PHASE two of a flagship scheme to regenerate Chard town centre could be scrapped due to a lack of funds.

South Somerset District Council has committed millions of pounds towards its Chard regeneration scheme, delivering a new swimming pool and leisure centre, housing, commercial space and improvements to the public realm.

The new pool is expected to open at the end of the year (with new operator Freedom Leisure currently recruiting staff), while £2M of improvements to Boden Street and Holyrood Street (among others) will get under way in mid-September.

Chard & Ilminster News: View Of The Swimming Pool Building Under Construction From The Second Floor Of Boden Mill In Chard. CREDIT: Daniel Mumby. Free to use to all BBC wire partners.

However, the renovation of Boden Mill and Holyrood Mill, to provide a mixture of new homes and commercial space, could be abandoned unless further external funding is secured.

The council made this admission in a report published ahead of a district executive committee meeting which will be held in Yeovil on Thursday (September 2).

The council committed to the Chard regeneration scheme in May 2018, and confirmed in early-2020 that it would be committing £3M towards the scheme (alongside £2.5M for the Yeovil Refresh and £2M towards Wincanton).

Ian Chilver, the council’s interim regeneration accountant, said the council had maintained its ambitions for both mill buildings until recent changes in the wider financial picture.

He said is his written report: “It is fair to say that for a variety of reasons –  including inability to secure funding and partner participation, as well as a significant increase in costs in the leisure centre construction compared to original estimates – some aspects of the programme will not reach completion.

“One such aspect is the ambition for the Boden Mill, Holyrood Mill and the Boden Centre. Once completed, these residential development schemes were intended to fund costs elsewhere in the programme.

“The Boden Mill in particular faces challenges in order to prepare it for sale or development. An application has been made to the government’s brownfield land remediation fund for £495,000 to assist with land decontamination and access issues.

“In the meantime, it is proposed that expenditure on these buildings is halted.

“However, they remain available for development and it is intended that they could be subject to a new programme in the future if the business case supports this.”

Boden Mill, located next to the new pool, is grade two listed – meaning it is difficult to make significant alterations without damaging or losing the building’s historic qualities.

The council originally intended to convert the ground floor into a bar and other commercial or retail space, with the upper floors becoming high-quality housing.

Chard & Ilminster News: Section Of A Possible Restaurant In The Ground Floor Of Boden Mill In Chard. CREDIT: AHR Architects. Free to use for all BBC wire partners.

Holyrood Mill – which houses the town’s library on the ground and first floors – was earmarked entirely for residential use.

The library was originally due to relocate nearer to the pool, sharing a community hub with Chard Museum, but these plans never came to fruition after failed negotiations with Somerset County Council.

The district council originally intended for the conversion of the mills to cross-subsidise the other elements of the regeneration scheme – similar to how Somerset West and Taunton Council intends for new homes on the Firepool site in Taunton to help deliver a possible multi-purpose entertainment venue.

Instead, South Somerset is proposing to use £2M in capital receipts (the proceeds from the sale of some of its existing assets) to reduce the amount of long-term borrowing it will need to undertake.

The council’s district executive will meet to discuss the proposals on Thursday (September 2) at 9:30am. The meeting will be live-streamed via the council’s official YouTube channel.