CCS Village, Community and Carers Agents are working extremely closely with both the health services and social care to broker a range of support, phoning people to check on their welfare and connecting residents with local support groups.On the 23rd of March, the start of the lockdown, CCS launched a county-wide universal referral link which within four weeks received over 32,000 enquiries. As Village Agent Julie says: “The past four weeks have been absolutely MANIC!”
Items coming before Planning committees this month in the Westover ward are highlighted below. Westover District Councillor Kathy Pearce is a member of the Sedgemoor Development Control Committee as is Town Councillor Li Gibson and so are not able to comment on planning matters in advance, and so Cllr Brian Smedley has compiled and comments here on matters of importance and would welcome contributions from the public.
1 West Quay, Bridgwater
Cllr Smedley writes
“The key issue for us this month is the West Quay ‘Takeaway’ application. This sees the former hairdressers at Number 1 converted into a takeaway. Our problem here is twofold. Firstly that the newly pedestrianised West Quay is being developed into a cafe restaurant terrace and so the least this new food outlet should have must be tables and chairs outside, and better still ought to be a cafe/restaurant to fit in with the character of the Quayside, but secondly the hours proposed -2am -are totally unacceptable . To this end I will be objecting but offering these suggestions for the owner to consider in which case I would withdraw my objections”
Part retrospective application for the display of 5no. non-illuminated vinyl graphic and 2no. internally illuminated canvas graphic to shopfront glass for Cashino Gaming Limited. Click here
Baptist Church, St Mary Street –
Change of glazing from pattern frosted to clear glass on the first and second floor windows.
Racism, prejudice and hostility still have an impact on the lives of many people who live in Somerset. The Bridgwater Together Group and Somerset Diverse Communities are inviting people to share their experiences of racism and prejudice. We believe it’s important to talk about how institutional racism creeps into the educational curriculum, how racism affects mental health, and how individuals deal personally with racist behaviour towards them.Join us on Saturday 19th September at 6pm for our digital event Racism Stops With Me.
The event will be held using the Zoom video conferencing platform using the login details below. https://lnkd.in/eBqeem3
Meeting ID: 890 0971 9399
Passcode: 521739
If you want to work towards building a just and equal society, please join us on the 19th September. Together we can achieve more!
Bridgwater Arts Centre is delighted to announce the re-opening of its gallery from Tuesday 5 October. It has scheduled three contrasting exhibitions for the autumn and begins with a stunning collaboration from Artwork Together, an association of three local artists who work in different media in order to present a common theme. Their theme for the gallery’s re-opening is Change and the artworks will showcase their response to the changing moods of Steart Marshes in their chosen medium.
Siân Martin is a teacher and textile artist. She exhibits with international textile groups – the 62 Group and the Textile Study Group. She has recently been involved in the Stroud SIT Festival, taking part in the exciting DIS/rupt event with the Textile Study Group. Siân lives near Steart Marshes and her work is influenced by local environments, particularly the Somerset Levels and Steart. Siân explains, “We have been visiting Steart Marshes on a regular basis to watch and respond to this unique and continually changing environment. Differences in light, weather, tide and season have given us opportunities to record our responses during the year and at different times of the day. During recent years we have been initiating and developing work that considers light, movement, rhythm; whilst challenging ourselves and suggesting fresh directions for change in our artistic practice we hope also that our work will encourage others to look at Steart’s impressive landscape in new ways.”Continue reading “Bridgwater Arts Centre Gallery to Re-Open”
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.”
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.
