This was the moment when town councillors in Burnham-On-Sea last night (Monday) approved £440,000 of improvements for the town centre.
After months of discussions, councillors voted to proceed with a raft of improvements, listed below, to boost the town centre using funding given by Tesco to offset the impact of its recent store expansion.
.HOW THE £440k WILL BE SPENT:
Lighting improvements in Burnham High Street and Victoria Street
Hanging basket posts
Additional cycle racks in High Street
Highways improvements: Coloured paviers between Adam Street and Cross Street £20k; Coloured road surface £20k & maintenance £20k; Finger post signs £10k, street furniture, including £1k for a central electricity point for events, plus £30k
Publicity
Roller shutter project £5k shop front grants £25k
New public notice boards (High Street & Victoria Street)
Town Centre Manager and projects
Contingency to cover additional costs as figures are estimates
There was near unanimous support for the proposals, with only one councillor – Bill Hancock – voting against the scheme. He has concerns about the amount of cash earmarked for Burnham’s proposed new Town Centre Manager.
“I do have great concerns about the Town Centre Manager role – £133,000 is a massive amount to spend on this and I believe the money could be far better used on other more visible improvements in the town,” he said.
But Cllr Neville Jones responded: “The key role of the Town Centre Manager will be to seek new businesses and promote economic development. Many other towns of Burnham’s size have one, and we can’t afford to miss out. The money will be an excellent investment over time.”
Several councillors also expressed concerns about the amount being spent on publicity, however Cllr Michael Clarke, who chaired the council committee that compiled the plans, explained that the £40,000 is being set aside for a raft of publicity projects over three years – not just leaflets, which was the original plan.
Burnham Mayor Ken Smout admitted that the plans would be “contentious” to some and he told meeting: “We’ll never please everyone with a list of proposals like this – we have had many close votes on the committee but in the end there was a majority consensus to take these forward.”
Cllr Phil Harvey said he believes the proposals represent a “good balance.” He explained: “There will be some who will say the plans are a load of rubbish and others who will see them as the best thing since sliced bread, but I think we’ve got the right balance right with a sensible range of physical and non-physical improvements.”
Cllr Clarke added: “There were more than 60 different projects considered. Over the past few months we have whittled them down to these shown. A wide cross-section of the community has been involved.”
He thanked the committee members and the members of the public and representatives from Burnham Chamber of Trade and the Town Team who took part in the meetings.
Following Monday’s vote to proceed, the Mayor and Cllr Clarke will shortly present the plans to Sedgemoor District Council’s Capital Funding Committee over the next few weeks for a final decision on whether the proposals can proceed.
The £420,000 comprises of funding from Tesco, the Town Council and compensation from the former South West Regional Development Agency.
