2025 has started with Leeds United at the top of the Championship, the worlds most important football tournament. Literally everybody will rejoice at that news.

But what if we at Bridgwater Town Council made a list of the Top 10 things we want to achieve for the town in 2025?

What would that look like?

1. Taking back control of our town We’re a year in from the first post-Sedgemoor budget of the Town Council and already we’ve saved jobs, services, community buildings, parks and gardens and made sure our streets stay clean. We haven’t had this level of local control since the Borough (Est 1465) was abolished in 1974. That’s a major achievement in our goal to making Bridgwater master of our own destiny and bodes well for the future. By deploying our own workforce, we can respond quicker when problems are reported, plus we’re already cleaning out the gullies, so we have less flooding and we’re improving the planting in our parks to make them more interesting and better for wildlife.

   

2. Re-opening the Docks. There’s £5m in a pot awaiting County to hand them over to us. This year must be that year, or they have to give the money back to the Government. Imagine the boats back in the marina, the canal re-opened, the bridges and locks restored and Bridgwater’s maritime history part of its future. In March we take on the project management.
3. Opening the Rollercoaster-With contracts about to be signed this is another major facility for the youth and communities of the town. Following the Town Councils successful rescue of the Re-Creation building in Hamp we now turn our sights to Sydenham and bring back this key youth building through town council ownership.
4. Revitalise our Art Centre – With money being spent from the Government pot on Britain’s oldest Art Centre in Somerset’s most attractive street and the Town Council now ensuring its future through direct ownership, the place will see a refurb and then a grand re-opening for a centre where we don’t just celebrate but also participate in the arts.
5. Restore the Town Hall– Imagine there were more than 50 rooms in this Victorian building that were simply not being used. Well, that was the case. Putting in a lift, renting out spaces, making the whole thing eco friendly and providing a new and improved quality venue for the town is on the cards for 2025.
6. Bringing the town to life – One of the Town Council’s main aims is to fill the calendar

   

   with events. We know Bridgwater’s a party town and we want to boost that atmosphere. From Fair to Carnival to the Seven Sundays in Blake Gardens to new and old festivals in the town centre, whether its food or music, markets or murals we want to bring this town to life and give us something to actually celebrate. …

7. Making Our Town Safe – We’re already working with the Police, Traders and the Police & Crime Commissioner in a partnership to make our town centre safe but we’re now also signing up to the new Government initiative trialling community safety orders. Making our town centre an attractive destination is crucial to getting people to feel safe there.

   

8. Thinking Big – We know we’ve a great History – every year at our history day its packed to capacity. We know we’re a welcoming place – each year the town hall hosts a celebration of unity and togetherness as our migrant communities join the rest of us for the Bridgwater Together event. But with 6 hotels and 3 major infrastructure projects on our doorstep (Hinkley, Gravity and Tidal Barrier) it’s time to tell the world to come and visit. Sample what Bridgwater can proudly offer and promote ourselves as a cultural hub and a tourism destination. This year we will be part of a new website advertising what we have to offer with an anti-clash diary (apt for a Clash town!)
9. A Greener Bridgwater. The world is facing a climate crisis, and we are on the water’s edge here in Bridgwater as temperatures and sea levels rise. We are planting trees in our parks, decarbonising our buildings, making them more energy efficient and adding solar panels on roofs and bus shelters to keep our electricity bills down while saving the planet. Ideal flat terrain for cyclists, we support healthy activities from better cycle paths to secure bike parking provision plus creating routes out into our wonderful nearby nature of moors, hills, rivers and coasts, which we’re so lucky to have on our doorstep. On top of that we’re adding electric vehicles, encouraging ethically produced food, clothing and cleaning products and addressing food security by supporting local pantries and drastically reducing food waste.

   

10. Completing the Celebration Mile. This wasn’t a project we started, that was Sedgemoor, and we have very little influence on it, that’s County. But there’s Government money being spent which we can’t give back and why should we? Not least because there’s contracts signed and penalty clauses if we stopped it. We need to make the most of it and hope it improves the street scene for the businesses and the shoppers. What we can do though is make sure we support the traders through the difficult times and choose to shop there.

Now then, if we think of all this as positive and achievable and all work towards it, we can also defeat the negativity that can only hold us back. Let’s work together and do it!