Taunton: Extra £100k approved for Coal Orchard

The council secured the site in early February

Somerset West and Taunton Council has unanimously approved a further £100,000 in funding to complete a redevelopment project in Taunton town centre.

Taunton Council has already invested millions of pounds into redeveloping the Coal Orchard site, where new flats and retail units are being built.

Residents have called the project a "black hole" of public money.

But Councillor Benet Allen, from the ruling Liberal Democrat group, said the council "should make a tidy profit".

The council secured the site in early February when the contractor Midas Construction went into administration.

'This is dead money'

Resident Martin Pakes has been campaigning against the Coal Orchard scheme on behalf of residents.

He believes that there is not enough interest from local traders, unless rents for the retail units are lowered.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "I never thought I'd see the day when a council had to resort to speculative development in order to provide essential services.

"This is now dead money, because it's simply going into a black hole at Coal Orchard.

"It's not actually going to be used to produce anything constructive elsewhere in the town - it's gone."

The project will contain new flats and retail units

Councillor Libby Lisgo, who leads the Labour opposition group, said the public had also been left unsure as to when the scheme would be completed.

She said: "Once again, we have completely failed in our communications with the general public to get this understood."

Councillor Norman Cavill said he believed the council should provide more support for the nearby Brewhouse Theatre and the shops near the site, to make up for the disruption the building works have caused.

He said: "It should surely be remembered by this council that the Brewhouse Theatre is really adversely affected by this development."

Mr Allen defended the decision to continue the project.

He said: "Without those emergency funds, the project would have stopped and the council would be very seriously out of pocket.

"No development is risk-free, and we are confident of finishing it. I think everybody in Taunton wants to see this thing finished."