13 Mar

Town Council set 24th March as date for Public Meeting on the Future of Northgate

Brewery Field
Northgate;- The battlefield falls silent.

After 4 years of Sedgemoor District and Somerset County Councils threatening to build a giant Tesco Extra on Northgate and the Brewery Field, putting the town centre at risk, blighting the lives of nearby residents and flying in the face of the wishes of the people of Bridgwater the whole project has collapsed.

Bridgwater Town Council which consistently opposed the project in line with the majority views of the town is inviting members of the public to attend a meeting at Trinity Hall, St Saviours Avenue at 7.30 on Tuesday 24th March to have their say on what went wrong and importantly what we want for the future.

The landowners, Sedgemoor District Council and Somerset County Council, have been invited to take part.

Asking what  the public wants

"We want to ensure that the people who matter are involved from day one" Cllr Brian Smedley
“We want to ensure that the people who matter are involved from day one” Cllr Brian Smedley

Westover ward councillor Brian Smedley said “We’re back to square one with this project but the difference is that this time around we want to ensure that the people who matter are involved from day one. So if Sedgemoor and Somerset have plans for this site they need to consult with us first. This meeting is an opportunity for us to ask the community what it wants there and not to be told what’s best for them and then have everything done behind closed doors.”

The meeting will be chaired by Mayor of Bridgwater Steve Austen and will include a short presentation about the history of the Tesco project on Northgate, the key decisions taken along the way and the campaigns fought by local people to  save their green space and their town centre. Thereafter the bulk of the meeting will be open to contributions from the floor and a report from the event presented to the first meeting of the new Town Council after May’s elections.

Alan Hurford, Town Clerk, put out a Press statement saying “The Bridgwater Town Council last evening 12 March decided to convene a public meeting to enable residents, the public at large and local organisations to put forward views and opinions on the future use of the land at Northgate. This followed a commitment at the town council meeting in January when it became clear the Tesco plans would not go ahead and members resolved to take a lead in suggesting alternative uses for the site. This is now seen as an integral part of the town centre in planning terms.”