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COUNCILLORS have agreed to spend more than £97,000 on a “vanity project” in Chard town centre as part of a wider scheme to regenerate the town.
South Somerset District Council is making a number of improvements to the town centre as part of its flagship Chard regeneration scheme, including the delivery of a new swimming pool and leisure centre by the end of 2021.
As part of the scheme, the district council and Chard Town Council are collaborating on improvements to the “eastern gateway”, tidying up the junction of Silver Street with the A30 Fore Street opposite Chard School.
Several councillors expressed concerns about a sharp rise in the costs of the scheme, arguing the money could be used instead to support workers being laid off by Oscar Mayer, one of the town’s main employers.
But Chard’s representatives voted the scheme should go ahead despite the rise in costs, arguing it would damage the council’s reputation to abandon the work at this late stage.
Here’s your guide to what is proposed for Fore Street and where things stand with the rest of the Chard regeneration scheme:
What is proposed for Fore Street?
The proposed improvements on Fore Street have been around in one form or another since the 1990s.
The council’s area west committee discussed the latest iteration in January 2019, shortly after the closure of Italian restaurant La Violeta.
The district and town councils proposed to tidy up the area with new benches, planting and resurfacing the pavement to replace the “mismatched and ugly surface” left by county council repairs in 2018.
This scheme was originally projected to cost £38,000 – which Councillor Sue Osborne described at the time as “an awful lot of money for a relatively small area to cover with five trees, some railings and a bench.”
The latest iteration, discussed by the same committee on Wednesday evening (November 18), retains the seats and planting but adds a safe crossing over Silver Street and the reinstatement of the water rill which runs throughout the town centre.
This enhanced scheme will cost £97,193 – more than two-and-a-half-times the original projection – with the district council contributing £67,193 and the remainder coming from the town council.
Project manager Anna Matthews said: “This does look at the real cost of material and works which weren’t known before.
“The figure does include ten per cent contingency. We would hope the scheme does come in under this price.”
What did the councillors decide?
Council leader Val Keitch said she had “grave reservations” about the scheme given how sharply the costs had risen.
She said: “To be seen as a council to spend £97,000 on this when more than 850 people in Chard and the surrounding area are about to lose their jobs with Oscar Mayer – I think the reputational damage could be enormous.
“I’m totally in favour of all the other regeneration stuff that’s going on in Chard – it’s superb, and everyone’s doing a great job.
“But just because you’ve got a few flash paving stones and the odd tree – that won’t encourage people to come to Chard.”
Oscar Mayer announced on October 22 that it would be closing its factory on Furnham Road, with up to 860 jobs being at risk.
Councillor Robin Pailthorpe added: “This is a really bad time to do it. We’ve got so many financial pressures on us at the moment, and with the job losses at Oscar Mayer it feels like a vanity project.”
However, several ward members for Chard argued that abandoning the scheme at this late stage would be even more damaging to the council’s reputation.
Councillor Dave Bulmer said: “It’s one small part of that bigger picture. The town council have put the money in, so the onus is on us to support a scheme that’s been on the table for the best part of two decades now.”
Councillor Martin Carnell added: “If we don’t do these things and try to make a difference to our town centres, we are less likely to attract businesses and it’s a downward spiral.”
The committee voted to approve the project by a margin of nine votes to four, with one abstention.
What about the rest of the high street?
While much of the regeneration scheme is funded by the council’s own money, it has also received £1M from Historic England through the government’s high streets heritage action zone programme.
The council has matched this funding, so that £2M in total will be spent in and around Fore Street and High Street to improve its appearance.
The money will be used to repair a number of historic buildings, refurbish distinctive shop-fronts and improve the public realm to make it “safer and more attractive to residents and potential visitors and shoppers.”
Further public realm improvements will be made to the town centre in the years ahead, with four contractors being appointed to put forward proposals in a bid to keep costs competitive.
Alun Griffiths Ltd, SWH South West Highways, Midas Construction and Knights Brown will all bid to carry out improvements to the town centre’s appearance, as well as similar work on the council’s other regeneration schemes in Yeovil and Wincanton.
Council leader Val Keitch said: “We are really pleased to appoint these four contractors to the framework who all have considerable experience in this area of work.”
What about the swimming pool?
The council originally intended for the new swimming pool and leisure centre on the A358 Silver Street to be delivered by the summer of 2021.
This completion date has been pushed back to the autumn as a result of delays caused by the coronavirus, but work is still progressing on-site.
The council posted a photo on its official Facebook page on Tuesday (November 17) showing the new pool being tested to ensure it was watertight before construction can continue.
The council has closed the Boden Street car park for six weeks in the run-up to Christmas to “provide improved facilities for the new leisure centre” and demolish the redundant public toilets.
Councillor Jason Baker, portfolio holder to the Chard regeneration scheme, said: “We are excited that progress is really being made down at the regeneration site with the leisure centre and that the contractors, Speller Metcalfe, are forging ahead with building works.
“This is a live site in the middle of a busy town centre where businesses are currently operating, so inevitably there was going to be some disruption during the build process.
“We’ve kept residents and businesses informed throughout the build, and we’ll work with those affected by the closure of the car park to ensure access when required is given.”
The council’s car parks on Bath Street, Combe Street, Crowshute, Essex Close and The Minnows will remain open during the Boden Street car park closure.
The Marketfield car park (near the Royal Mail delivery office) remains closed until future notice.
