Disappointment Over Developer Communication as Bridgwater’s One-Way System Beds In
Somerset Council’s Mike Rigby says lessons must be learned from Celebration Mile project, but insists the scheme will improve the town centre in time
Somerset Council’s lead member for Planning, Economic Development and Assets, Cllr Mike Rigby, says there are “lessons to be learned” from how contractors communicated with traders during Bridgwater’s Celebration Mile works, but maintains the scheme will ultimately make the area more attractive and boost footfall.
Rigby acknowledged frustration from local shopkeepers who says they were often left unsure about when and where works would take place.
“We’re not wholly happy with, for example, how our contractor has conducted themselves through this” he said. “They had someone in place to try and deal with communications and there are too many examples of where changes to the scheme… weren’t given enough notice to shopkeepers and residents. I’m not happy about that.”
He says “There are lessons to be learned in terms of how the council and its contractors on a project like this again communicate with businesses in the local area.”
“A Million Times Better”
The Celebration Mile, which introduced new paving, street furniture and a one-way system through Eastover, was first planned by Sedgemoor District Council before Somerset became a unitary authority.
“The Celebration Mile project is something that’s been in discussion… for the best part of 20 years” Rigby said. “It’s a scheme that was put together by a Conservative controlled council, funded by a Conservative government. We thought, this isn’t going to be the easiest thing in the world to deliver, but the outcomes are sound… I visited the area on Monday and it looks a million times better than it did before.”
Shops and Footfall
Some shopkeepers have raised concerns that the one-way system and long-running roadworks have reduced footfall. Rigby says he accepted the works caused disruption but insisted the final scheme would help, not harm, trade.
“We need to separate out the two things” he says. “You can’t do something like this on a live shopping street without it having some impact… It’s too early to say whether it will have an impact on footfall, but these sorts of schemes where they’re implemented improve footfall. That’s the whole point of it.”
He pointed to a previous example in Taunton “A good example is Saint James Street… At the time it was incredibly noisy, lots of people thought it was the worst thing in the world, but three months later it had settled down. Ninety percent of traders now say it was a good thing… footfall is up.”
Rigby said Bridgwater was already “bucking the national trend” with a recent rise in visitors.
When asked about reports of shop closures, Rigby says there were wider pressures on high streets.
“Shops come and go for a variety of reasons” he says. “It is possible that the impact of the roadworks has had a contributory factor… but we’ve seen the rise in online shopping, business rates are high, it’s a difficult trading environment.”
Looking Ahead
Rigby said that while the Celebration Mile is now nearing completion, communication mistakes must not be repeated on future projects.
“It’s always going to be difficult” he says. “But I think there are lessons to be learned… The idea that this could be done in six weeks was always nonsensical. It’s taken many, many months to do a scheme like this — new paving, new surfacing, new curbs, new streetlights — it’s a massive refresh for the whole area.”
He says Somerset Council will now monitor how the new traffic system operates “It’s far too early to be making a judgment… but we’ll be keeping a close eye on this over the next few months.”