A RESIDENTS group has been formed with the aim of taking ownership of Wellington’s most important heritage site Tonedale Mill to prevent it deteriorating further.

The group plans a public meeting before Christmas when it hopes to create a not-for-profit organisation or a building preservation trust which would try to take possession of the grade two starred mill site.

It follows the failure of Somerset Council to protect the mill, which is privately owned by Mancraft Ltd, and the authority’s decision to steal away the £16 million of Government grant it was given to regenerate the site.

The council earlier this year decided to focus the funds on regeneration of the neighbouring Toneworks site, which was the mill’s finishing and dye works, and to spend a large sum of it on a project in Bridgwater.

One of the group’s founders Alyson Bashford said: “Local residents report torches within the buildings at night and loud crashes when another part collapses, showing the owner has not done any urgent works or maintained any part of the site.

“This matter is urgent and cannot wait yet another year.

“The buildings are deteriorating year on year while the council does not pursue the course laid out in the Historic England document ‘Stopping the rot’.

“We have set up a Tonedale Mill group and wish to urge the council to procure these historic buildings which are on the ‘at risk’ register, for public control.

“These are a major part of textile industry history and should be saved.

“If the urgent works are completed and the owner charged with the amount it costs, the buildings could be obtained without more monies, as the company has no money to carry out these works.

“There will be no profit in obtaining these buildings, and our only hope is to make them safe and allow some to be saved, using the remaining funds and other grants obtainable by a charity.”

Ms Bashford took Somerset councillors to task for their failures over Tonedale Mill at a meeting on Wednesday (November 4).

She said she understood the council had not used the Government grant for any urgent works at the Tonedale Mill site, despite the funding being given for that purpose.

Ms Bashford said: “I would ask why the council did not follow up on the enforcement notice on the fence dated 2024.

“I would also like the council to publish what the funds have been spent on to date, and why a significant amount was diverted to Bridgwater when it was earmarked for the Tonedale site.

“I am aware of Government rule changes, but the council should not have diverted these funds.”

The council declined to comment on ongoing enforcement action, but said it was open to working with local groups to safeguard the mill’s future.

Somerset executive Cllr Mike Rigby, said: “In the absence of a viable and deliverable scheme at Tonedale Mill, it was necessary to identify alternative uses for funding that could be delivered within tight timescales, while continuing to support regeneration opportunities in Wellington.”