21 Aug

Town Council Agrees Mayor Handover in November

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Bridgwater Mayor Cllr Tony Heywood will continue in office an extra 6 months until November 2020

Mayor Cllr Tony Heywood will be handing over to Bridgwater’s new mayor Cllr Leigh Redman in November, six months later than planned. Due to the Covid Crisis, local councils have been operating on Zoom, offices have largely been closed and a skeleton staff has been at work with many others working from home. Bridgwater Town Council has been no exception and in March voted emergency powers to the Town Clerk, David Mears, in consultation with key Executive Councillors. Meetings were suspended and roles frozen. In May each year the Town Council usually holds an annual meeting and elects one member to be Mayor for the following year. The role of Mayor is totally ceremonial and designed to promote the Town and to Chair the meetings. In 2019-20 the elected Mayor was Cllr Tony Heywood and his Deputy Mayor  Cllr Leigh Redman. In normal years the Deputy  would become Mayor the following year. Leader of Bridgwater Town Council Cllr Brian Smedley (Labour, Westover)  takes up the story.  

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17 Jul

High Street to Re-Open to Traffic Following Town Council Traders Survey

High street will re-open to traffic

At todays meeting of the Active Travel Cell consisting of representatives from Somerset, Sedgemoor and Bridgwater Councils, Town Councillors presented their survey of traders which showed that although there was some support for the traffic free High Street, there was nevertheless a majority of traders in favour of returning to the previous system and accordingly that was proposed to County officers. Surveys had been undertaken in Eastover, where the new single direction scheme was widely supported and in Westover where the result was closer but generally against High Street pedestrianisation. The group also noted a support however for Friday closures in order to support the market . Councillors Brian Smedley and Kathy Pearce carried out the Westover survey whilst Councillors Glen Burrows and Dave Loveridge undertook the Eastover one.

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16 Jul

Food, glorious food

The Sydenham Local Pantry project is  up and running

Food really is a wonderful thing, it can bring joy and comfort and for many people spending an afternoon cooking can put the world to rights, not to mention delight those who benefit from your labours. Cllr Hilary Bruce, Bridgwater Fairfax said, “Everyone should have access to good, healthy food, which should also be affordable. In the UK, that should be a given, but sadly that is not the case. The British Medical Journal published an article in January 2019 (BMJ 2019;364:l126) reporting that food insecurity in the UK is amongst the worst in Europe, especially for children.”

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14 Jul

Bridgwater Quayside Festival @ Home 2020 17th to 19th July

The countdown to the virtual Bridgwater Quayside Festival begins!

Visit www.bridgwaterquaysidefestival.co.uk  to view the virtual programme and tune in on the days of the festival! Follow and set your alerts to @BQuaysidefest and @FuseOutdoorArts  Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Subscribe to the You Tube Channel to enjoy the festival over the weekend.  Fuse Somerset Outdoor Arts  This much-loved festival will be virtual over the weekend of Friday 17th to Sunday 19th, July. There will be a mix of virtual shows and performances, music and dance, exclusive footage and interviews, pop up art exhibitions, digital statues. Join in the creative workshops and the Festival quiz. Enjoy the family activities.

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7 Jul

Disappointment as Extending Northgate Hours Passed in Close Vote

Cllr Kathy Pearce leading the objections to the Northgate variation of delivery hours

At today’s Development Committee of Sedgemoor District Council held on Skype, a variation of conditions to allow lorry deliveries to the proposed new Aldi superstore on Northgate to start at 6am and extend until midnight was passed by 7 votes to 5 despite 24 letters from residents, and a major objection from the Town Council to the officers support for the variations which caused the item to be referred to committee.  Westover Councillor Brian Smedley, who spoke against the proposal at the meeting,  said he was ‘Disappointed‘ by the failure of Sedgemoor Planning councillors to throw out the bid for extra hours for deliveries  “Residents concerns have been disregarded and yet again supermarkets are being allowed to call the shots. This was an appalling decision as they could have said right at the start that this was their intention but instead they have slipped it in as a ‘variation’ after the initial planning permission was granted. “

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