Tonight we had our Annual Town Meeting. That’s where the Town Council faces the people and explains what it said it would do and compares that to what it did. As Town Council Leader (for the past year) it was up to me to do that. So here’s the report I gave in full.
This time last year the New Town Council took office and we said we would carry out the policies promised in our election manifesto. And we have. This is how.
Bridgwater Town Council is relatively new, having been totally consumed within the body of Sedgemoor District Council between the years 1974 and 2003 and only regaining powers somewhat akin to a glorified Parish Council some 13 years ago.
Our long term aim is to regain and fully re-establish the historic powers of the Town of Bridgwater as personified during the glory years of the Borough Council which were at their peak during the 1950s and 1960s.
To work towards this goal we need to bring the people of Bridgwater with us and so the first key policy was to open up the doors of the Town Council to the wider community and find new ways to engage with the people of Bridgwater. To this end we have tried to punch above our weight and this has resulted in several key initiatives.
Opening up the council to the community.
We have tried to do this through a newly established network of theme based Forums, which brings into the Council structure delegates from community groups and obliges elected members to take more of a leading role. The position of Town Councillor is unpaid and so members who have taken up these extra responsibilities have done so voluntarily – and so I want to thank them for their commitment. The average turnout at Forum meetings has been 25.
The Forums
Our main Forum is the TOWN DEVELOPMENT FORUM. This has met 4 times and has looked at a range of subjects from the Northgate project to the wider Town Plan. This has been fronted by myself and Cllr Pearce as leader and deputy. Our next meeting in July will look at another key theme for us – the Parrett Barrier and the possible future navigation options for the waterways of our town.
Our next key Forum has been the TRANSPORT FORUM. This has been chaired by Cllr Moira Brown and has also met 4 times. Next Tuesday it meets again to especially look at the sudden collapse of Webberbus and will aim to put pressure on Somerset for a County wide Transport forum.
Our youngest Councillor Diogo Rodrigues set up a YOUTH FORUM with the brief of presenting a Youth report. This was one of our early priorities and that report came in during September 2015
Another function of the Town Council is International twinning. Bridgwater has 5 twin towns and we brought all these groups together under one TOWN TWINNING FORUM This is the second year running now that we have organised a Town Twinning Conference and produced a promotional leaflet.
Themed Reports and Action Plans
We identified key areas which we wanted to take forward as priorities and developed a Forward Plan with a member led workload to achieve this
Closer Co-operation with Sedgemoor District Council was seen as an important aim. Within a month of the elections last year we met with Sedgemoor and set up a Town/District liaison body and identified 5 priorities where we could work together. These included;-
Northgate project –This will include a new school, a major leisure provision and an enhanced Brewery field. I am leading on this and BTC are accepted as key consultees by SDC & SCC through the Town Development Forum
Bridgwater Town Centre – the integrity of which we aim not just to maintain but to develop positively in the light of future opportunities. Cllr Dave Loveridge, as member for the neglected Eastover ward has led on this and presented his Town Centre Action Plan in April 2016. Crucially the work of the Town Team has informed this throughout the year
The Environment – and in particularly we aim to preserve and enhance community green spaces, notably the Brewery field and the Meads eco park. Cllr Kath Pearce has led on this and produced her Environmental report in April 2016. One of our key roles is cemeteries and the Town Clerk has been working hard to address such issues as the yew trees, headstones and kerbs at Bristol rd. Kathy and myself recently held a meeting with Clean Surroundings to address the litter problem in Bridgwater and will be making recommendations shortly. A harder task, however, has been to get the EA to accept responsibility for a cleaning regime on the river.
The Hinkley Point project and community mitigation. We’ve had no say in whether we want Hinkley Point or not, but it’s coming. Or maybe it isn’t…but probably is. In the light of this we decided that we needed to fight for the maximum mitigation for our community. Cllr Leigh Redman has led on this and has throughout the year campaigned tirelessly, particularly on Highway matters, holding EDF and SCC accountable, and working with SDC to develop CIM bids that will benefit the town.
The local workforce, jobs and skills were also high on our priority list at the start of the year. Cllr Mick Lerry has been leading on this and produced a report on Employment and Training with particular reference to Local Labour Agreements. Working with the economic development unit of SDC we have been able to wield some influence in this respect
Preserving the Town’s Heritage.
Some years back the Town Council stepped in to ensure the continued existence of the Blake Museum and we continue to work closely with the Museum as our principal historic and cultural outlet in the Town. However, we further identified the Bridgwater and District Civic Society as another key partner in this and have included them in as much of our programme as possible. People will of course be aware that BDCS are a strong willed campaigning body, focused and particularly independently minded and so this has not always been easy.
We set up a Community Assets Working Party with them to try to use Government legislation to save buildings of interest for the Community – this has not been successful, despite a hard campaign to save the Hope Inn, and we now accept that the Government’s Localism Act was never going to be adequate to achieve what we wanted. On the positive side we have urged the District Council to directly intervene in these sites -such as the Hope or the Classic Buildings-through increased enforcement, with some limited success so far, and would even urge direct acquisition as a future option
We attempted to save the Northgate Workhouse Hospital and worked with the County to try to effect a compromise to save the building within the proposed school but ended up accepting demolition albeit with a retention of an interpretation feature. The Civic Society was part of the negotiating team but didn’t like the compromise and so withdrew from the outcome leaving the Town Council to go it alone. Which we have done with assistance from the Museum.
