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The Bradworthy Wind Turbines
Councillor
Christie's Weblog
From your Torridge District Councillor Peter Christie
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7th January '07
As the New Yeas Eve celebrations slip into the past it is perhaps worth looking at the town’s Underage Drinking Working Group. Made up of representatives from Bideford College, the Youth Council, the Police and the town council it meets regularly in the town hall. Recently they commissioned a survey of local 12-19 year olds which helped clarify the current situation with alcohol in the town. This was so successful that it is to be repeated in a much expanded form. As a sign of the times perhaps Pastor Fuhrman asked if it could be expanded to at least one junior school in the town. This might be seen as being over enthusiastic but it is no use turning away from the reality of the situation and I applaud the Working Group for their pragmatic approach. Interestingly the Youth Council is now looking into the provision of alcohol free local discos – with one pub proprietor keen to help.
Many people have stopped me in the street to ask ‘What is happening to Bideford Bridge?’ A good question as after several years of plans, suggestions and counter suggestions as to how to tackle some of the long outstanding repair problems it has all gone very quiet. The eventual plan was to refurbish the structure to a high standard but not to go ahead with the two stainless steel walkways on either side of the existing walls. Apparently Devon County Council, the custodian of the Bridge, has issued tenders in which the cost of the necessary work has already risen to £5 million. The start date is somewhere around July-September 2007 and closure of the roadway for a fair length of time is unavoidable – but details as to what will be put in place to ameliorate the difficulties have not been made public yet – watch this space.
Nice to see the empty shops in Mill Street suddenly filling up over Christmas – though what a pity that the largest, the old ‘Webbs’ shop, was only a temporary one. Both it and the other fancy dress shop down the road have added a real splash of colour to the street scene and their presence helped bring a lot of very professional looking costumes to the New Year’s Eve celebrations. A more permanent looking shoe business has opened in the old electrical goods shop and I wish them well. A little further down opposite Somerfield a new insurance firm has opened in the long derelict building which has lately been cosmetically improved. I use the word cosmetic as apart from the ground level shops little appears to have changed – indeed the Mayor Tony Inch has told me he always crosses the road when walking past this building as he doesn’t like the look of the vegetation filled guttering many feet above the heads of passers-by. As he has been in the building trade for many years I trust his judgement – and have to ask if the owner intends carrying out a full refurbishment of this long neglected building?
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