Published: October 21, 2008
In photos: Improvement hotspots identified by Burnham-On-Sea task force

A 'task force' of council bosses, police officers and local councillors performed a walkabout of Burnham-On-Sea on Monday morning (October 20th) to see for themselves the areas of the town that need improving.

The group of a dozen people - who included Sedgemoor District Council's Chief Executive, Kerry Rickards - visited Burnham High Street, the Manor Gardens, The Esplanade, Abingdon Street and other areas to draw up the list of problems such as graffiti, damaged signs, areas of vandalism and litter.

"The aim was to identify as many of the problem areas around the town as possible so we can have a concentrated effort on blitzing them," Cllr Eric Gill, Chairman of Burnham Town Improvements Committee, told Burnham-On-Sea.com.

"We want to tackle the problems head on and get them sorted by involving the county, district and town councils plus local police. This will be followed up with a return visit to see the progress and to check if anything else needs to be done."

He added that the group will also visit Highbridge at a later date to do a similar role there. Wet weather scuppered the plans to visit Highbridge on Monday afternoon.

Weeds and overgrown vegetation along gutters in Abingdon Street are on the list of improvements to be considered by the group:

Police and Highways bosses are keen to sort out interrupted double yellow lines along the High Street and other areas in the town centre:

Signposts which have been damaged along Burnham High Street and joining roads are to be repaired:

Uneven pavements and kerb stones are also on the list of improvements being planned for Burnham town centre:

Missing signs from signposts along streets in the town centre have been identified and will be replaced under the proposals:

Differing styles of pavement in parts of the town centre are also in line to be updated:

The group is keen to see damaged public benches and litter bins repaired and, where necessary, repainted:

Problems connected with litter, anti-social behaviour and alcohol problems in Burnham's Manor Gardens have improved, but the group is keen to put even more efforts into resolving them: