5 Oct

Bridgwater Covid Testing Centre Set to Open 6th November

Bridgwater Town Hall  Covid Testing Centre to Open 6 November

Bridgwater’s  Covid Testing Centre will be up and running from the 6th November.  Bridgwater Town Hall in the High street will be the  location and Somerset County Council have agreed that on-street car parking  will be allowed outside the building.  Town Clerk, David Mears , who has been leading on the negotiations, explained “There are 3 types of testing centre -‘Regional’ as we see in Taunton and Weston, ‘Mobile’-which just pop up for 6 weeks in various car parks and ‘Local’ which is what we’ll be getting here. These are internal, appointment based and the project should last about 6 months. We have full risk assessment, there’ll be set time slots, entrance via Clare Street and no queueing. It will be totally covid-safe and has been signed off  by Public Health England..”

Continue reading “Bridgwater Covid Testing Centre Set to Open 6th November”

30 Sep

‘End of an Era’ at Town Hall as Judi Retires

Mayor Tony Heywood and Town Clerk David Mears present Judi Fisher with her leaving gifts on the steps of the town hall

For 13 years Judi Fisher has been front of house for Bridgwater Town Council and could be found any day in the front office of the Town Hall sharing a High Street office with former Town Clerk Alan Hurford as an open and accessible front door for the people of the town to their council. When Alan retired after 15 years in 2018, Judi continued as Mayors officer and front desk. Big changes have been taking place at Bridgwater Town Council with a suite of offices opened upstairs, new staff being taken on and projects such as management of the cemeteries being transferred over from Sedgemoor. The Town Hall building offices have all now been rented out to outside bodies to provide community use and an income stream.

Whilst Judi’s previous role was made redundant she was nevertheless offered the chance to take on a new role within the council but opted instead to accept the redundancy. Town Mayor cllr Tony Heywood presented Judi with a Wilkins gift voucher from members, flowers from many well-wishers and a personal gift of cut glass candlesticks. The Mayor thanked her for all the work she had done for the Town over the past 13 years and described Judi’s departure as “The end of an era”.  Continue reading “‘End of an Era’ at Town Hall as Judi Retires”

18 Sep

Westover Planning Matters September 2020

Number 1 West Quay -could this be a takeaway??

Items coming before Planning committees this month in the Westover ward are highlighted below. Westover District Councillor Kathy Pearce is a member of the Sedgemoor Development Control Committee as is Town Councillor Li Gibson and so are not able to comment on planning matters in advance, and so Cllr Brian Smedley has compiled lists of planning applications and comments here on matters of importance and would welcome contributions from the public. There are 2 routes of objection via councillors 1. Town Council for comment  and 2. District Council (where the final decision  is taken)

Continue reading “Westover Planning Matters September 2020”

16 Sep

‘Racism Stops With Me’ event on Zoom this weekend

Racism, prejudice and hostility still have an impact on the lives of many people who live in Somerset. The Bridgwater Together Group and Somerset Diverse Communities are inviting people to share their experiences of racism and prejudice. We believe it’s important to talk about how institutional racism creeps into the educational curriculum, how racism affects mental health, and how individuals deal personally with racist behaviour towards them.Join us on Saturday 19th September at 6pm for our digital event Racism Stops With Me.

The event will be held using the Zoom video conferencing platform using the login details below.
https://lnkd.in/eBqeem3
Meeting ID: 890 0971 9399
Passcode: 521739

If you want to work towards building a just and equal society, please join us on the 19th September. Together we can achieve more!

In case of any questions contact  michal@somersetrcc.org.uk

15 Sep

Bridgwater Arts Centre Gallery to Re-Open

Sian Martin

Bridgwater Arts Centre is delighted to announce the re-opening of its gallery from Tuesday 5 October. It has scheduled three contrasting exhibitions for the autumn and begins with a stunning collaboration from Artwork Together, an association of three local artists who work in different media in order to present a common theme. Their theme for the gallery’s re-opening is Change and the artworks will showcase their response to the changing moods of Steart Marshes in their chosen medium.

Siân Martin is a teacher and textile artist. She exhibits with international textile groups – the 62 Group and the Textile Study Group. She has recently been involved in the Stroud SIT Festival, taking part in the exciting DIS/rupt event with the Textile Study Group. Siân lives near Steart Marshes and her work is influenced by local environments, particularly the Somerset Levels and Steart. Siân  explains, “We have been visiting Steart Marshes on a regular basis to watch and respond to this unique and continually changing environment. Differences in light, weather, tide and season have given us opportunities to record our responses during the year and at different times of the day. During recent years we have been initiating and developing work that considers light, movement, rhythm; whilst challenging ourselves and suggesting fresh directions for change in our artistic practice we hope also that our work will encourage others to look at Steart’s impressive landscape in new ways.” Continue reading “Bridgwater Arts Centre Gallery to Re-Open”