30 Mar
Bridgwater Food & Drink Festival 2024
4 Feb
‘Any Questions’ Comes to Bridgwater
Any Questions? Came to Bridgwater on Friday 2nd February and landed at the Arts Centre . Bridgwater Town Councillor Irena Hubble (Fairfax West) the Town’s Portfolio Holder for Arts, Culture and Heritage, was there to report back for us.
I was alittle intrigued to find that during my ‘lite bite’ at the Green Olive restaurant before the show I was treated to pre-show banter between panelists Robert Buckland Tory MP for Swindon, Christine Jardine Scottish Liberal Democrat, Ann Widdecombe, spokesperson on Immigration for the Reform Party, and Thangam Debbonaire for Labour. They were very complimentary about the food. It was good to wish Thangam Debbonaire luck while she enjoined local activists to get involved with the Kingswood by-election on 15 th February.
2 Feb
Bridgwater Town Council Unveils Ambitious Budget for 2024/25 and Assumes Control of Key Services
In a strategic move responding to Somerset Council’s financial challenges, Bridgwater Town Council announces its comprehensive budget for the fiscal year 2024/25. The town council is poised to take over major service delivery in Bridgwater from street cleaning, road sweeping to management of all parks and open spaces from Somerset Council, which faces a staggering £100 million plus deficit. With Somerset Council having to make serious cuts and stopping service delivery across Somerset, Town and Parish Councils are having to step in and take over discretionary service delivery. It is a surprising fact that services that the public enjoy and expect on a regular basis such as street cleaning, road sweeping, drain and gully clearing, fly tipping, litter bins, dog bins, play areas, parks and open spaces are not statutory services.
7 Jan
Bridgwater Town Council Past, Present and Future
On Wednesday 10th January the guest speaker for the first Bridgwater & District Civic Society meeting of 2024 will be Cllr Brian Smedley, the Labour Group Leader on Bridgwater Town Council, who will speak on the subject of: “Bridgwater Town Council Past, Present and Future”. The talk will be held at Victoria Park Community Centre and will start at 7.30pm. Civic Society members are free, visitors welcome at £3. Brian Smedley says “Bridgwater was a powerful, radical, independent Borough from 1460 to 1974 and then it all went wrong. The Town lost it’s independence to Sedgemoor District Council and it’s historic powers retaining just the choice of who could be Mayor. In 2003 the Government granted Bridgwater a return to Town Council status. In 2023 it was Sedgemoor’s turn to be abolished and Bridgwater led the charge to devolution and independence. What does this all mean for the future?? Town Council Leader Brian Smedley tells the story from the heart of Rebel HQ.”
22 Dec
Town Council welcomes and engages in Bridgwater Docks Regeneration Project Public Consultation
The Docks are looking a lot clearer. Not the murky depths below but the bright future ahead. Last week large numbers of people visited the consultation day at the Sea Cadets hall and discussed the options for bringing the famous Bridgwater Docks back into our lives. Bridgwater Town Council will be playing a leading role and the Town Council’s Property Portfolio Holder, Tim Mander (Labour, Westover) was at the event and reports back.
Cllr Tim Mander reports
I was delighted to engage in the public consultation carried last Wednesday 13th December at the Bridgwater Sea Cadets HQ. Whilst the Docks Regeneration Project is being managed by Somerset Council, Bridgwater Town Council are a key partner being committed to taking on the ownership of the docks on completion of the refurbishment. The Town Council has been pushing for a consultation event over the last few months and was pleased to attend the event along with the county Officer project team. The event which spanned 3 hours, was really well attended with a great deal of public interest and was designed to engage the public in the project and encouraged feedback. In summary the business case which attracted the £4.2 millions of Town Deal Funding and another £1 million of active travel funding and is conditional upon the following:
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New and improved active travel routes – 0.4km plus new bridge
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Heritage restoration of the docks site – 2ha
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Enhanced residential (40 berth) and leisure (26 berth) moorings – including refurbished toilets and amenities
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Volunteer engagement – 30 plus volunteers engaged each year
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GVA Employment – 4 full time job equivalent jobs
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Improved sense of place and tourist attraction – participation in events and activities
Despite numerous negative and some misinformed comments on local social media the principal objective is to bring back the boats and life itself in the dock basis. This has always been the Town Council’s objective as has the need to work with local residents’; community groups and of course businesses. At the moment the feedback from the consultation forms is being analyzed and I look forward to receiving a full feedback in the early New Year. This event was an important first step in a process that is all about Bridgwater residents feeling they are part of an enormously important regeneration project. The Town Council and Labour ward members will seek to ensure that there is further consultation throughout the processs.