Taunton regeneration site finished using community levy

The Coal Orchard development includes new apartments and commercial space

More than £400,000 generated by housing developments in Somerset has been spent on finishing a major regeneration site.

Somerset West and Taunton Council spent £16m on the Riverside development on the Coal Orchard site in Taunton.

The council revealed it spent £420,000 on new steps down to the River Tone, paid for by the community infrastructure levy (CIL).

The additional funding was needed after the main contractor went into administration last year.

Joe Wharton, the council's assistant director of major and special projects, said in his written report: "The overall cost of the scheme has been subject to overspend due to the impact of the main contractor going into administration in January 2022.

"The project has created a new high quality public realm, including additional flood mitigation in the town centre on the site of an end of life public swimming pool and car park.

"The public realm supports 40 one and two-bedroom apartments and eight commercial units as well as creating and augmenting the surrounding Taunton independent quarter, the Brewhouse Theatre and the riverside footpath."

The steps are near the location of a planned pedestrian and cycle bridge which would lead to the Firepool site, the redevelopment of the former cattle market.

A total of £16m was spent by the council on delivering the Coal Orchard project between 2019 and 2023, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Of this, around £7.7m came from the sale of existing council assets and just over £3.9m came from external borrowing.

Somerset West and Taunton Council spent £16m delivering the Riverside development

A total of £1.25m came from the government's future high streets fund, on top of £870,000 from Homes England and more than £1.85m from other grants or underspends in other budgets.

This left a gap of £420,000 which was filled by the community infrastructure levy - a sum paid by housing developers which can be used to deliver improvements away from the sites of specific new builds.