Towns and villages across Somerset could receive a share of £80M for new regeneration projects if funding from central government is approved.
Somerset’s four district councils are finalising four bids to the government’s levelling up fund, which could see town centres given a new lease of life and major improvements to local infrastructure.
The four councils have already been working on their own regeneration schemes, funded either by other government funding pots or out of their own funds, which are at various stages of progress.
A decision on the levelling up bids is expected in the autumn, with the money having to be spent in full by the end of March 2025.
Here’s everything we know so far about the bids – including which areas could stand to benefit:
What is the levelling up fund?
The government announced the £4.8bn levelling up fund in the 2021 Budget, with the money being made available in different rounds up to March 2025.
The first round of the fund, which focussed on “oven-ready” schemes to improve local infrastructure, saw success for Somerset County Council, which was awarded just over £10M to improve the “Bridgwater northern corridor” – including enhancing the Cross Rifles roundabout (where the A38 and A39 join) and delivering big improvements to the Dunball roundabout near junction 23 of the M5.
Successful bids in this current round have to meet one or more of the following three themes:
- Transport investments
- Regeneration and town centre investment
- Cultural investment
Bids to the levelling up fund have to be done on the basis of parliamentary constituency boundaries, rather than the boundaries of local councils – meaning councils have to work together and share the fruits of any successful bid.
Each successful bid can provide up to £20M for projects – but each MP can only support one bid for their constituency in each round.
Furthermore, different parts of the country are given different priorities for funding, with the intention being that successful bids target the area which most require investment and support.
Which Somerset constituencies are bidding this time around?
There are five parliamentary constituencies within the political county of Somerset – Bridgwater and West Somerset, Somerton and Frome, Taunton Deane, Wells and Yeovil.
All five of these seats returned Conservative MPs at the last general election in December 2019 – though Somerton and Frome MP David Warburton is currently sitting as an independent following allegations of sexual harassment against three women.
Four of these constituencies are submitting bids this time around – with Yeovil being the one choosing not to bid (for reasons we will cover later).
As previously stated, each constituency could receive up to £20M – meaning a total of £80M could pour into Somerset if all four bids are successful.
Small amounts of detail about each bid have been published up to this point, with consultations taking place about potential projects – but the four district councils have declined to put any more meat on the bones at this stage.
In a joint statement, they said: “The bids are still under development and so it is not possible to confirm which projects in which locations and to what funding ceiling will be submitted to government.
“The aim with the collaborative bids is to present to government projects that support the criteria set, and allow the funds to be allocated fairly across the current individual district council areas.
“The towns selected are those where significant regeneration is needed to support residents and businesses.”
Here’s a breakdown of what is proposed for each constituency, based on what has been published to date:
Bridgwater and West Somerset
The Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency – represented by Ian Liddell-Grainger since 2001 – covers a large geographical area, from Minehead and the eastern edge of the Exmoor National Park to Bridgwater and the surrounding villages, as well as the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
Bridgwater is already benefiting from regeneration funding, with £22.6M being provided for projects within the town deal and Sedgemoor District Council investing £16M into the Northgate Yard scheme on Mount Street.
You would therefore expect the west Somerset end of the constituency to be the focus this time around – especially given that Watchet was previously identified by the county council as a regeneration priority.
Instead, the bid will focus primarily on Bridgwater – specifically, on providing funding for the tidal barrier and bringing the former community hospital on Salmon Parade back into use as a “health and social care centre of excellence”.
Further details were published ahead of a virtual meeting of Sedgemoor District Council’s executive committee on Wednesday morning (June 1).
Nathaniel Lucas, the council’s service manager for economic development, stated in his written report that the centre would provide considerable “outreach” and link up with rural health facilities in west Somerset.
He elaborated: “Options are currently being considered for other facilities that could form part of a hub and spoke approach, that would support opportunities to improve healthcare access for rural communities through innovation and digital technology.
“The outreach aspect of the centre was an area of particular interest emphasised by the MP at our previous briefing.”
The council admits this project has its challenges, with the former hospital being in private hands and the building’s condition being in “continued decline”.
However, Mr Lucas said the council would enter into an agreement with the current owner to ensure it would not be sold in advance of the bid’s outcome being known.
Regarding the Bridgwater tidal barrier, he added: “The barrier is our key infrastructure priority and has recently been granted the necessary consents for construction.
“The barrier will protect Bridgwater from the risk of flooding over the next 100 years, including the hospital site that is immediately to the east of the River Parrett and at significant risk of flooding without this scheme.
“Options being explored in relation to the barrier project include the early delivery of the control building at Express Park and the associated riverside park.”
Somerton and Frome
The Somerton and Frome constituency – represented by Mr Warburton since 2015 – covers around 900 square miles, stretching from the Somerset Levels and Moors to the small villages in the Blackmore Vale and the commuter area for Bath.
Two towns within the constituency have already been subject to regeneration efforts, with Mendip District Council working with the Acorn Property Group to redevelop the Saxonvale brownfield site in Frome and South Somerset District Council attempting to revitalise Wincanton’s fortunes by improving the appearance of the town centre.
Both towns will be the beneficiaries of this bid, which the councils stated was “likely to include regeneration and town centre investment in Frome and Wincanton, alongside some small transport works.”
