Talented local artist and web designer Jana Branecka has produced a Bridgwater 2017 calendar.  Jana, from Bridgwater’s twin town in the Czech Republic, Uherske Hradiste, is a web designer and photographer  and is the person responsible for the Westover Web site amongst many others. The calendar is on sale for £7.50 and can be bought as the ideal Christmas present at Bridgwater Town Hall office or West Quay Records.

Town Council Leader Cllr Brian Smedley (Westover) said “In 2017 one of our aims is to vastly improve the promotion of the town, to draw together all the many events that this town hosts from carnival to fair to flower show to Big Bash to Snowflakes and Shopping and to make people aware that there’s always something going on in Bridgwater which they can be part of. We also want to raise our tourism profile as we have new hotels coming to the town and it’s fair to say we’ve been slightly down the ladder of priority when it comes to Sedgemoor’s tourism publicity – but things are changing! Bridgwater  is a growing town and can be a boom town if we make it. Times are changing”

Promoting our Town

This week Cllr Smedley, as Town Council Leader, has written to Cross Country Rail as part of their consultation on behalf of the Town urging more stopping trains at Bridgwater. In his letter to the Rail Company he says “At last night’s Bridgwater Town Council meeting members unanimously backed a motion from the Town’s Transport Forum to request Cross Country to take the opportunity arising from its above consultation to timetable certain trains to call at Bridgwater Station from December 2017.The proposed upgraded Bristol-Exeter service would we assume provide capacity for the additional services that will be running to call at Bridgwater which is a massively expanding town of over 40,000 at the last census and growing and is the principal town of the Sedgemoor District which includes a greater population of over 100,000.Plans to greatly increase the working population and therefore the economy and commerce of the town and its hinterland with the imminent development of the Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power station provide an additional imperative to introduce these much needed calls at this juncture.With 2 motorway junctions and an expanding industrial base we are very keen to encourage moves towards an integrated public transport system and our local plans include supporting not just station enhancement but an improved road and pedestrian linkage to the shopping centre from the station through our Celebration Mile project which is one of our priorities alongside our partners at Sedgemoor District Council. These improvements will again provide an added incentive to encourage more stopping trains at this moment in time to help us put Bridgwater not just on the map but also on your timetables.”

Cllr Smedley raised the issue at Sedgemoor District Council this week and declared “We want to work with Sedgemoor where we can and we particularly welcome the plans for the Celebration Mile and the Railway Station enhancements. I would ask the Portfolio Holder to add his weight to this request to Cross Country for more stopping trains”

Cllr Mike Caswell (Sedgemoor Portfolio Holder for Business and Development responded positively saying “I do support this request and if a letter from me will help I will write one”