A public meeting is to be held in Burnham-On-Sea tonight (Wednesday) for residents to have their say about controversial changes to this year’s carnival.
A letter from the organisers at Highbridge and Burnham Carnival Committee has been distributed to dozens of residents around Love Lane and the Frank Foley Parkway, where the carts will be lined up this year instead of Queens Drive following safety concerns raised by the police.
The carts will begin to arrive on Saturday November 1st into the early hours of Sunday November 2nd, prompting concerns from residents about late night noise and access issues.
Phil New, Chairman of the committee, pictured below, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We have been told that we can no longer close two major roads at once – Queens Drive and the Frank Foley Parkway – because of safety concerns about emergency access. We have therefore looked at a number of different options to keep disruption to a minimum, but our hands are being tied.”
“We have been given strict guidelines for the safety of the public and are attempting to organise the event whilst causing minimal inconvenience where possible to residents.”
He added: “Unfortunately, 45 carnival carts need a lot of space to park and they will be arriving in Burnham-On-Sea after the Bridgwater Carnival on Saturday 1st November from approximately 8.30pm.”
“In an effort to keep Queens Drive open during the carnival weekend, and to assist with the majority of traffic in Burnham, we plan to use two areas for carnival carts to park. These will be Love Lane from Tesco roundabout to where Stoddens Lane narrows; and Frank Foley Parkway from Tesco roundabout to the Wallace Wells Road roundabout.
“To allow carnival cart access and to ensure the carts face the right way along Love Lane we plan to bring them in using Hawley Way and Ramsey way which will likely cause local residents inconvenience on the Saturday night.”
“To ensure access is sufficient we will also need to request that no cars are parked on the road along Hawley Way to the Ramsey Way junction and along Ramsey Way for the evening of Saturday 1st November from 8pm until Sunday 2nd November at approximately 2am.”
“If access is not possible for carnival carts during this time then our carnival cannot go ahead this year.”
He added: “Should residents need access in or out of the housing estate during these times there may be delays but we will help them as quickly as possible. After the carts have been lined-up and parked, we will of course ensure access is available for local residents.”
Organisers are also exploring two options to ensure access is available; a traffic light system, or a one-way system.
Phil added: “We wish to apologise for any inconvenience this will cause and we will try to minimise the disruption to residents. All the carnival clubs will be asked to keep noise to a minimum given how near they will be to local homes.”
An open meeting on the proposed changes is to be held at the Ritz Social Club in Burnham-On-Sea’s Victoria Street at 7.30pm on Wednesday (17th September) when residents will be able to discuss concerns with the organisers.
Emergency access along Burnham’s Queens Drive has occasionally been hampered while carnival carts were parked there, prompting the changes
Large crowds often viewed the carts in Queens Drive – but this won’t happen this year as the carts will gather in Love Lane and the Frank Foley Parkway
RELATED LINK:
2014 Burnham-On-Sea Carnival Guide
