More than £1.7m could be needed for Yeovil Refresh programme

South Somerset District Council has been aiming to regenerate the town centre through its Yeovil Refresh programme, which combines improvements to key public areas with better transporting links and supporting private development on key brownfield sites.

Work is currently taking place on the public realm elements – though progress on one part of the town centre has been slowed by contractor Midas Construction sliding into administration.

In light of cost pressures, the council’s district executive committee voted on Thursday morning (February 17) to pour a seven-figure sum into the programme – and has set aside further funding in case central government grants have to be handed back.

This comes just seven months after the council voted to borrow a further £2.8M to allow key parts of the programme to begin as planned.

There are two separate budgets allocated for the Yeovil Refresh programme – the capital budget (which covers new infrastructure such as roads and cycle lanes) and the revenue budget (which handles day-to-day project costs, including staff time and design work).

Under the proposals, the Yeovil Refresh capital budget will rise by £1,059,000 (funded through borrowing, bringing its new total to £21,838,000), while the revenue budget will rise by £606,000 to £1,994,000 (with the additional funding coming from the council’s existing regeneration reserve).

To finance the additional borrowing, the council will also increase its overall revenue budget by £44,000 – bringing the total additional cost of the Yeovil Refresh programme to £1,709,000.

Councillor Peter Gubbins, portfolio holder for the Yeovil Refresh programme, said in a statement (read aloud in his absence): “The Refresh is an important part in moving forward to a vibrant Yeovil town centre again. We need to be positive moving forward.”

The Yeovil Refresh programme received around £9.75M from the government’s future high street fund – which has to be spent in full by March 2024.

In addition to the extra upfront funding, the council will also set aside £4,784,000 from its existing reserves, which will be used to replace any grant funding that has to be handed back to the government.

Taking this new reserve into account, the council could end up spending an additional £6,493,000 on the Yeovil Refresh compared to its original budget.

Councillor John Clark, portfolio holder for economic development, said: “The public realm enhancements are largely under our control.

“The major developments are not, because we require developers to come forward with viable proposals – and that’s not looking good, which is why we’re moving the money into a reserve for the repayment of some of the future high streets fund.

“Even the transport system changes are not entirely within our control – they do rely on traffic orders, bus companies and other parties.

“The public realm enhancements are going well, despite some difficulties that have been thrown at us.”

Deputy leader Peter Seib added: “We are not the only council that is having difficulty drawing down this funding.

“It is a huge challenge to meet the government’s tests, and many councils are in the same situation of relying on the private sector and developers to deliver projects which started off undeliverable.

“We are not the only people in this particular bucket, but we’ve done better than most.”

Work on the public realm improvements on Westminster Street have been halted after Midas Constructions went into administration, with the council looking to appoint a new contractor as soon as possible.

A spokesman said: “We are currently working through the legal implications to appoint a new contractor to take over the construction work at Westminster Street. As soon as this process is concluded, work will be able to resume.”

Following unanimous approval by the district executive committee, the Yeovil Refresh funding proposals will come before the full council for final approval as part of its annual budget-setting meeting on February 28.