IWA Volunteers active in Westover

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IWA volunteers have clocked up hours of community work over the past few months.

Volunteers from the Inland Waterways Association have been stepping up their activities in the Westover ward in recent months and were out again in force recently Volunteer co-ordinator Mike Slade has sent us this report.

IWA Volunteer Group has been undergoing ‘hands on’ training with some power hand tools.This will enable us to do more work in keeping the canal and towpath clear of excess vegetation collecting rubbish. On October 25th we carried out a session painting the railings on the far side of the inner basin at Bridgwater Docks putting in a total of 35 hours on the day

On November 19th, we had a great turnout of IWA WCB Volunteers together with additional Volunteers-employees who were engaged in an Environment initiative from the Bridgwater and Taunton Branches of Lloyd’s Bank. As a result of this large turnout it was possible to spilt up and carry out work at four different locations along the canal in Bridgwater between the Docks and Old Taunton Road Bridge.

Cleaning up the canal towpath

The volunteers carried out foliage cutting,litter picking the towpaths and footpaths,painting some of the dockside equipment.They also engaged in planting a quantity of flower bulbs, which were a donation from Westover ward councillors, on a site adjacent to the canal towpath at this location following a poll of sites of by Westover residents.

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Some of the rubbish extracted from the canal and along the banks by volunteers

We also managed to clear accumulated rubbish from the canal including two shopping trolleys which belonged to the near by super store.Traffic cones and pushchair were also extracted

We had planned the day so the Volunteers could choose from these activities and they were also able take part in more than one activity throughout the day as they wished.

On Saturday 29th November following some training and instruction in the use of power hand tools by Mark Betson and Ian Powdrill, both members of the CRT Local team, we proceeded to carry out a deep cut of the excess vegetation along the towpath from Newtown Lock towards the Victoria Road Bridge. This work was followed up by volunteers using secateurs so as to avoid cutting hawthorn plants which were still loaded with lots of red berries leaving the birds and wild life here a chance to enjoy eating them.

Volunteers planted another 50 of the daffodil bulbs donated by Westover councillors and we managed to complete around a third of this stretch and in total the 9 volunteers clocked up 33.5 work party hours.

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IWA volunteers on the (Westover side of) the Docks next to their new HQ

Gleam of Hope as Council rejects demolition bid

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Hope springs eternal

Campaigners fighting against the wanton destruction of the Hope inn on Taunton road are celebrating today after recent objections from the Civic Society, Westover ward councillors, the Bridgwater Heritage Group and Bridgwater Town Council Planning Panel have led to the Sedgemoor Planning department rejected the demolition application by Land Promotions ltd, the company that have been rampaging through the town systematically buying up and knocking down community pubs.

Westover councillor Brian Smedley said “Basically planning consent for demolition has been refused as the owner has contributed to the unfit/dangerous state of the building. Rejection of the proposed demolition is now official Council Policy. However, the Hope is not yet in the clear but this decision is important as it shows the Council are prepared to listen and act on sound advice such as that which was submitted by the Bridgwater heritage group recently in challenging the demolition which many assumed was a fait accompli. This sends out the message that these developers are not going to have it all their own way and need to involve the community rather than drive a steamroller through it.“
Continue reading “Gleam of Hope as Council rejects demolition bid”

Sedgemoor Crackdown on Westover’s ‘noisy neighbours’ continues

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“Unfortunately, despite further warnings the tenant continued to play music to excessive levels”

Over twenty items of separate equipment such as an electric guitar, an amplifier, numerous speakers, a sub-woofer system and TV’s have been seized from a flat in Old Taunton Road Bridgwater, by Sedgemoor District Council’s Environmental Health Team. Over the last five months there have been regular complaints about extremely loud levels of music coming from the flat. Environmental Health Officers described the levels of noise as being some of the loudest and most distressing to neighbours that they have ever heard.

A Sedgemoor spokesperson said, “The occupant was warned on several occasions by Homes In Sedgemoor, who own the property, to keep noise to a reasonable level. All warnings were completely ignored causing great disturbance to others living in the building. An Abatement Notice was served on the person responsible and again this was ignored on a regular basis. After obtaining a warrant, the property was entered with the assistance of Avon and Somerset Police and all equipment capable of producing noise was seized.”

There will now be a prosecution for breach of a noise abatement notice and the Council will seek a confiscation order to dispose of the seized equipment.

The SDC statement continued, “This operation demonstrates Sedgemoor District Council’s willingness, where appropriate, to use its full range of enforcement powers to tackle this sort anti-social and nuisance behaviour which can seriously affect the quality of people’s lives. Sedgemoor have been trying to resolve the dispute for several months.  Homes In Sedgemoor have liaised with the tenant and reminded them of the need to be considerate to neighbours. Several informal warning letters were issued.  Noise recordings were made and Environmental Health Officers were satisfied that there was a Statutory Nuisance occurring and served an Abatement Notice. Essentially the Notice requires the person responsible to keep noise to a reasonable level and duration and to avoid anti-social times of the evening and night. The noise nuisance was recorded on noise monitoring equipment.  Unfortunately, despite further warnings the tenant continued to play music to excessive levels, which were again recorded. The Council had no option other than to apply for a warrant that allowed Sedgemoor District Council to seize the equipment for breach of the Noise Abatement Notice.”

Town Council Planning Decisions for November

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Does the town centre need another bookies?

Westover councillors Steve Austen and Brian Smedley sit on the Town Council’s Planning panel and are able to pass comments and observations on applications before they go forward to the Development Control Committee at Sedgemoor District Council which has the final say. This month saw yet another increase in flat conversions in preparation for the EDF workforce, an update on the controversial Hope Inn demolition and a couple of changes of use for town centre premises.

Bridgwater town centre needs people prepared to commit themselves and their ideas for economic regeneration to it but planning clearly needs to be selective about what we actually should be supporting. Continue reading “Town Council Planning Decisions for November”

Squibflakes and Shopping

Here it is merry christmas.
Here it is merry christmas.

Although we’ve been listening to the merry strains of every festive song from ‘Do they Know I wish it could be Christmas every Christmas’ to ‘Happy Christmas Mr Hargreaves time for your injection’, blaring out from shops for the past month, in fact Christmas actually started today.

Here in Bridgwater we have a recent ancient tradition of turning on the Christmas lights combined with the unlikely Pagan festival of ‘Snowflakes and Shopping’. And Squibbing. The plan here, brought in by the local Witan, sees the town centre (the heart of Westover) filled with fairground style attractions, linking in to the Friday ‘Castle’ market and feeding neatly into an extended late opening for the shops while Christmas lights get turned on at around 6pm and then the town’s famous squibs get an extra airing at more or less 7.30.

This year our festive joy was  even more joyful as the event featured the return of the Bridgwater Christmas tree  which had been quietly left out of recent years festivities due to incidents of vandalism but after a campaign by residents and Westover councillors it’s now back where it should have been all along.