Latest updates on Bridgwater's 11 Town Deal projects

Bridgwater is one of 101 towns across the UK, and one of only two in Somerset, to receive funding from the government’s towns fund to deliver major regeneration projects designed to revitalise and future-proof the town centre.

A total of £23.2m has been provided by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to be divided across 11 projects, designed to encourage businesses, protect properties from funding, improve Bridgwater’s cultural offer and reduce congestion to and from the town.

Representatives from each of the project teams descended on Bridgwater Town Hall on Thursday afternoon (October 19) for a drop-in event, allowing the public to gain information and ask questions about the work being undertaken.

Paul Moore, chairman of the Bridgwater town deal board, said: “This is terrific for Bridgwater. It doesn’t solve all the town’s problems, but it’s still £23.2m – that’s going to deliver some great projects.

“Some of them are still to come, but some have already started – the work on improving the Engine Room is under way, the town wardens are already out on the streets.”

Here’s where things stand with each of the Bridgwater town deal projects:

Protecting the town centre with town wardens

The Bridgwater town wardens carry out regular patrols in and around the town centre, providing a “strong visible presence” to advise shoppers and visitors about amenities within the town and deter unwanted behaviour.

Town warden Jessica Barham said: “We are a uniformed presence in the town centre to deter antisocial behaviour and shoplifting, and we are working with partner agencies to help make Bridgwater a happier and nicer place to be.”

Town warden Jessica Barham. (Image: Daniel Mumby)

Unlike many of the other projects, the town wardens have been up and running for some time, with the first two wardens being hired in November 2022 and three being recruited since then.

The town wardens’ salaries are funded by the town deal until early-2026, with £1m from the funding pot being set aside for this purpose.

Delivering the Celebration Mile

The Celebration Mile runs from Bridgwater railway station on Wellington Road to the Northgate Docks, providing an easy walking and cycling route for visitors to access some of the town’s key commercial spaces and appreciate its heritage.

Three sections of the Celebration Mile will be delivered using £9m of town deal funding – namely the revamping of Angel Crescent, Clare Place and the length of Eastover between the River Parrett and the A38 Broadway.

Stuart Martin, Somerset Council’s regeneration manager, said: “We’re taking the current street scene and improving it massively with quality materials, including new paving stones.

“There will be a one-way system down Eastover, Salmon Parade and East Quay. At Angel Crescent, we’re looking to strip out the old paving and bring in new high-quality stone, providing great links to the high street and Northgate Yard.

“It’s all centred around increasing accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists, raising the ability for traders to be successful through increased footfall.

“We hope to have spades in the ground by the end of January or the beginning of February”.

Giving local businesses a ‘step up’

The Bridgwater ‘step up’ project is designed to provide offices and commercial space where small businesses can hold pop-up events to test their products and ideas, giving them a foot in the door before taking on a formal lease in a town centre unit.

Nick Tait, the council’s service manager, said: “This is less about physical buildings and more about creating a space for people to nurture ideas – it’s about promoting entrepreneurship and supporting the businesses of tomorrow.”

The original plans were for the ‘step up’ facility to be located within the Angel Place shopping centre, but this has now been scrapped after the space ceased to be available.

Mr Tait said that the project would now be located with Bridgwater House, the former headquarters of Sedgemoor District Council which is still used for public meetings.

He said: “This is a project that’s had to change a little bit. Realistically, we’re looking at the middle of next year, but it depends on the nature of the physical works to Bridgwater House.

“The great thing about putting it in Bridgwater House is that it puts people in direct contact with the council and all the services and support it provides – it joins things together very well.”

Securing the future of Bridgwater Carnival

Bridgwater Carnival is the UK’s oldest carnival and forms the climax of the town’s social calendar, including its famous squibbing ceremony.

To secure the event’s future, the carnival’s current production and storage space on Carnival Way (off the A38 Bristol Road) is being given a new lease of life through a £4.25m project, of which £3m will come directly from the town deal.

Chris Hocking, non-executive director of Bridgwater Carnival. (Image: Daniel Mumby)

Chris Hocking, one of the carnival’s non-executive directors, said: “Ten of our clubs currently build on this site, and the buildings are currently very much in a derelict state.

“This project will enable us to redevelop the site and put up new industrial units so that carnival clubs can build in a much safer and more comfortable environment, allowing them to attract new members.”

The project is being carefully staged to avoid disruption to the carnival itself, with construction expected to begin after next year’s event concludes in November 2024.

Mr Hocking said: “We’ve still got surveys to complete and go out to tender for all the works, with a view to completing before the 2025 carnival season.”

Enhancing the Engine Room

The Engine Room, located on Bridgwater’s High Street, is run by registered charity Somerset Film and provides studio and editing facilities to train and showcase local film-makers and digital artists.

The facility is being expanded and upgraded to the tune of £600,000, with £500,000 coming from the town deal and the remaining £100,000 being set aside by Sedgemoor District Council before its abolition in April.

Building works began at The Engine Room in August. (Image: Contributed)

Deb Richardson, creative director of Somerset Film, said: “There will be new studio space, gallery facilities and investment in new equipment which people can access.

“Phase one of the project is already finished. We’ve now finished the top floor – the new studio is now open and went into use about a week ago.

“It’s really important for us to continue our programme of activities while all this building work is going on.

“Next month we’ll be closing down the café side for two months, during which time we will still be operating.”

