A group of concerned Burnham-On-Sea residents will this week make a last-ditch attempt to secure £338,000 of funding towards the town centre’s regeneration.
Sedgemoor District Council will be deciding at a crunch meeting on Wednesday (December 16th) whether to approve plans to modernise the town centre as part of a ‘Civic Pride’ project costing a total of £750,000.
But there is mounting concern that the cash-strapped council will give a thumbs down to the scheme.
A group of worried residents from Burnham will travel to the meeting at the council’s HQ in Bridgwater to lobby the council. They see it as Burnham’s final chance to pedestrianize parts of the High Street, introduce new street lighting and replace signs and paving.
It follows the severe blow earlier in the year when the South West Regional Development Agency decided not to award Burnham any regeneration funding.
Also, the district council also admitted last week that its huge £2.4m project to clean up a former landfill site at Rosewood Green, off Worston Lane, is over budget by several hundred thousand pounds. It has given the scheme a green light, as first reported here by Burnham-On-Sea.com, in the hope of selling some of the land for 117 new homes.
Alex Turco, representing the Burnham Chamber of Trade, will be joined at Wednesday’s meeting by local resident Tony Lynham.
Mr Turco told Burnham-On-Sea.com this week: “I appreciate that the district council is facing budgetary problems, but if Burnham doesn’t have a vibrant and modern town centre we won’t attract shoppers, tourists and, ultimately, jobs.”
“After losing the regeneration funding from SWRDA earlier in the year, this is a vital meeting for Burnham’s future.”
The proposal on the table would see the district council giving £338,000 to the scheme, with a further £300,000 from Tesco as part of a so-called ‘106 agreement’ linked to the expansion of its Burnham store.
There would also be £45,000 from the town council, plus approximately £25,000 from Wyevale linked to the expansion of Sanders Garden World, and a further £25,000 from the county council.
Town councillor Neville Jones told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We will do everything possible to try and secure this money for Burnham.”
“It is appalling that this is being considered when Burnham’s town centre desperately needs investment over several years.”
Nicola Slawski, Group Manager of Regeneration at Sedgemoor District Council, stressed on Monday (December 14th) that no decision has yet been taken.
“The council is looking at various routes forward and a number of options will be discussed, one of which is to stop funding for the Civic Pride scheme. Everything is up in the air,” she told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
Mr Turco added: “It does feel as though the final light at the end of Burnham’s tunnel is slowly being turned off.”
Pictured above is an artist’s drawing of how pedestrianisation could look along Burnham High Street and, beneath, several scenes in the town centre
