Peasedown St John will see almost £300,000 in funding invested in it over the next 12 months, thanks to successful lobbying from the village’s councillors.
Community leaders Cllr Karen Walker and Cllr Sarah Bevan submitted a series of requests to the council’s leadership before last Tuesday’s annual budget meeting.
Cllr Karen Walker (Independent, Peasedown St John) said: “We’re extremely pleased that some of our requests for funding, made on behalf of local residents, were met by the council.
“The role of any local councillor is to always put their community first. On a regular basis, Cllr Bevan and I meet with residents, visit them in their homes, and discuss issues that matter to them.
“These extra funds coming to Peasedown have all been requested by people that we’ve listened to, and our village primary school.”
During the next 12 months, the village will see:
- Over £9,000 for Peasedown St John Youth Centre. This will be spent on a new fire alarm system and CCTV upgrade, in preparation for the handover of the building to a new youth work provider (St John’s Church has been selected as the council’s preferred provider locally for youth work).
- £44,000 for street lighting upgrades in Orchard Way, Underleaf Way, Pippin Close and Adams Close.
- £150,000 for Peasedown Primary School to pay for necessary expansion works. This funding has been released from Council’s CIL planning finances.
- £57,000 for the design of a roundabout at the A367/Bath Road Junction. These funds have been released from the council’s planning S106 pot of money.
The councillors have also received provisional agreement for £25,000 to be spent on upgrading the children’s play park in Eckweek Lane, which is located between Saxon Way and Under Knoll.
Cllr Sarah Bevan (Independent, Peasedown St John) added: “We’ll continue to lobby for funding for other requests that weren’t met, such as the resurfacing of Braysdown Lane and Lower Peasedown.
“We are very pleased that provisional funding has been set aside to update the Eckweek Lane play park.
“We have been lobbying for this funding for years, so are pleased that we’re now one step closer to this becoming a reality!”