Published: June 9, 2009
Burnham-On-Sea traders furious over regeneration announcement

Furious traders in Burnham-On-Sea have expressed their anger at this week's news that the town is not to receive a single penny of funding from the South West Regional Development Agency towards regeneration.

Burnham-On-Sea Chamber of Trade's commitee, pictured above, released a statement on Tuesday evening (June 9th) on behalf of its members outlining its position.

It comes after Burnham-On-Sea.com reported on Monday that SWRDA had announced the line-up of regeneration schemes across the region which will share £260million of funding - but Burnham's Civic Pride project was not on the list.

The Chamber stated: "For the last nine years, the town has waited patiently for funding from SWRDA so that the town centre could be improved to attract more visitors and shoppers. From this public investment, it was hoped private sector interest in Burnham would follow."

"SWRDA has made Sedgemoor District Council spend hundreds of thousands of pounds of consultations, public events and plans, which are all now mothballed."

"This is a savage waste of public money and SWRDA should be held to account for this. All Burnham-On-Sea was hoping for was £750,000. Compare this to the many millions spent on the Morlands site at Glastonbury!"

"Furthermore, Burnham cannot afford to be left behind during this recession. The Town Centre urgently needs investment to ensure it remains a viable economic unit."

The Chamber of Trade's commitee is to meet with MP David Heathcoat-Amory shortly to discuss the matter further and place pressure on SWRDA.

Our picture shows Chamber of Trade committee members Tom Ashton, Nigel Kemp, Rhonda Mills, Jonathan Walter and Mike Ham, who are unhappy at the decision to withdraw funding for Burnham-On-Sea regeneration