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
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?”