Published: May 1, 2008
Highbridge Hotel owner defends his position at public meeting

Over 60 Highbridge residents attended a special meeting in the town's community hall on Thursday evening (May 1st) to hear Derek Mead, owner of the fire-ravaged Highbridge Hotel, speak about his future plans for the property.

The meeting - which saw heated debate at several times - was organised by local councillor Joe Leach, came just hours after Burnham-On-Sea.com reported that two teenagers had been arrested in connection with last Tuesday's huge blaze.

Mr Mead, pictured, told the audience his engineers had thoroughly inspected the site of the former hotel and concluded that it is "structurally sound."

He added: "The external walls are perfectly OK, although there is a large historic crack in the building."

Mr Mead added that he is in talks with a firm of architects who are currently working on plans for the site. "We are moving forward and will have firm proposals for the site during the next 6-8 weeks," he pledged.

On the matter of whether the site was adequately secured prior to the blaze, Mr Mead said: "As far as we are concerned, it was properly secured. Several doors had been bashed in, which we got fixed. You'll never keep the yobs out."

Questions were invited from the audience and during a heated debate more than 20 residents took the opportunity to put their points to Mr Mead.

Boxing coach Roger Cross said more activities are needed in the town for young people.

"If we give young people plenty to do, they won't be causing trouble on the streets," he said.

Local resident Karen Donohue agreed: "There is nothing for young people to do in this area, which is the reason for many problems."

Mr Mead suggested that better policing could have avoided the incident: "If kids had been seen in the hotel prior to the blaze then the police should have stopped them. We took best endeavours to protect the property."

Highbridge town councillor Janet Keen, pictured at the top of this page, said "Highbridge has been used and abused for years" by housing developers and added that it "is high time for more funds to be allocated to local groups and activities for young people."

Local businessman Laurence Harring said "blaming one person won't solve the problem here," but he added that the four-day closure of the A38 through Highbridge had "brought some businesses to their knees."

He explained: "We might usually do £50,000 of business over that period but instead did nothing."

Mr Mead said he thought the way the road closure had been handled had been "disgusting" and put the blame on the local councils overseeing the closure.

He added: "It definitely should not have been closed for such a long period and could have opened before."

Resident Martin Cox was worried about a repetition of the fire. "Will all this happen again if the property is not secured? Some us cannot suffer like this again," he said.

Local resident Ian Jefferies questioned Mr Mead on whether he should have been responsible for placing security bollards around the site, therefore enabling the A38 to be opened quicker. Mr Mead was adamant that the activity was rightly put in the council's hands.

Cllr Janet Keen said she was concerned that the fire may have put a dark shadow over Highbridge. "It's important to realise that 99 per cent of people in Highbridge take pride in their town," she said. "It is not a bad place to live - it is a good place." Her comments attracted loud applause.

Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate Tessa Munt explained how important it is for property developers to put money towards so-called '106 agreements' that ensure public facilities are created at new housing sites.

She asked the audience to write to local councils enquiring why funds from developers allocated to creating new play areas and sports pitches are "currently locked away."

She added: "£944,000 is allocated to new play areas which has been largely unspent - only six have been built in the area. Also, on sports provision, no sports pitches have been built since 2002 since most organisations can't afford the planning costs or maintenance. It's absurd to have money held year after year like this - we need a change of policy."

The fire at the Highbridge Hotel was extinguished in the early hours of Wednesday April 23rd, but the blaze left the building in such an unsafe state that fire investigators have been unable to fully examine the property. Traders in the town have pressed for compensation following the extended closure of the A38.