Improvements to Yeovil town centre could be scaled back

South Somerset District Council was awarded £9.75M from the government’s future high streets fund to drive forward its Yeovil Refresh regeneration programme, which includes the redevelopment of key sites in and around the town centre.

Unfortunately, three of the key sites identified will not be able to be delivered by the deadline for spending the grant funding – meaning it will have to be returned to Westminster.

To get around this, the council’s district executive committee has voted to “change the scope” of the Yeovil Refresh, focussing on the delivery of smaller sites to ensure it can keep the funding.

In addition to moving these goalposts, the council has also voted to provide £891,000 from its own reserves to ensure the postponed improvements to Wyndham Street can be carried out as planned.

What’s holding up these sites?

Jan Gamon, the council’s director of place and recovery, told the committee when it met in Yeovil on Thursday morning (August 4) none of the “three key sites” identified within the early stages of the Yeovil Refresh would now come forward, preventing the delivery of new homes and commercial premises within the town centre.

While Ms Gamon did not specify the three sites, the council’s own Yeovil Refresh website identifies two sites under ‘major developments’ – the Glovers Walk shopping centre on Middle Street and the former cattle market off the A30 Reckleford.

The original strategy, published in 2018, identified the possibility of commercial development on Petters Way, redeveloping the Box Factory and the Stars Lane area, and the possible re-purposing of the former ski centre site on Addlewell Lane.

Each of these major developments involved co-operating with private landowners, with funding being secured from the private sector to match the government’s contributions.

Yeovil Refresh project manager admitted in his written report that “the projects which attracted private co-funding have been negatively impacted by the pandemic and/ or are now undeliverable” before the grant funding expires.

Since these developments formed a central plank of the council’s bid to the future high streets fund, their delay or total loss means the funding provided is less likely to generate significant benefits to the town – which could persuade Whitehall to ask for it to be returned.

Ms Gamon said: “The risk here is that we will need to repay just under £4.8m.

“We have been working very hard to find creative ways to avoid having to repay that substantial amount of money.”

How is the council going to get around this?

The council had been working to bring forward a number of smaller, more deliverable development sites which could deliver sufficient benefits to allow the funding to remain in place – a situation Ms Gamon described as “a glimmer of hope”.

Natalie Fortt, the council’s regeneration programme manager, said there had been positive discussions with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) about changing the scope of the Yeovil Refresh.

She said: “We met with DLUHC representatives yesterday [August 3] to talk to them about whether this would be sufficient.

“They said they have considered change requests as long as there is a strong strategic case.

“We really highlight the strategic benefits of this. We do have a need for additional housing, so enabling these stalled residential sites to come forward will have a further impact than just improving the town centre.

“When we submitted the bid originally, we didn’t add in the active travel elements. If we include them now, they would have an incremental improvement.”

Somerset County Council published its Yeovil local cycling and walking improvement plan (LWCIP), laying out new and improved pedestrian and cycle routes which could be delivered through grants or new developments in the next few years.

Councillor Sarah Dyke, portfolio holder for the environment, said numerous other towns which had received grants from the future high streets fund had gone through similar processes in light of market conditions and rising costs.

She said: “There’s quite a lot of trouble with some of the other programmes across the country – Yeovil is not alone in that respect.

“I’m really, really pleased to see all the active travel elements being pushed through in this.”

Councillor John Clark, portfolio holder for economic development, added: “It’s very important that we don’t lose the money won by this bid despite the situations in the private sector, which are basically outside our control.”

What about Wyndham Street?

The committee voted in June to postpone improvements to Wyndham Street in light of rising costs, with £769,000 previously allocated for that street being reallocated to other public realm improvements elsewhere in the town centre.

Following criticism by local residents – who branded that part of the town centre “shabby and dull” – the committee agreed to provide £891,000 from its own reserves to ensure the Wyndham Street improvements can go ahead as planned.

These improvements will include the intersection between Wyndham Street, Newton Road and Sherborne Road, and will run down much of the length of Newton Road – but not the whole of Wyndham Street itself, which may upgraded by the new unitary Somerset Council in the near-future.

Ms Fortt said: “There are a number of live planning applications which could significantly change the use of that area if they were successful. The area is the key eastern gateway into the town centre.”

The proposed developments include Acorn Homes’ proposals for 48 homes on Grimsby Corner, where Wyndham Street meets Earle Street.

Councillor Tony Lock, portfolio holder for protecting core services, said: “I support this 100 per cent, and I wouldn’t want to change it at all – I just want us to get it done when we can.”

The committee voted unanimously to approve both the change in scope to the Yeovil Refresh and the additional funding for the Wyndham Street elements.