Politicians are often accused of only planning as far as the next election and of lacking vision.

Whether you agree with Bridgwater’s Labour Cllr Brian Smedley or disagree with him it is hard not to admit he has an imagination. The one time playwright and poet has written about Bridgwater and how it could look in ten year’s time.

Entitled Bridgwater in 2025 his article appears on the Westover website in which he suggests how the town may look in that year. He begins with this startling summary: “It’s the year 2025 and Jeremy Corbyn has just won his second term of office. And nowhere is the brighter, fairer, blossoming Britain more evident than Bridgwater, 21st century boom town.”

He describes how tourists may arrive by boat at West Quay after the River Parrett has been connected to the Bristol Channel via the tidal barrier and the Levels. They then experience the town’s Big Bash community street festival along with the new shopping area in the centre.

He writes: “The Eastover Project had turned the east of the river into a well planned entry point into the town with hotels, a wealth of multi-cultural restaurants, well planned parking spaces amidst river side landscaping, cycle paths, a revitalised railway and coach station and pleasant walkways and arcade shopping linking the celebration mile, with its wealth of street furniture atop wide and leafy pavements from the station to the town bridge.”

He notes that the outgoing town clerk Alan Hurford has painted all the new street furniture red “after an overnight guerrilla raid” by the public official.

He writes: “The Brewery field with its trees, flower beds, ponds , benches and children’s play areas was the jewel in the crown, blending effortlessly with the residential surround and where you could sit and hear the playground voices of the youngsters in the Northgate County Primary school rebuilt in the style of the historic workhouse that had been salvaged brick by historic brick.”

Warming to his theme the councillor speaks of the Tuckertainment Leisure complex built on the site of the former Sedgemoor Splash that now includes a cinema, ice rink and cafes by the park. Even the Prime Minister is moved to visit this thriving cultural hub he writes that includes the Meads Eco Park and the new Marineville development at Chilton Trinity.

How do you see Bridgwater in 2025? Send your ideas to harry.mottram@nqsw.co.uk