7 Nov

Town Council Has New Portfolio Holder for Youth

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Cllr Julie Cordiner , newly elected Portfolio Holder for Youth at Bridgwater Town Council

 At the last Bridgwater Town Council meeting  Cllr Julie Cordiner (Labour, Bridgwater Victoria) was elected to be the new Portfolio Holder for Youth and immediatly agreed to re-launch the Youth Council with a meeting at the Town Hall on Friday 6th December at 4.30 pm. She said “We are asking the 4 secondary schools – Haygrove, Robert Blake, Chilton Trinity and Bridgwater College Academy, plus Bridgwater & Taunton College to send up to 3 representatives to take part in that meeting, where they will have a chance to vote on the Town Council’s Youth Budget and to control their own agenda for future meetings”.   In a new move she added “We recognise that schools sending ‘Year 11s’ has been problematic due to exams and so we are therefore extending the offer to send reps from year 9 upwards if you wish.“

Grant applications can now be made by anyone with a valid project that will benefit young people aged between 11 and 18 in the Bridgwater area . The young delegates will be invited to scrutinise grant applications submitted for youth activities and make awards up to £500 per project. This category has £6,115 available.

A second Youth Council Project Fund has been set up whereby delegates have a sum of £2,715 for them to allocate to any additional projects which they may bring to the meeting or devise amongst themselves. These projects should be costed and fit a category approved by the Youth Council.

The Mayor, Cllr Tony Heywood, has also asked Cllr Cordiner to let the Youth Council decide if the ‘Youth Awards’ event should happen in 2019-20 and if they would wish to organise the event. Continue reading “Town Council Has New Portfolio Holder for Youth”

3 Nov

Latest Town Tourism Guide Launched at Blake Museum

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The good Admiral makes an offering

Carnival day sums up all that is best about Bridgwater and so what better day than this to launch the latest initiative from Bridgwater Town Council to promote the place as a tourism destination. The Blake Museum was the venue of choice  and after Mayor of Bridgwater Cllr Tony Heywood opened the box and Leader of Council Brian Smedley took out some brochures and talked about them, special guest Alex Dunn was on hand to say a few words.

Alex was born in Bridgwater. The Mary Stanley in fact. His father Angus was the curator of the museum, the town librarian and the chairman of the Arts Centre back in the 1960s. Alex today is the treasurer of Bridgwater & Albion Rugby Club and a key member of Bristol Civic Society. So it was interesting to hear of his perspective. Continue reading “Latest Town Tourism Guide Launched at Blake Museum”

23 Oct

Bridgwater History Day 2019 set for 23rd November

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Town Council Leader Brian Smedley flying the flag for Bridgwater History Day

Bridgwater History Day 2019

Bridgwater Arts Centre

Saturday 23rd November 1030am-4pm

Free entry

Bridgwater History Day has become an annual tradition and features an array of local historians talking about local history at the local Arts Centre to a packed house. Of locals. This year the event will be held on Saturday 23rd November from 10am until 4pm and will feature 6 speakers covering subjects including Bridgwater’s 6 bridges, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Parliamentary elections, Donald Crowhurst and British Cellophane. The event will be free as will the lunch!

Continue reading “Bridgwater History Day 2019 set for 23rd November”

10 Oct

Bridgwater Together Saturday 12th October

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Cllr Brian Smedley says “Support Bridgwater Together”

Bridgwater Town Council Leader Cllr Brian Smedley (Westover, Labour) is urging people to attend the annual ‘Bridgwater Together’ event which will be celebrated on Saturday 12th october at the Engine Room, High street from 11am until 4pm. The event is also sponsored by Bridgwater Trades Union Council, Somerset Film, Unite the Union and the Hinkley C Community Fund. Cllr Smedley says “Bridgwater Town Council supports this important project which puts a spotlight on our town’s vibrant cultural diversity and celebrates this through music, food, story telling, dance, film and information sharing. The event is free and people can simply drop in and out during the day.”

Displays and activities on the day include a Library mobile outside Engine Room café, a Fried Egg Café under
gazebo in back yard, Diversity Voice, Avtar, Hidden Voices, Ray of Sunshine, Somerset Portuguese Association, Polish Association , Gosia Gogolin’s crafts and facepainting, Devon and Somerset Fire Brigade ,  Meet Your Muslim Neighbour ,a Name the Dog competition, Somerset Football Association, Somerset Film digi, plus information stalls from from Trades Unions Council, Bridgwater Town Council and the Senior Citizens’ Forum. Continue reading “Bridgwater Together Saturday 12th October”

9 Oct

‘New Northgate Development Must Be Responsive to Climate Emergency’ say Labour Councillors

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Cllr Hilary Bruce urges environmental measures for Northgate

As new plans for the next steps at Northgate, Bridgwater for the development of a new cinema and leisure scheme on council-owned land Sedgemoor Labour councillors combined support for the much-needed facility along with raising concerns for environmental considerations. Sedgmoor District Council consider that the Northgate scheme will be an important addition to the town centre, creating vitality, vibrancy and a key leisure activities for the growing town. The scheme will comprise a 7-screen state of the art cinema operated by WTW-Scott Cinemas Ltd that will replace the existing Scott cinema nearby.   Alongside the cinema, four restaurants and bars will also be built and negotiations with potential operators are currently well advanced and tenants should be announced by the end of the year. Above the restaurants, a multi-use unit will be available, that has potential for a number of different uses. However, as the project unravelled Labour Councillors were quick to point out possible missed opportunities .

Cllr Hilary Bruce (Labour, Fairfax) asked “Would Sedgemoor be incorporating measures to address the climate emergency such as ground source heat pumps, grey water recycling,, waste water heat recovery, electric car charging points, solar panels, and water fountains. This project has the potential to be a flagship development and we must not miss this opportunity.” Continue reading “‘New Northgate Development Must Be Responsive to Climate Emergency’ say Labour Councillors”