If Town Councillors can agree on a design, Radstock could soon be a much more colourful place. At Monday night's Town Council meeting, Dave Dixon, from B&NES Council, addressed Councillors on the £15,000 that is available to the town for new signage, working alongside the Royal British Legion Industries, a social enterprise which employs disabled ex-service people in manufacturing.
The idea of being 'granted' this money for signs has received a lukewarm reception from Councillors. Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Jackson said: "I find the whole thing highly unsatisfactory. New gateway signs should be part of general housekeeping that B&NES should be paying for anyway."
The new signs on offer could potentially have photographs on them, depicting places in Radstock, such as the museum, or landmarks, such as the Miner's Wheel, in the town. Two new signs would go up in Haydon, on Kilmersdon Road, one in Clandown, four in Radstock and one on Frome Road, for Writhlington. As these signs have to be geographically based for highways purposes, places like Tyning wouldn't get a new sign. Cllr Eleanor Jackson was less than impressed with the designs she had seen so far, which she said, reminded her of "An Italian cemetery" and Dave Dixon did agree that "Only a handful of Councils in the country had used these types of signs. They are unusual and rather striking".
Cllr Jackson argued that the money should be spent instead on plain signage, with any money left over being used for historic location signage instead, so that places of historic significance, like Tyning, could also be recognised.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Anne Marie Jovcic-Sas said: "I think the proposals are attractive, it is a novel idea that will tell the story of our town and bring this whole thing to a conclusion. We have been discussing this since 1995! It would be wonderful if we could get this sorted out in time to give Radstock a Christmas gift in the form of new signs."
During the summer, a local graphic design and photography company were commissioned to take a
series of photos around the town in preparation. A number of designs will be presented to the Town Council, hopefully, at the next meeting.
In the meantime, the Council is looking at setting up a working party to employ a company to build a new website and help them design a new logo, after discussions so far have stalled. But time will be of the essence, as the new logo could appear on the signs or be added retrospectively. The Council also voted to authorise the expenditure of up to £10,000 for new noticeboards in the town, as the five currently in use were repaired, only as a temporary measure back in the 1980s and are subsequently in very bad condition. There is a possibility that bus shelters in the town will be looked at next.
Other big decisions included up to £2,500 to be spent on a deep clean and refurbishment of the public conveniences at the Tom Huyton Play Park, something which parents have been calling for for a long time, with the toilets having not been decorated in over ten years. The Council pays a contractor to open, clean and close the toilets, but they do not carry out maintenance.
Radstock Town Council is also behind on its Placemaking Plan, which is tied up with B&NES' Core Strategy. Councillors have until 21st December to have their ideas in place. However, with the Core Strategy delayed, it is unclear as to whether local Councils have more time on this. Radstock, though, has not had a Neighbourhood Plan, such as the one being carried out currently by Midsomer Norton Town Council, and so Councillors decided that any work towards this would be useful.
During the meeting, Town Councillors also expressed their dissatisfaction with the way in which the Radstock and Westfield Economic Forum is operating. The organisation was set up in August 2011 to distribute £135,000 of funding from B&NES for Radstock's regeneration. This money could now be used for Westfield as well, which has frustrated Radstock Town Councillors. At the meeting, Councillors voted to write to B&NES to express their disappointment and to ask for a clear explanation regarding the funding earmarked for Radstock, requesting that the Town Council is consulted on where and how the money is spent. Councillors agreed that to withdraw from the Forum would be counter-productive. Could this end up being another case of Radstock receiving money that it never actually sees?