A £360,000 bid for National Lottery funding to transform Burnham-On-Sea’s Marine Cove gardens will be decided later this month – with hopes high that some of the financial gloom surrounding regeneration can be lifted.
The ambitious £485,600 project to redevelop the seafront garden has been several years in the planning, and Sedgemoor District Council has applied for £362,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to turn the plans into reality.
Funds already committed to the project are £14,500 from Burnham and Highbridge Town Council, £16,000 from waste company Viridor and £35,000 from the District Council.
The bid covers bringing back lost features such as a sundial, water fountain and seating, plus restoring the shelters and overall modernisation, as shown in the plan below.
Burnham councillors are keen to put this month’s disappointment of failing to gain £750,000 of funding from the South West Regional Development Agency for the regeneration of the town centre behind them.
Marina Dunstone, Sedgemoor’s Parks and Open Spaces Project Officer, told Burnham-On-Sea.com this week: “We’re really hoping it’s going to be good news rom the Heritage Lottery Fund after the recent regeneration announcement. A decision is due to be made by the end of June.”
Sedgemoor District Council, which owns the site, hopes to gain the funding from the Lottery Fund’s ‘Parks For People’ scheme.
In recent times, the shelters at the gardens on The Esplanade have fallen into disrepair due to vandalism. They are currently boarded up to prevent further deterioration.
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