Burnham-On-Sea’s long-awaited town centre regeneration project will take a step forward next month when the latest proposals are due to be unveiled.
Sedgemoor District Council’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee will meet on September 6th to consider the Civic Pride proposals from a ‘Task and Finish Group’.
The group – comprising Cllr Bob Filmer, Cllr Arthur Thorogood, Cllr Barry Crow and Cllr Dennis Davey, plus one co-opted member from the Civic Pride steering group, Alex Turco – will present their report and recommendations to the council’s committee for discussion.
The Corporate Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations will then be taken forward to Sedgemoor’s Executive for a decision on whether they should proceed.
A council spokesman told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The review is being conducted since a large sum of money is being requested for the scheme, and with the current climate of cuts and lack of funds, it is prudent for the scrutiny committee to look at the overarching scheme’s suitability before the Council commits the funds.”
The review also aims to assess the project’s value for money and ensure it is applying the best use of resources as well as gauging public and business support.
The Civic Pride scheme is likely to be partly funded by £159,000 of compensation that Burnham received earlier this year from the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) following its decision in 2009 not to award the town £750,000 of regeneration funding.
Also, Burnham-On-Sea.com was first to report last month that the expansion of Burnham’s Tesco store is on track and, when complete, this will deliver a further £300,000 of funding for a second phase of regeneration work in the town centre in the future.