We have sought to respond to requests to improve the Historic Watergate which we recognise as a major asset. By attempting to influence planning decisions, and working with the SDC conservation officer we have supported the installation of interpretation panels, new lighting and extra cleaning patrols to prevent litter and tackle the ASB but in doing this accepted a gate with limited access in order to protect the medieval structure. I am aware that the BDCS remain unhappy at this restricted access to our heritage now brought about by this proposed gate.
We were also asked to look at refurbishment of the Concrete Castle in Queen street – this of course, also isn’t ours to do with as we wish, but we have kept an eye on progress here and can inform people that a meeting was recently held between SDC and the owners SAVE Britain’s Heritage along with a potential end user expressing significant interest in occupying Castle House.
We have also established good relations with the new owners of the Bridgwater Magistrates Court building and while it’s fate is clearly destined for apartments, there is the large unchangeable courtroom interior which the new owner is keen to offer for some form of community use. We have engaged along with the Civic Society with the new owners, even though they’re based in Chipping Sodbury.
The Town Hall We are determined to bring back our own major community building into use after several years of virtual dereliction in the wake of Sedgemoor’s withdrawal from ownership. Not only have we undertaken considerable works to the theatre interior and the dressing rooms, but we are now seeking to expand public access and community use onto the first floor with one of our targets for next year being the old Bridgwater Room council chamber being renovated and brought back into public availability as an attractive and historic setting for receptions, weddings, meetings and the general promotion of the town.
Making the town a vibrant and desirable place to live.
We recognise that with a growing population and a potential upsurge in the economy, as can be seen through the interest shown by International hotel chains, we need to be ready for this and play to our strengths.
Everyone knows the Bridgwater Carnival and there is no doubt that this is our strongest selling point. The Town Council continues to support and promote this, giving it prime spot premises in our town hall building to continue to support the fireworks event and through our direct representation on the Carnival committee.
Alongside this we continue to promote the Town Centre and it’s traders through increasingly popular annual events such as Snowflakes and Shopping-which now includes a regular squibbing feature and further ongoing promotional work through the Town Team. Our support for the long awaited Celebration Mile will also be crucial for brightening up the street scenery and making the Town Centre an attractive shopping destination.
Crucially we want to develop Bridgwater’s key strength in the field of artistic performance by supporting and uniting the major cultural players in the town. This year is the 70th anniversary of Britain’s first Art Centre -and it’s right here in Bridgwater. Since Sedgemoor withdrew from funding the Art Centre BTC has taken up the role. This year, for it’s 70th anniversary we doubled our funding to it to show our commitment. But alongside this we have helped to set up a Cultural Partnership to bring together all the towns key players including the Engine Room-another innovative Bridgwater project, this time in the field of film and media and recently expanded into the neighbouring premises, plus the brand new state of the arts MacMillan Theatre. All these organisations , and including our own newly refurbished Town Hall, working together rather than competing will clearly boost the cultural footprint of Bridgwater. Because this is so important we have appointed our Councillor Siobhan Wilson as lead member on this body.
Tourism – More people are coming to Bridgwater to live and to visit and yet more people will come in future. The hotels on the horizon bear testament to this. We need to grasp the opportunity and stake our claim to a piece of the tourism action in Sedgemoor. We don’t have a dedicated tourist information office and we need one. But more than that we need quality tourist attractions in the town. Bridgwater has long been a good place to base yourselves to visit other tourist attractions – those of us who live here know that, but new visitors will want to find an attractive base as well as an interesting day trips. Bridgwater’s maritime history is key to this. The Bridgwater Docks are an obvious starting point. Bridgwater’s waterways were the key to our historic wealth and can be again for the future. Crucial opportunities are opening up now – the Parrett Barrier – if the right decisions are made now – could make the river navigable, the docks openable and the canal accessible once more.
Our existing communities – Bridgwater also has strong, established, existing, residential communities and we recognise that these need supporting while the town expands and goes through changes. In our budget this year we increased the precept and the bulk of the new money went into extra funding for the existing community hubs in Hamp, Sydenham and Victoria.
Policing – As our town grows we need to know our community is safe. We have insisted and ensured that Policing is the number one item on each town council agenda and Sgt Ryan Edwards has made regular appearances in this respect. A particular concern has been the removal of the Police station to the edge of town. In January the Town Council arranged a special visit of this facility and talked to the entire Police Force. They were both very happy to meet us.
The Town Boundary – The town is growing but our boundaries remain the same. We have identified the problem that largescale new communities spring up on the other side of our boundaries yet touch our town. That means the neighbouring parishes get the precept while we pay the price. Our strategy to deal with this will be to press for the extension of the Bridgwater boundary in order to take this into account and boosting our own precept while increasing our reach.
Civic Pride. Bridgwater is a historic town. It says so on the signposts. Our history is not only all around us, it’s part of us. During the year we undertook a review of our oldest institution the Mayoralty. We defined it’s role in the 21st century clearly as a ceremonial one. The Mayor is the town’s principal ambassador proudly bearing the towns history with him but promoting the town of today.
This year the Mayor for the first time was Leigh Redman. Leigh has carried out the role to perfection with numerous public functions, finding time to fly the flag in 2 of our twin towns and even personally rescuing his townsfolk from the icy waters of the canal. Admittedly by getting a council worker to dive in.
For Bridgwater to go forward we have to have confidence in it and that means in ourselves. Bridgwater’s a good place to live and could be better. In the words of this years Mayor Alec Glassford at his Mayor making ceremony last week-if you could hear them above the bagpipes, ‘Instead of moaning, get off your backsides and do something about it’.-almost word for word the call to arms of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden…
We think that with the new open structures of the Town Council that we can be the catalyst for that to happen.
Cllr Brian Smedley
Bridgwater Town Council Leader 2015-2016