4 Jul

Westover Planning Matters July 2020

A major housing development is planned for the former County Library and registry office site on Mount st

Planning issues for July 2020 coming to both Sedgemoor District Council and Bridgwater Town Council. Matters come first to Town Council where the planning panel sits fortnightly to consider a Town position (Support, Oppose or add conditions) and then it goes to Sedgemoor District Council’s Development Control Committee for the final decision. Ward Councillors and Town Council can comment on each application and if their views are different to the recommendation of Sedgemoor’s Planning officers then that application must be heard at Committee for discussion and vote. All ward councillors are notified of these applications.

Residents are welcome to write to us at Westoverward@gmail.com to make their own points on these issues which we may be able to take up. Brian Smedley is a member of the Bridgwater Town Planning Panel and Kathy Pearce and Li Gibson  are members of the Sedgemoor Development Control Committee. Continue reading “Westover Planning Matters July 2020”

4 Jul

Twinning Evening on Zoom Sunday 19th July

Bridgwater has 6 twin towns. La Ciotat in France, Homberg in Germany, Uherske Hradists in the Czech Republic, Marsa in Malta, Priverno in Italy and Camacha on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Each year, at the same time as the Quayside Festival, all the twinners get together for a weeklong celebration of internationalism culminating in an evening of music and chat alongside presentations of what each link has done this year. With Covid that public evening is off the cards BUT with the Zoom technology available to everybody during lockdown the twinners will be presenting an online evening, linking up with their twin towns and making the evening open to the public. And this year we will be joined by Bridgewater Massachusetts in the USA!

The evening will be Sunday 19th July and the times 7pm until 9pm. Drop in and see some films, listen to some songs and join in the conversation with our international partners looking forward to when we can all meet again back in the real world.

To join the Zoom event click here.

Meeting ID: 892 3132 2510
Password: 624433

 

25 Jun

Town Seeks to Put ‘Walking and Cycling’ at the Heart of Transport Strategy

Cllr Pearce gets ‘on her bike’

As we head for recovery we need to firmly put the promotion of walking and cycling back at the ‘heart’ of any transport strategy. This was the message from Government last week, and it chimes with the thoughts of Bridgwater Town Council who at their first public council meeting during the lockdown period presented a draft transport strategy and welcomed as key speakers the Bridgwater Area Cycling Campaign. In the same week the ‘On Your Bike’ organisation re-opened in Town Council Premises of Trinity Hall providing another way for local people to consider an affordable way to get back into cycling. When it comes to ‘recovery’ and ‘climate change’ Town Council Leader Brian Smedley says “We have to look at these things in tandem………..”

Continue reading “Town Seeks to Put ‘Walking and Cycling’ at the Heart of Transport Strategy”

20 Jun

Town Council ‘Determined to Maintain Our  Docks Heritage’

Bridgwater Docks -finding a solution

Bridgwater Town Council has long advocated the restoration of the towns waterways including the preservation of the docks, enabling the tidal barrier to have a sea lock so that the river is navigable and upgrading the canal. Recent news that the Canal and River Trust (CRT) lease on the docks is coming to an end and that they do not wish to renew it from the owners Somerset County Council, has meant an new urgency to finding a solution. This has combined with the threat to boat owners  who may even have to remove their craft from the basin. Further to this there are major repair works needed to the docks, particularly to the Bascule Bridge with it’s ancient mechanism for opening and closing which hasn’t been used for some time, and the perilous predicament of the river facing lock, the collapse or deterioration of which could see an ingress of salt water mixing with the canal water. With the threat to the future of the docks Bridgwater Town Council has stepped forward to find a solution.

Continue reading “Town Council ‘Determined to Maintain Our  Docks Heritage’”

20 Jun

Bridgwater Town Council Backs ‘3rd Way’ in Unitary Debate

Somerset is more than ‘one big county’ it’s many smaller communities.

Earlier this year the 4 districts of Somerset along with the county council put out a statement that local government re-organisation had to come and they would work together to decide whether or not a Unitary position would be suitable for Somerset and if so in what format. However these discussions went on the back burner when the Covid emergency burst on the scene and became the focus of all Local Authorities. Now, Somerset County Council has broken ranks and is making its case for a ONE SOMERSET unitary authority with the submission of a business plan by the end of July at the same time the united front of the District Councils is also shaking as 3 of the 4 districts are refusing to engage ‘at this time’ whilst South Somerset is looking at ‘other options’ and are engaging with Town and Parish Councils. While Sedgemoor District Council has stated categorically that it won’t engage with this debate, at it’s first public ‘online’ meeting, Bridgwater Town Council not only agreed that it WOULD engage but it made the case for a third way based on more power at the most local levels by backing a joint position put forward by towns and parishes across Somerset.

Continue reading “Bridgwater Town Council Backs ‘3rd Way’ in Unitary Debate”