Weymouth plans for public meeting following success of virtual assembly

Following the success of the Annual Town Assembly (ATA), Weymouth Town Council now look forward to the next public town meeting. It is hoped this will be able to take place in September this year.

While the ATA which took place on Wednesday 17 March had to be held virtually due to the current national restrictions, the council aim to hold the next meeting face-to-face, if it is safe to do so.

Councillors spoke openly at the ATA about the challenges of running a new town council through the pandemic and meeting the needs of local people. They spoke about the work of the council over the last year, including day to day responsibilities such as keeping the public toilets open and clean, maintaining the parks, beach and other public spaces, which have been so vital for many in the community during the pandemic.

Residents also heard about some of the major projects that the Town Council is leading on such as Tumbledown Farm, the £1.4m revamp of Radipole Park and Gardens, the new skate park, pump track and parkour area at The Marsh and the 654 trees that have been planted in the last year.

Residents submitted 20 questions ahead of the event, which were all answered by councillors during the livestream. The video also received over 130 comments, which councillors were reviewing and answering where possible on the night. In total the livestream received over 700 engagements and reached over 2,000 people during and since the recording.

Topics covered on the night included an update on the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan, income generation to keep the precept low, the short-term plan to help Weymouth recover after coronavirus and what support will be available to communities and local businesses.

If you haven’t seen the video and would like to see Weymouth councillors discussing these topics and other questions raised by the public, you can watch a recording of the meeting here:

Cllr Graham Winter, Mayor of Weymouth Town Council, said:

“We’re delighted with the success of the ATA and want to thank all those residents who got involved by asking questions, commenting during the meeting, or simply tuning in to hear from councillors.”

“We really value hearing the thoughts of the community and getting the chance to answer their questions directly and we hope to build on this and make the next public meeting the most engaging yet. If possible, we’ll offer residents a range of ways to get involved to make the meeting accessible to as many people as possible.”

More information about the next ATA will be released nearer the time should restrictions allow. Sign up here to receive the council’s newsletter to keep up to date with the latest news from the town council.