Westover ward was created in 2011 and covers Bridgwater town centre (west of the river) to the docks in the north and Taunton Road in the south plus West Street and North Street in the west. Ward councillors Kathy Pearce, Brian Smedley and Tim Mander are undertaking to do a monthly round up of the ward and update any actions regularly throughout the year. This first walkabout was undertaken on Thursday 12^th February 2026

Bridgwater Town Centre has been affected in the same way other town centres have nationally with a general decline largely due to online shopping. Town Councils have no powers to choose which shops come and go but can influence planning decisions. The final decision is taken at County level, now Somerset Council, the Unitary Authority.  The empty WH Smiths building has recently had a planning application for an ‘adult games centre’. Probably the last thing we need the Town Council rightly voted it down.

Bridgwater Town Council have recently objected to every HMO (home in multiple occupation) that has come up and also crucially to the attempt to turn the former WH Smiths into an ‘adult gaming centre’.

The Cracks are Showing

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) are a blight on the town generally and in areas such as Ashleigh Avenue led to over parking in narrow streets. Our aim is to stop the proliferation. The BBC are keen to interview people affected so anyone prepared to speak on air should contact us.

Another issue in the town centre is cracked pavements. These are particularly noticeable on the Cornhill where vehicles often park on them and of course isn’t helped by the heavier vehicles using the pavements for the Friday markets. These can be and are reported regularly but the danger is that Somerset Council just replace them with out-of- character tarmac.

Chasing the Contractors

The celebration mile was an initiative of the former Sedgemoor District Council to enhance a route from the docks to the railway station, and it received government money. It has been widely criticised especially in the Eastover area. Town Council has got Somerset Council to agree to review it which is due to be complete by Easter. Meanwhile on the West side of the river there are other issues relating to it. We have recently taken up the issue of poor sealants used on the base of Angel Crescent buildings plus a new drainage issue along that road where water is pooling and not dissipating. Contractors have been made aware and asked to remedy the situation.

Another area affected is the new ‘Orlove Square’ which is essentially an attempt to pedestrianise the junction of Clare Street and Castle Moat. This is not entirely practical and has led to concerns from the traders there that customers can’t pick up and drop off. We raised this with Somerset Council who are reviewing it with a view to lightening the vehicular access restrictions.

St Mary’s church is the centrepiece of the town, and it was a shock to see the destruction of the Battle of Sedgemoor history information board there by mindless vandals. Equally disappointing is the damage done to the workhouse memorial on Northgate yard where bricks have again been kicked over, clearly with some determination. Town Council staff will be asked to arrange repairs of the Workhouse memorial as they have done in the past. Meanwhile options for replacing and possibly relocating the St Mary’s historical information board will be considered

Active Waterways

The Docks is an area where we have been campaigning for some time to bring back into use but have been awaiting on Somerset Council to complete the process and actually use the several millions available to it. Town Council has been keen to bring the area back into use as a working and residential marina with upgrades to bridges, enhanced street scenery plus active travel elements. However, we remain concerned that Somerset has spent a large amount of the money on consultants, and not just one lot! There will be a point where we can’t justify Town taking it on if the liabilities are too high, but we are looking at all options.

The heart of Bridgwater’s heritage zone is Castle Street, site of the Bridgwater Arts Centre, which has recently undergone a government funded refurbishment and is now fully open again. Now in the ownership and management of the town council it is celebrating it’s 80^th anniversary. Next door to the art centre is the old British Legion which is falling into disrepair and consequently has been subject to vandalism. We have been putting pressure on the Legion nationally to bring the building back into use.

Also in town council ownership are the town parks including Blake Gardens in the town centre, which is currently slightly in the shadow of the library being under scaffolding and canvass as it gets some much-needed roof repairs, but the park itself is somewhere town council has put in a lot of focus for community events.

Coming Up Roses

Kath Pearce has recently established a working party to focus on the park itself, and one ambition is to restore the rose garden and include some more accessible paths around those roses. Blake museum itself has considered opening up more onto the gardens and recently had a whole day devoted to it to consider ideas for the future including what to do about the town mill which is set upon the Durleigh brook, and its restoration could add vital space to the museum itself.

Taunton road continues to be part of a major resurfacing programme, and this will continue for the foreseeable future but is badly needed.  Town Councillors have worked alongside local residents in an initiative to encourage HGV vehicles to use Squibbers Way and Salmon Parade rather than Taunton Road. Somerset Council Highways officers have been persuaded to support the project which should be delivered by Town Council staff erecting new signs at key points along the A38 later this Spring.

Un-Clean Surroundings

Along West Street the considerable bloc of social housing is regularly visited by councillors and officers and last week we did an inspection noticing an upsurge in fly tipping. Town Council does now have a remit to pick up fly tipping on public land but a lot of the land here isn’t ours but Homes in Somerset land and so we have encouraged them to deal with this. It didn’t help when we saw some hedge cutting by Clean Surroundings along one side of the canal wall result in the foliage on the other side simply drop into the canal on the other side.

Flooding is a major issue around the county just now with disasters on the brink on the levels, but several areas of the town are also affected by pooling of the waters usually due to blocked drains but sometimes just the pressure and volume of the actual rainfall. One area includes North Street where we have argued with Somerset Council to ensure that they deal with it. Town council does have our own drain and gully cleaner, but this is only for lower-level operations.

One major bit of good news for us in this part of town is the award of the Labour governments ‘Pride in Place’ money. This is specifically targeted at Bridgwater South (Westover and Hamp) and will provide funding for some community devised initiatives for the next few years. Our aim is to encourage the community to take a lead in this within the next few months.

Walkabout