Mendip leader Ros Wyke hinted in August 2021 that levelling up funding in Frome would be targeted towards the ‘western warehouse’ within the Saxonvale site, which has been identified as a potential arts and heritage venue.
Addressing the council’s scrutiny board on August 17, she said: “We’ve been talking with Frome Town Council, because they have an interest there [the western warehouse], and we’re in a position to make bids for the levelling up fund.
“We are talking at great length with a number of people in Frome to make sure we have more than our fair share of monies, and that will be directed towards Frome and its needs – including the western warehouse as an option.”
Taunton Deane
The Taunton Deane constituency – represented by Defra minister Rebecca Pow since 2015 – is created around the county town of Taunton, but also includes Wellington, Wiveliscombe and a number of villages at the southern edges of either Exmoor or the Quantock Hills area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).
Taunton has already received £13.9M from the government’s future high street fund, which is being divided between the existing council-led regeneration projects at Firepool and Coal Orchard, as well as being used to deliver better cycling provision across the town.
Somerset West and Taunton Council has released few details of its bid, stating only that it involves “the restoration of Wellington’s heritage and cultural assets”.
This is likely to revolve around Tonedale Mill and the Toneworks complex in the north of the town – which was the subject of an unsuccessful bid in the first round of the levelling up fund.
The council will be hoping for a better outcome this time around – which comes after a separate £5M bid to the government’s cultural development fund for the ‘Creative Tonedale’ programme, more than £300,000 of grants awarded during the pandemic to protect the buildings and efforts to secure the nearby Fox’s Field for the community.
Wells
The Wells seat – represented by James Heappey since 2015 – stretches from the coastal town of Burnham-on-Sea to the edge of the Mendip Hills AONB near the eponymous cathedral city.
Glastonbury has already seen significant government funding committed, with the £23.6M town deal expected to deliver huge benefits in local employment, education, transport, leisure and the environment by 2026.
In light of this, the levelling up bid for this seat focuses on three settlements which are seeing significant housing growth – Cheddar, Highbridge and Shepton Mallet.
Sedgemoor’s executive released more details of this bid on Wednesday (June 1), having previously launched a consultation for all three areas which will expire on June 24.
Mr Lucas said in his report: “The Wells bid aims to address a number of historic issues including under investment in town centres and infrastructure, social deprivation, weakened local economy and decline in the tourism industry.
“For Shepton and Highbridge, this means supporting opportunities for regeneration through new employment, housing and improved community facilities.
“For Cheddar the bid will be focussed on substantially enhancing the tourism offer (which over time has significantly degraded), making much more of its natural assets and linking these through active travel.”
The council’s ongoing consultation has already identified several options for improving Highbridge – including upgrades to the B3139 Market Street, a new transport hub near the railway station, and improved flood defences on the River Brue.
A previous consultation, staged by Mendip District Council in October, put forward options for Shepton Mallet – including better pedestrian links between the town centre and lido, improvements to Collett Park, redeveloping the former prison and extending the Strawberry Line active travel route.
Regarding Cheddar, Mr Lucas said the bid would focus on “supporting and enhancing the visitor environment and experience” at Cheddar Gorge, as well as “a number of interventions that can improve user connectivity within the village and within the wider tourism area” – which may include the Strawberry line and the infamous ‘magic roundabout’ near Axbridge.
Yeovil
The Yeovil constituency – represented by Marcus Fysh since 2015 – has already received a considerable amount of government funding to support regeneration projects pursued by South Somerset District Council.
The Yeovil Refresh – intended to improve the town’s centre appearance and bring forward brownfield sites for commercial development – attracted £9.75M from the future high street’s fund on top of the council’s own funding.
Additionally, the Chard regeneration scheme has delivered a new swimming pool and leisure centre on the former ACI site, with the high streets heritage action zone providing £1M to improve the appearance of the town centre (an amount which was matched by the council).
In light of this, and the lower priority rating given to the area by the government, there will be no levelling up bid for the Yeovil constituency – meaning towns like Crewkerne and Ilminster will miss out, and phase two of the Chard regeneration (concerning Boden Mill and Holyrood Lace Mill) will remain on hold.
A spokesman said: “The second round of bids to the levelling up fund gives preference to Priority 1 areas for funding, and the Yeovil constituency has been given Priority 2 status by the government.
“It is worth bearing in mind that we have already been successful in securing future high streets funding, with an exciting project underway that is already delivering public realm improvements in Yeovil, plus separate government funding towards the Octagon Theatre redevelopment.
“Chard has also received high street heritage action zone (HSHAZ) funding which is delivering public realm and shop-front improvements.
“Focusing on the delivery of these already committed projects, alongside supporting the Somerset and Frome constituency bid, will benefit the community far more than applying for additional funding in Yeovil, with what we have been told is a low chance of success because of the lower priority rating given to the area.”
What happens next?
The four bids will be submitted to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) by July 6.
These will then be scrutinised thoroughly by government officials, with councils finding out in the autumn whether they have been successful.
The councils stated: “The decision from the government regarding these bids is likely to be available in autumn 2022, with work to commence in the current financial year (2022/23) and completion of the projects is required by March 31, 2025.”
With this timeframe, any projects begun by the four districts will come to fruition under the new unitary Somerset Council, which will formally assume power on April 1, 2023.
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