Business asks for reduced business rates amid Yeovil Refresh works

South Somerset District Council has been attempting to revitalise the town centre through its Yeovil Refresh programme, delivering improvements to the public realm and local transport and trying to encourage new development.

The programme has been beset with issues, with the council’s district executive voting on January 5 to allocate further funding to deal with a £4.2m budget gap across the various projects.

Rachel Charles, who owns Sports of Bond Street in the town centre, branded the scheme a “terrible disaster” and asked whether the council would compensate her and other independent businesses for the loss of footfall.

The council said it had not budgeted for providing compensation to businesses and was working with its contractors to reduce disruption.

Ms Charles told the full council on Thursday evening (January 19): “We’ve been trading here for 50 years now, and I’m just asking whether the council intends to reduce our business rates due to the terrible disaster that’s going on with all this work in Yeovil.

“I feel that our turnover has badly been affected due to the poor footfall. The work has been going on for so long, and it’s causing quite a lot of problems for shoppers to come in and out of Yeovil.

“It’s certainly not drawing shoppers to Yeovil – people are being put off by it being such a mess and are moving to other places.

“There are so few of us independent shops there in Yeovil now – we don’t need to have such a problem in the town centre. It just makes it feel that we’re really not welcoming unless the council is able to do something to help us.

“If you go into Dorset during the wintertime, you can often park your car all day for £2 – but Yeovil doesn’t do that.

“I just feel it’s not helpful to any traders in Yeovil, and you really need to start thinking about helping us.”

Work commences at The Triangle in Yeovil town centre. (Image: South Somerset District Council)

Councillor Peter Gubbins, portfolio holder for the Yeovil Refresh scheme, said the council had never allocated any funding within the programme’s budget to compensate businesses for disruption.

He said: “There’s no allocation in the budget for compensation. As I’m quite sure you’re aware, we’ve been looking at areas where we can actually save money.

“I find it very difficult to turn around and say whether the drop in the town centre is due to the works or down to other external factors.

“I was in town this morning (January 19), I was standing outside the corner of Bond Street and Middle Street, and I didn’t really see any problem of entry into Bond Street.

“I do understand the pressure you’re under – we’ve got Covid, we’ve had everything else, and it’s also given our officers great pressure in trying to deliver it (the Yeovil Refresh).

“Today I went up Westminster Street, and I must admit it was a bit like a bomb site.

“When we started, there wasn’t a great deal of problems until we started digging – we’ve just come across problem after problem.

“We’ve looked into how we can move things further and quicker – we’ve got night-time working in areas, and we’re talking to contractors on how they can reduce the trading impact.

“The idea of the Refresh is to make something of our town centre. The days are gone when John Lewis would come down and open up in places like Yeovil, and we’ve got to accept that.

“I have great faith in the Yeovil Refresh, I have great faith in doing something with our town centre.

“We want businesses to succeed – it is a difficult time, but I can assure you it will work.”

Business rates are set and largely retained by central government, with local authorities collecting the money on Westminster’s behalf.

Rachel Charles addresses the full council. (Image: South Somerset District Council)

Individual businesses can apply to the Valuation Office Agency for a temporary reduction in business rates, but there are limits as to the discretionary rate relief which can be offered by local council.

Deputy leader Peter Seib said: “Business rates are charged by central government – we happen to collect them, but we don’t set the rates or the rules.

“There is a route through to discounts. It’s a very widespread misconception that we have any control over it whatsoever.

“We do get to retain certain parts of it – that varies with (the party in) government and the local government settlement, and we get to choose how we spent that.

“We get taxed on the car parks, and that comes from the same pot of money as the business rates we are allowed to retain and the council tax.”

The council has said the work on the different elements of the Yeovil Refresh – including the new amphitheatre at The Triangle – will be completed by the summer of 2024.

Yeovil resident Bud Budzynski questioned how the new public screen being installed in the new amphitheatre would be operated.

He said: “Apart from major national or local events of interest, what else will the screen be used for to justify its cost and installation?

“It’s unlikely that there will be sufficient daily content – slow news days and that sort of thing – and I’m concerned that the display will end up showing nothing more than non-stop advertising complete with intrusive soundtracks, urging us to buy yet another fast food of sorts.

“Who will own the screen (i.e. repairs and maintenance) – and more importantly, who controls the content?”

Jan Gamon, the council’s director of place and recovery, said the screen will remain in public ownership once the transition to the new unitary Somerset Council had been completed.

She said: “The screen is intended to deliver a programme of events. We are still delivering our approach to the screen, nothing is set in stone as yet.

“We envisage this including showcasing Yeovil and Somerset, its people and its stories. It might include advertising for local events and activities, it could be supporting public information campaigns, and also potentially advertising local businesses.

“We don’t expect that screen use will always include sound. The new Somerset Council will own the screen and will control its content, either directly or through any third party arrangements we put in place.”