Published: January 19, 2008
Free winter seafront parking to be scrapped in Burnham-On-Sea

Free parking along Burnham's seafront during the winter months is set to be scrapped as part of an income-raising initiative by cash-strapped Sedgemoor District Council.

District council Claire Faun confirmed to Burnham-On-Sea.com this week that parking charges along The Esplanade (pictured) would be introduced 365 days a year from the start of April 2008.

Currently, the charges are waived from October through to April - but Sedgemoor's £1.8m funding shortfall means it cannot afford to do this any longer.

Claire Faun said: "The council has not increased its car parking charges since the April, 2005. This week, it voted in favour of introducing winter car parking charges from the start of the next financial year to help with income-generation."

The charges will be 60p for one hour, £1,20 for two hours, £2.40 for four hours and £4.50 for all day. Since the new charges do not come into effect until April, the winter parking tarriffs will effectively begin in October 2008.

Other district council cash cutbacks announced this week include:

Sedgemoor District Council approved 50 compulsory redundancies which will mean the end or reduction of some services that the Council is not obliged to run.

The council also approved the reorganisation of its tourism service to generate further savings, whilst maintaining and developing Burnham and Cheddar Tourist Information Centres.

The council is also reducing core grant funding by £50,000. Sedgemoor currently has a budget of £350,000 to provide grants to various community organisations.

Furthermore, the cash offices at Alpha House in Highbridge will close by 31st March 2008, although the council says it will put in place alternative provision.

It delayed a decision on whether to place the management of Town Centres within Sedgemoor to relevant Town Councils until the next district council meeting on 13th February. It hopes to enable them to pursue funding of private sector partners or through their own precepting powers.

It also has deferred a decision on whether to cease the grant to Brean Parish Council for beach cleaning. It is considering whether to replace this with the submission of a grant application that the Sedgemoor Grants Sub Committee will consider.

Ongoing discussions about the future of Burnham swimming pool, as previously reported by Burnham-On-Sea.com here.