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LED Upgrade to Street lighting

At a meeting of Bridgnorth Town Council, Councillors were informed of the plan to upgrade the street lights maintained by Bridgnorth Town Council to LED technology.

The plan seeks to the 250 lights upgraded in 2 phases between Sep and next March.  While the Council agreed the funding for the project back in June, the contract had to be finalised and an implementation plan worked out.

The first phase of some 120 new lights is planned to begin in September and should be completed by the end of October.  A second and final phase is scheduled to be completed in February / March next year.

Town Clerk Lee Jakeman said:

“The Council have been committed to upgrading the street lighting for some time.  Fortunately some savings from last year’s budget has meant that the Town Council could take up the project which will cost up to £40K without having to borrow the money.  The £40k investment will likely see energy costs on street lighting reduce by around 50% each year; that would currently be a saving of nearly £5000 per annum.

Residents will notice a change in the light provided.  The LED lighting is a whiter light than the many of the current lanterns, many of which have an orange tinge to them.

Not all street lights are the responsibility of the Town Council; Shropshire Council maintains many and these are not being affected by the project.

The Council’s project seeks to address 2 concerns by reducing cost and energy use which impacts the environment.

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Woodland Trust Tree Charter Signed

At a meeting of Bridgnorth Town Council on Tuesday evening (20^th August) Bridgnorth Town Council voted to sign up to the Tree Charter developed by the Woodland Trust.   The motion was the idea of Councillor Carol Whittle and commits the Council to working towards 10 principles that will encourage the Council to more consciously consider the benefit of trees and hedgerows and their appropriate management.

The 10 Principles:

- Sustain landscapes rich in wildlife - Plant for the Future - Celebrate the power of trees to inspire - Grow forests of opportunity and innovation - Protect irreplaceable trees and woods - Plan greener local landscapes  -Recover health, hope and wellbeing with the help of trees - Make trees accessible to all - Combat the threats to our habitats - Strengthen our landscapes with trees.

Councillor Carol Whittle commented:-

"As Bridgnorth Town Council has previously recognised 'the climate change emergency' and recently published information has suggested that a billion trees planted worldwide would halt the effects of climate change, adopting The Tree Charter would reinforce the Town Council's determination to make positive changes where possible in our efforts to move towards being carbon neutral. The Woodland Trust is running a campaign that allows community groups, schools and councils to bid for free trees and shrubs.  I am delighted that my colleagues around the table were supportive of the motion.  I do appreciate that many of the principles in the charter are already part of normal business for the Town Council. However, formalising that work through adopting the Charter is helpful and focuses the mind as well as raising the profile of the Woodland Trust’s efforts."

Further details of the Tree Charter can be found on https://www.nalc.gov.uk/our-work/treecharter and https://treecharter.uk/

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Notice of Election – Morfe Ward

An election will be held for a Town Councillor in Morfe Ward.

Please see notice below.

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Bridgnorth Town Plan

Bridgnorth Town Plan
Newsletter – August 2019

The last version of the Bridgnorth Town Plan was completed in 2012. A new version is needed, especially
given the proposals from Shropshire Council for a revised Local Plan. An independent Steering Group has
been set up to lead development of a revised plan, with the support of a number of local organisations, the
Town Council and adjacent Parish Councils.

The Steering Group held its first meeting on 28th June and work is progressing well.
More information on the Bridgnorth Town Plan is available at https://bridgnorthtownplan.weebly.com.

Approach and objectives

The Town Plan will be produced in three phases:
1. Production of a discussion document that will summarise the issues facing the town and some
potential solutions. This should be available in October 2019. It will be neither final nor complete and
is intended to provide a basis for the next phase, providing a basis for consultation.
2. Consultation with residents and local businesses. This will probably be through a combination of
community meetings and an on-line survey, between October 2019 and early 2020.
3. Completion of the Town Plan during 2020.

The Town Plan should provide a vision for the future of Bridgnorth and the surrounding area, giving a
framework within which relevant organisations can collaborate and provide the required infrastructure and
services. Responsibility for provision will generally remain with the appropriate bodies, such as Shropshire
Council, the NHS, the emergency services and landowners. However, the town is more likely to get what is
needed if everyone takes an interest in defining what is needed.

Progress to date

An initial breakdown of activity into working groups is shown in the next page. The first three working groups
have met and started work and the fourth will meet shortly. These are:
• Growth and Demographics: Understanding potential changes in population and business in the area
and the potential demand for housing and industrial and business premises.
• Economy and Business: Considering how to best support the economy in Bridgnorth, including
industry and services, tourism and hospitality, and retail and the town centre.
• Education and Skills: Checking that the town’s needs can be met by local provision, in reasonable
travel distance or by distance learning.
• Mobility and Transport: Assessing people’s need to travel, including commuting, and demand for the
transport of goods. What enhancements will be needed for pedestrians and cyclists, and to public
transport and the road network? How can we reduce pollution and divert traffic?

In addition, the sports community is holding its own meetings on sports provision in the area, including
considering if collaboration can help clubs thrive and enable more funding to be obtained. This work may
provide the basis for the ‘Sports and Leisure’ section of the Town Plan.

Sustainability and the environment will be considered across all working groups, with some coordination.

How to get involved

Contact the Chairman, either directly or via the Contact page on the website, and let him know in which of the
working groups you would like to participate. You will be invited to the next meeting and sent any relevant
information that is available for the working group.

We also need assistance on the following:
• PR and communications: We have to involve the community and developing a route forward. We
are going to need a good web site, an approach to social media and excellent PR to promote the
needs of the Town.
• Understanding funding: We must understand how the needs identified in the Town Plan could be
funded. A plan cannot be a plan unless it can be implemented. However, we are not trying to raise
funds – just to convince ourselves that funding will be available.

Thanks to everyone for your ongoing support,
Clive Dyson – Chair, Bridgnorth Town Plan Steering Group

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Election of a Town Councillor

On 1st August, Elliott Lynch was elected as a Town Councillor for East Ward. The results of the poll can be found below.

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Town Councillor Vacancy – Morfe Ward

Please see details below regarding a vacancy in Bridgnorth Town Council's Morfe Ward.

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Expanding the Bridgnorth Town Boundary – Have your Say

Bridgnorth Town Council recently submitted a request for Shropshire Council to carry out a Community Governance Review for the parish of Bridgnorth. The aims of the request would involve:

• Extending the boundary of the Castle and The West Wards of the parish of Bridgnorth to include the areas (to the West of the parish of Bridgnorth) earmarked for development within the Shropshire Council Site Allocations & Management of Development Plan
• Extending the boundary of the East and The Morfe Wards to include the areas (East of the parish of Bridgnorth) earmarked for development within the Local Plan Review 2018.

Shropshire Council are now going out to public consultation on the proposals. The Terms of Reference of the review and draft maps are available to view on the Shropshire Council website - https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/elections-and-electoral-registration/community-governance-reviews/ or below on the following links:

Draft Map - Suggested Extension - Bridgnorth Parish
Draft Map - Suggested Extension - Tasley
Draft Map - Suggested Extension - Stanmore

You can also request a copy by e-mailing [email protected], by telephone on 01743 257713 or by writing to Committee Services, Shropshire Council, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6ND

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Election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor

At the Town Council meeting on Tuesday 23rd July 2019, Councillor Ron Whittle OBE was elected as Mayor for the remainder of 2019/2020. Councillor Whittle was previously Deputy Mayor which then left the position vacant. After a unanimous vote, Councillor Kirstie Hurst-Knight will now take over as Deputy Mayor for the remainder of the year.

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Town Mayor Passes Away

It is with much regret that we announce the passing away of the Bridgnorth Town Mayor, Councillor Jean Onions earlier today following a lengthy illness.

Deputy Mayor, Councillor Ron Whittle OBE said:

“On behalf of the councillors, staff and residents of Bridgnorth I wish to express the great sadness felt at the news of the death of Jean Onions. Our thoughts are with Jean’s family at this time.

Apart from being on Town Council together, I have known Jean and her late husband very well indeed since we were in our late teens. She was a true entrepreneur running their florists with good humour and professionalism. Jean was also a tireless volunteer with the Air Training Corps, the Chamber of Commerce and much more. She could be fierce and, I am pleased to say, did not suffer fools. But on the other hand had a soft heart and would defend friends and those in need with great tenacity.”

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‘Road Focus’ Campaign – Drop in Sessions in Bridgnorth

Shropshire Council and the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) John Campion are running a joint campaign from 8-12 July to improve road safety in Shropshire.

As part of the ‘Roads Focus’ campaign, drop-in sessions will be held in Ludlow, Market Drayton, Oswestry and Bridgnorth to enable people to put comments, concerns and questions about road safety issues to Shropshire Council, the PCC, Safer Roads Partnership, the police, and local councillors. Shropshire Council’s road safety education team will also be on hand to talk about the road safety education and cycle training available to schools. People will also be able to find out more about work being done across the county to improve road safety.

The drop-in session to be held in Bridgnorth is as follows:

• Thursday 11 July – Bridgnorth, Castle Hall: 5pm to 7pm

On Friday 12 July there’s an opportunity for people to attend a ‘driver awareness course’ in Shrewsbury free of charge. The driver awareness course – run in conjunction with TTC – will be held from 2pm to 4pm, at The Lantern in Shrewsbury.

All comments and suggestions raised as part of the campaign will be considered by the relevant organisation and, where appropriate, action will be taken.

For more information please email [email protected].

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