Light at the end of the tunnel for EDF roadworks?

All over by autumn. But can traders survive that long?
All over by autumn. But can traders survive that long?

Hard pressed town traders and Bridgwater commuters caught up in the traffic chaos caused by the SCC/EDF road works on the Taunton road Broadway junction will be told this week that good progress is being made , that the works are now ahead of schedule and that EDF are confident they’ll now have the job done by the autumn.

Westover councillors have been pushing hard to get the works brought forward, seeking mitigation for traders who have been losing custom and trying to find long term solutions so that the Town can recoup it‘s losses.

Mitigation funding sought

Cllr Brian Smedley "urgent mitigation package needed for town centre to recover"
Cllr Brian Smedley “urgent mitigation package needed for town centre to recover”

Councillor Brian Smedley said “We undertook a door to door survey of traders and demonstrated that turnover had been affected by these roadworks and showed a 28% fall across the town, clearly with St.Mary street being particularly hit. Each time we put the case to EDF including at face to face meetings with traders they were able to say , correctly, that they had transferred some £7m in mitigation funds to the Local Authorities and their part of the process was complete. This meant however that the money now sits in a pot known as the CIM fund (Community Impact Mitigation) but this is administered by West Somerset Council with a lengthy submission and approval procedure for each project.“ Continue reading “Light at the end of the tunnel for EDF roadworks?”

Hope Inn facing new planning threat

On the SD C planning site the Hope is pictured like this. But not as it really is -as inset-  roofless. 'a bit like Land promotions ltd....
On the SD C planning site the Hope is pictured like this. But not as it really is -as inset- ‘roofless’. A bit like the developers maybe.

Sedgemoor District Council has today registered a planning application from Land Promotions ltd for the Demolition of the Hope Inn former Public House on Taunton road and ancillary dwelling, the erection of a two/three storey building to form 22 apartments (15, two bedroom and 7, one bedroom), and the formation of parking and amenity space.

The application can be viewed here on the SDC planning portal with a deadline for comments by the 26th May 2015.

The Hope Inn has been the subject of a desperate battle to fend off demolition by Westover ward councillors, the Town Council and the Civic Society, which resulted in the property being put on the Community Asset Register and a stop order being placed by SDC to halt demolition. However, since this time the Hope Inn has been left roofless and open to all weather. Continue reading “Hope Inn facing new planning threat”

Final Town Council meeting sets future agenda for Bridgwater

What future do we want for Bridgwater? Shall we plan it or just give in to  fast food and bookies...
What future do we want for Bridgwater? Shall we plan it together or just give in to fast food and bookies…

The last meeting of the 4 year period of office of this current Bridgwater Town Council was held on Thursday 16th April and with members of the public in attendance, members of council in the departure lounge and a new council on the horizon, the table was cleared for the next generation.

Bridgwater Town Council  is elected every 4 years and comprises of 16 councillors representing 7 wards around the town. The political balance is currently 14 Labour and 2 Conservative.

Elections are being held on Thursday 7th May and for advice on wards, candidates, polling stations and voting click here.

Continue reading “Final Town Council meeting sets future agenda for Bridgwater”

Town Council Planning Panel – Decisions for April

hospice
Is this the right place for the St.Margaret’s Hospice outreach centre?

The final Town Council Planning Panel for this period of office was held today under the chairmanship of elder statesman Cllr John Turner and featured several items of interest to Westover residents.

King Square Outreach Centre proposal

First item was the proposal to turn 12 Kings Square into an outreach centre for St Margaret’s Hospice. The application had come to previous panel as a late item and was broadly supported with some reservations regarding installing a lift in an historic 18th century building. The panel were also aware that there was widespread support for St.Margarets and their bid to have a Bridgwater base. Westover councillor Brian Smedley said there were concerns from residents about the location “Whilst we want to support such a centre in Bridgwater we could do better for them rather than putting them on this site. King’s Square has poor traffic access, especially for ambulances or minibuses, with no drop off facility on the Square itself and the proposed rear access is a backstreet which has largely pedestrian usage. The building is listed and is in a conservation area which is also becoming increasingly more residential. There are better places for them to locate an outreach centre for users and residents alike.” The panel voted to add an addendum to their submission raising these concerns. Continue reading “Town Council Planning Panel – Decisions for April”

Traders Survey suggests 28% downturn due to EDF/SCC roadworks

Traffic impact Survey - Town Hall seeks solutions.
Traffic impact Survey – Town Hall seeks solutions.

Following a meeting with Bridgwater town centre traders, Westover ward councillors were alerted to a serious downturn in trade due to the effect of the roadworks being carried out since February 2015 by EDF/SCC on the Taunton road and Broadway Junctions and impinging on St Mary street.

A subsequent meeting with ward councillors Brian Smedley, Kathy Pearce and Leigh Redman, town traders and EDF representatives plus contractors came to the following conclusions.

1. Works were effectively blocking entrance and access to the town centre and customers were being deterred from coming to Bridgwater to shop

2. If this continued long term, shopping patterns could change and the town centre would suffer considerable damage as a shoppers destination.

3. Town centre traders were suffering in the short term and some were in danger of being forced out of business in the interim

4. EDF said that they had paid £7million into a fund to mitigate against whatever the local authorities believed it should be used for.

5. Ward councillors undertook to quantify the scale of the problem and draw up a plan to access the mitigation funds available from EDF to try to address the problem. Continue reading “Traders Survey suggests 28% downturn due to EDF/SCC roadworks”