To view artist’s impressions of the improved Engine Room, visit the official Somerset Film YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@SomersetFilm.

Transforming the Bridgwater Town Hall theatre

The town hall theatre on High Street is set within a grade two listed building and provides a vocal point for local events, including amateur theatre productions by many local groups.

Under this project, the main auditorium will be completely refurbished with improved seating, dressing rooms and a lift on the eastern side of the building, with redundant offices also being brought back into scale.

The project will be undertaken in several phases once formal planning permission has been secured, with the initial phase expected to begin in the first three months of 2024.

The work on the main auditorium will be prioritised during the summer and will be fitted around existing bookings.

Upgrading Bridgwater Arts Centre

Bridgwater Arts Centre, located on Castle Street, is the oldest dedicated arts centre in England, having been founded by the Arts Council in 1946.

To ensure the grade one listed building is fit for the future, numerous changes will be made to make the building more accessible, with additional soundproofing, new lighting and sound equipment, and more versatile gallery and exhibition spaces.

Bridgwater town clerk David Mears said: “The arts centre needs to be modernised to allow for a wider range of activities to take place.

“We’re just going through the planning process at the moment, so hopefully we can start in the new year and the project will take about six months to complete.”

Regenerating the Northgate Docks

The Northgate Docks form the northern terminus of the historic Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, and provide a valuable flood relief channel for the River Parrett during times of heavy rainfall.

Under this £4.2m project, the grade two listed docks will be revitalised into a leisure hub, providing improved mooring for residents and guests and providing space for a number of different leisure activities near the river.

Louise Darch, one of the council’s planning officers, said: “We want to look at the redevelopment of the docks for leisure and residential moorings. We’re looking at various different activities which can be provided on the docks, including canoeing, paddle-boarding and potentially swimming.

“We’re looking to be on site for the redevelopment in 2025.”

Delivering new walking and cycling routes near the docks

As part of the Northgate Docks project, new walking and cycling links will be delivered around the site at a cost of £1m.

These new links – which will form part of the wider Bridgwater Way network – will connect up with existing cycle routes, connecting the site to the town centre and commercial sites like the Express Park.

Ms Darch said: “The key thing is to link current active travel investment, which comes to the edge of the docks, through the docks to Northgate Yard.

“That will potentially include a new bridge over the Newton lock to ensure people can safely cross from one side of the docs to the other, and we’re looking at a lifting structure to allow craft to go from the canal into the river.”

“This will be done in parallel with the regeneration of the docks.”

Upgrading the Dunball roundabout

The Dunball roundabout lies at the northern end of the town, connecting the A38 Bristol Road (which runs between Bridgwater and Highbridge) to junction 23 of the M5.

To reduce traffic congestion and unlock new housing and employment sites within the town, the roundabout will be signalised and turned into a ‘throughabout’, allowing for faster journeys between the town and the motorway, as well as improving access to the Gravity enterprise zone off the A39 Bath Road.

The town deal had contributed £400,000 to this £5.3m scheme, with the bulk of the funding coming from the government’s levelling up fund as part of improvements to the ‘Bridgwater northern corridor’, which also includes the Cross Rifles roundabout.

While preparatory work to clear the roundabout of vegetation was undertaken in February, the main construction phase has stalled as a result of rising inflation – with Somerset Council promising to publish details of the revised delivery timetable before Christmas.

A spokesman said: “Inflationary costs across the construction sector are well documented. It’s not possible at this point to know exactly what the impact is on the project – we will have clearer picture once we complete the design and procurement stage and move into the construction phase.

“The town deal contribution is fixed so we don’t expect this to increase. We are hopeful the construction phase can commence next summer – at this point we are not able to put a precise time-line on the works but we will be able to give a fuller update once designs are complete.”

Delivering the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier

The Bridgwater tidal barrier has been in the works for many years, and is designed to protect more than 12,000 homes and more than 1,000 businesses in the town centre from flooding for the decades to come.

Only a small amount of the barrier’s budget (which exceeds £100m) will be provided from the town deal, with much of the funding coming from the Environment Agency (EA), which is leading the project.

Nigel Bennetts, the EA’s senior project manager for the barrier, said: “We’re going through the process to get our final business case approved, and that’s going to take quite some time.

“We’re hoping to get a decision on that by the autumn of next year. For every pound we spend on this project, the town of Bridgwater will see £7.50 of benefits.

“The town deal will contribute to the walking and cycle route across the barrier, which will feed into the River Parrett Trail and the existing cycling network.”

An additional update on the tidal barrier project was provided ahead of a meeting of the EA’s Wessex regional flood and coastal committee in Yeovil on Thursday morning (October 19).

Rachel Burden, the EA’s Wessex flood and coastal risk manager, said in her written report: “Construction of the access track to the barrier site is nearing completion. Work to establish the construction compound for the barrier is progressing well and will be completed by the end of October.

“Detailed designs for the barrier and downstream banks are also nearly complete. This will mean construction of the barrier and downstream tidal bank improvements can make rapid progress after the Treasury approves the full business case, which was submitted in early-October.

“Discussions are well under way at the highest level within the EA, Defra and the Treasury to ensure any additional funding required is secured to deliver an operational barrier by early-2027.”

For more information on all the Bridgwater town deal regeneration projects, visit www.bridgwatertowndeal.co.uk.