3 Sep

‘Seed the Day’ on Saturday 12th September

The Seed the Day event has moved this year to the Bridgwater High Street, Town Hall and Engine Room to allow for more space between stalls and people attending. The Fair and Market , which will be held on Saturday 12th September from 10am to 4pm, was born out of the Town Council’s Climate Change Forum last year and was previously held in Castle Street.  Organiser and Bridgwater Town Councillor Li Gibson (Westover) said “The Forum meetings were set up to give the Town’s people  a voice to express their concerns and ideas around the climate and ecological challenges that we all face. These challenges are with us right now and will be a part of any solutions we have for our continued future. We have produce stall holders and environmental groups that want to make a difference to what we do and how and what we buy.”

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3 Sep

Law and Disorder : Town and Police Talk Priorities

Town Councillors on Zoom while Sgt Catlow and colleagues attend the meeting from the Town Hall with Town Clerk David Mears

The first meeting of the Bridgwater Town Council Police Liaison Forum was held on Wed 2nd Sept 2020 with Councillors on Zoom and the Police and Town Clerk in physical attendance at the Town Hall. Questions relating to perceived priorities were submitted by members of the public and presented by Leader of the Council Brian Smedley (Westover)  to the Police who responded and then Councillors asked further questions. The subject of Town Centre anti-social behaviour dominated the meeting with ‘drink and drugs’ seen as the key factor and ‘boy racers’ coming a close second. And as if on cue a speeding car, engines revving, temporarily deafened the meeting as it sped past the Town Hall. Then, perfectly  demonstrating the perceived lawlessness in the town, the meeting was brought to an abrupt halt after almost 1 and a half hours as the 3 officers were all urgently called away to attend an emergency incident and so the meeting ended.

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21 Aug

Town Council Approves Emergency Budget and Relaunches Grant Schemes

Bridgwater Town Council meetings now on Zoom

At the Town Council meeting held on 20th August 2020, Bridgwater Town Council came out of its summertime period of reflection fighting. Town Council Leader Brian Smedley (Westover, Labour) proposed an emergency budget which preserved jobs and services within the Town Council , provided the necessary level of support for the key community centres around the town and at the same time reopened the grants applications for General grants and Youth. Cllr Smedley said “The Town Council had presented a very adventurous budget at the start of the year. We’d taken on extra staff and increased responsibilities including taking over the cemeteries from Sedgemoor, but we also needed to generate income to pay for this, which is why we have refurbished the town hall and let it out to tenants. This would have combined with our normal hire fees to generate the income we need. However, because theatre usage has been hit and we also chose to give a rent holiday to our tenants because of the effects of Covid on their businesses, we have needed to temporarily tighten the budget to meet this. We have done this now, thanks in large part to the expert work of Town Clerk David Mears, and we are now pleased to say that we are going through a modest relaunch at no extra expense to the tax payer and with no loss to jobs and services.”

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21 Aug

Town Council Helps to Kickstart Local Economy

Cllr Mick Lerry pushing measures to encourage economic revival in  Bridgwater

Bridgwater Town Council Economy and Personnel Portfolio Holder Cllr Mick Lerry (Labour, Victoria) reported to Full Council last night of support initiatives for the local economy and success stories for the Town Council which has increased its staff to provide more local and efficient public services.  Cllr Lerry said that  the Town Centres and High Streets have been under some pressure for some time, due to out of town shopping centres and online shopping. In November 2019 the Government set up a £3.6bnTown Fund to support over 101 places to level-up communities in England. In Somerset, Bridgwater and Glastonbury were the two Towns chosen. The aim of the Town Fund is for urban regeneration, skills and enterprise and connectivity, such as cycling, walking and public transport as well as digital connectivity.

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21 Aug

Town Council Leader Calls for ‘Police Priorities Forum’

smed
Town Council Leader Brian Smedley “Making arrangements for a Police Priorities Forum”

For the first time in many years the Police were not in attendance at last nights Bridgwater Town Council meeting. Because the meetings are now held on Zoom the Police say they are not able to use this format. Town Council Leader Brian Smedley (Westover) said “We have always made Police issues the number one item on our agenda and the Police have always responded positively to this. At this time there is a general perception of increased levels of anti social behaviour in the town yet Police are saying instances are down on this time last year. People don’t accept this and so councillors need a forum to bring the publics concerns to the Police who need to be open to public scrutiny. As a result we are going to set up a ‘Police Priorities Forum’ whereby the Police can attend in whatever format they are legally able to but where councillors can question them and bring the concerns of the public directly to them. This will be separate to our Council Zoom meetings but will be held regularly and we will insist more frequently as the public need to be reassured and feel safe in these unusual times that we’re living through”