Town vows "We'll make every penny of Tesco £440k count" (From This is The West Country)

Town vows "We'll make every penny of Tesco £440k count"

10:53am Thursday 10th January 2013 in News By Matthew Colledge

COUNCILLORS have finally decided how they would like to use a £440,000 war-chest to improve Burnham town centre – and they have vowed to make every penny count.

The Weekly News has reported on countless consultations and meetings held to discuss how money given by Tesco as mitigation for the expansion of its Burnham store should be spent.

And at a meeting on Monday night, Burnham and Highbridge Town Council decided how it wants to spend the money.

All that remains is for Sedgemoor District Council to give the thumbs-up.

Key projects backed at Monday’s meeting included:

• £133,000 on a town centre manager and associated projects,
• £100,000 on highways improvements, including maintenance, signs and other street furniture,
• £100,000 on lighting improvements in High Street and Victoria Street,
• £30,000 on a roller shutter project,
• £40,000 on publicity.

Smaller pots of money could fund notice boards, hanging baskets and bike racks.

Town councillor Neville Jones and Burnham and Highbridge Mayor Ken Smout will present the town council’s recommendations to a district council meeting, which is likely to take place later this month.

Cllr Jones told the Weekly News: “I support 100% the suggestions we are making to Sedgemoor.

“We are all in a difficult stage of the economy.

“Small towns are having a job to survive up and down the country. We do have an extra feed in from tourism in the summer months but sometimes we don’t even have that.

“The Mayor and I will be going to Sedgemoor to try to explain our thinking. The money from Tesco has to be used within ten years and we want to make full use of every last penny.”