April 2023 and trying to plug a £66 million gap in its budget for the new financial year starting in April. Chair of Somerset UNISON, Neil Guild, says the cuts will impact greatly on service levels at Somerset Council.

Farmers in Somerset are reporting a big increase in thefts of trucks, trailers and machinery. Figures from insurers NFU Mutual show that in 2023 there was a 42 per cent increase in farm thefts in Somerset.

NHS Somerset has confirmed that a doctor’s surgery in Yeovil is to expand. The Ryalls Park Medical Centre on Marsh Lane is close to several planned housing developments with people moving into the new homes wanting to register with the surgery.

The South West has been given £23.1 million of government funding for new walking and cycling projects, and Somerset Council will receive £2.7 million. The money will provide cycle tracks and footpaths, as well as safer crossings and road junctions.

A Yeovil man has appeared in court charged with two drink and drug driving offences. Owen Zubel of Hillside Terrace was found to be over the drink and drug drive limit after the car he was driving was involved in a four-vehicle crash at Pen Hill in Wincanton. Magistrates in Yeovil sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 120 hours unpaid work. He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.

Ofsted has rated the Forget Me Not Pre-School in Yeovil as 'Good' across all areas. The Pre-School on Linden Road was praised for its strong leadership, high-quality education, and nurturing environment for children aged two to four following the inspection in November.

Local suppliers of wheelchair-accessible products, Koller Engineering, on Garrett Road in Yeovil, has made St Margaret’s Hospice Care its Charity of the Year. The business says it will donate £1 from every wheelchair restraint it sells in 2025 to support the hospice’s work in Somerset.

12/02/2025

Adrian Dening's Stars Over Somerset
Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd February 2025

The Engagement Ranger at Ham Hill, where I run some of my astronomy talks, asked me a question the other day and it prompted me for an interesting topic here. She had seen a white ring around an almost-full Moon - a phenomenon known as a "Moonbow".

This is a rare occurrence where sunlight reflected from the lunar surface is refracted by water droplets as it passes through our atmosphere. If the light is quite strong, you may even see the colours of the rainbow, just like a regular rainbow here on the Earth, although the Earth-based ones are much more obvious as the sunlight is coming direct from the Sun and so is far more intense.

White light, that originates from the Sun, is a combination of the three primary colours - red, green and blue. If white light reflects off a surface (like a mirror) it stays as white light. If white light passes through a lens or prism (or in this case, water droplets), then the different wavelengths of light or colours take slightly different paths and it has the effect of splitting up the colours - this is refraction.

The sky is blue during the day because white light coming from the Sun is scattered by tiny air molecules. Blue light has a shorter wavelength than red, so the blue light is scattered more - hence the sky looks blue. When the Sun is low in the sky at sunrise and sunset, its light has to travel further through our atmosphere and then the blue light gets scattered so much that the red light, which has a longer wavelength, can then pass through and be detected by your eyes.

Having mentioned Ham Hill at the start.....a reminder that my next astronomy talk and star party at their Visitor Centre is scheduled for the evening of Friday 28th February. Please contact the Rangers Office on 07973 887129 to reserve a place.

www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Moonbow image courtesy of BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2025

12/02/2025

***RAIL DISRUPTION***

National Rail have reported a fault with the signalling system between Salisbury and Exeter St David’s, meaning all lines are blocked. As a result, trains running between these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes, or revised. This is expected until 20:00.

For more information, please visit the National Rail website and check in Status and Disruptions.

12/02/2025

1,982 points if you can name all of the acts in the picture! And the prize is another excellent hour of 80s music with Vicky this evening from 8pm - tune in and see what was in the charts in February 43 years ago.

80s at 8 with Victoria Welton
Every Wednesday at 8pm

On air: 104.5FM locally
Online: radioninesprings dot com
On Smartspeaker: "Alexa, play Radio Ninesprings please"

12/02/2025

Local News Wednesday 12th February

Somerset Council is investigating how a flood event in Mudford near Yeovil resulted in human bones being dislodged from a local cemetery. The bones were spotted by local farmer, Stephen Bartlett, while walking along the lane next to St Mary’s Churchyard that had become waterlogged after the nearby River Yeo burst its banks. Mr Bartlett says everyone in Mudford has been shocked by what’s happened.

Thousands of new jobs will be created in Somerset as work on the UK's newest power station ramps up. Construction of Hinkley Point C is due to reach its peak in the next 18 months, with about 15,000 people expected to work on the build.

Avon and Somerset police have been talking about the stolen items they collect. They say most stolen property is returned to its rightful owner but that many items are not handed back because people are not able to prove the items belongs to them.

Independent member of Somerset Council, Councillor Steve Ashton has joined the Lib Dem group on Somerset Council. Councillor Ashton won the Crewkerne division for Somerset Council as a Conservative in May 2022 and has been sitting as an independent since March last year. Mr Ashton’s defection brings the total number of Lib Dems on Somerset Council to 61, giving them a working majority of six.

Wells City Council has signed an agreement to take over the running of the city's public parks and green spaces from Somerset Council. It’s thought the move will save Somerset Council around £100,000 a year. Wells City Council is also taking over responsibility for street cleaning and managing public toilets.

A Yeovil cake designer has been named as the winner of a national Wedding Industry Award. It’s the second year that Holly Millar has won the award for having the best designed wedding cake in the competition.

11/02/2025

Local News Tuesday 11th February

A public transport pressure group in Yeovil says better bus services would bring a range of benefits to the area. Somerset Council is looking at new plans to improve bus services across the county, including evening bus services for Yeovil and Bridgwater.

A new campaign has been launched to support high-risk domestic abuse victims in Somerset. Operation Balearic, led by Avon and Somerset Police in partnership with The YOU Trust and Somerset Council, aims to provide safeguarding support to victims within 24 hours of a suspect’s arrest, with police and specialist advisors visiting victims.

A court has been told that a learner driver, caught driving without insurance and with bags of co***ne in her vehicle, claimed they did not belong to her. Harriet Witherick, of Dominy Close, in Chard, was stopped by police who found three bags of the Class A drug in the front seat. At Yeovil Magistrates Court, Witherick pleaded guilty to possession of co***ne and using a vehicle without insurance and a licence. She was fined £80 for possession of co***ne and £120 for driving without insurance. She also had her licence endorsed with six penalty points. (story courtesy of Chard and Ilminster News).

Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard has thanked the public for helping it reach a fund-raising target of £9500 to buy a specialist washing machine and dryer. The charity currently is doing around 50 washes a week to minimise the risk of infection - especially due to the poor conditions that some of the animals arrive in. Nikki Haddock says they need 5 machines to keep pace and are currently operating with just two.

More than 60,000 primary school children have now benefitted from lessons in waste reduction thanks to Somerset Council. School’s Against Waste Reduction workshops are delivered on behalf of the Council by Carymoor Environmental Trust. The programme, which began in 2018, reached a milestone last year with 60,000 primary schoolchildren in Somerset learning about recycling and waste reduction.