NEARLY £3.8-million will be spent on essential repairs to a historic Tonedale site in the coming months.

In 2023, Somerset Council secured nearly £20-million from the government’s levelling up fund to regenerate Tonedale Mill and the neighbouring Tone Works site, which lie at the northern edge of the town.

A total of £19,987,000 was awarded to the project in the third and final round of the then-Conservative government’s levelling up fund, which the council had originally intended to use to secure both sites.

The council has now confirmed that £3,676,000 of the fund will be spent in the coming months to future-proof large sections of the Tone Works site, with a further £105,000 being provided by Historic England.

The remaining grant money - roughly £16.3-million - will be targeted towards Tonedale Mill, which unlike Tone Works is currently in private hands.

Councillor Mike Rigby, portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets, revealed in April that the council was reviewing whether it would purchase the building, whether on the open market or through a compulsory purchase order (CPO). Ownership of the site remains undecided.

Chris Hall, the council’s executive director for community, place and economy, said in his written report: “This next round of works will ensure that nearly all buildings and historic machinery are permanently protected from the weather and made secure.

“This is the essential and only next step that can be taken before a second phase can focus on designing and converting spaces for end uses.”

The £3.8-million of funding will be spent on delivering a series of key improvements to Tone Works, and will be used to replace the roofs and install solar panels on the largest set of buildings, replace worn timber beams, carry out structural repairs to the ‘old boiler house’ and work towards reconnecting the site to various utilities.

Officers have warned, however, that many of the buildings on both sites remain in “a dilapidated state” and said there was currently no “masterplan for future use” in either case.

Additionally, much of the historic machinery within the Tone Works site (which employed around 5,000 people at its peak) is listed, meaning it cannot be removed and have to be preserved to a certain standard.

While the council said it had secured an extension with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), giving it until March 2028 to spend the remaining grants, it warned that no long-term plan for either Tonedale Mill or Tone Works was currently in place, and such a plan would not be created using any part of the levelling up grant.

A spokesperson said: “The current levelling up fund works aim to repair the buildings and do not amount to a full regeneration of the site with end uses.

“At Tonedale Mill, the levelling up funding will be spent on targeted repairs. It does not include a masterplan for future use.”