MORE money intended for the regeneration of one of Wellington’s most important at-risk heritage sites is being taken away by Somerset Council to to be spent elsewhere.

The unitary council was given a £19.9 million grant two years ago from the Government’s Levelling Up fund, £16.3 million of which was targeted at the derelict Tonedale Mill, even though the site is privately owned.

However, in July of this year it decided to divert £4.7 million to be spent instead on the nearby Toneworks site, which it does own, and which used to be the cloth dyeing and finishing centre for the mill.

Now, the authority is diverting a further £2.5 million, this time to fund a health and social care academy project in Bridgwater where progress has been slow, leading to rising costs.

The Bridgwater academy, which is being converted from the town’s former community hospital, in Salmon Parade, will deliver training sessions for people working in the care sector and will also house an early years facility and an independent living centre.

Government rules mean legacy regeneration projects such as Tonedale Mill and Toneworks must have all funds committed under contract by March next year, with any work completed by April, 2028.

The council’s place based innovation and regeneration lead officer Lara Bell said the Bridgwater academy scheme had undergone significant redesign and value engineering in response to ‘operational requirements, planning considerations, and engagement with Historic England’.

She said although the Bridgwater project could now be delivered, the cost had risen due to heritage conservation requirements and building retention measures.

Ms Bell said: “To address these additional costs, approval is sought for a £2.5 million increase in the academy capital budget funded through reallocation of local regeneration fund resources from the Tonedale project allocation.

“Following review of programme commitments and funding requirements across the wider local regeneration fund programme, it has been identified that this funding can be redirected to support delivery of the academy project while continuing to support the council’s wider regeneration objectives.”

The council’s executive was expected to take a final decision on reallocating the Tonedale money at a meeting on September 2.

It will leave £9.1 million in the pot for the original intention of regenerating Mancraft Ltd-owned Tonedale Mill with seven months left to meet the deadline for agreeing contracts on how it is spent.

Both the heritage sites, which date to about 1750, are listed by Historic England as grade two starred properties, with the council describing Toneworks as a ‘national treasure.

Toneworks is said to be an ‘exceptional site’ containing the most important set of old industry machinery in the country.

Tonedale Mill was part of the Fox family woollen mill business and was once the largest cloth manufacturing operation in the UK.

The £4.7 million previously taken by the council from the Tonedale Mill funds is being spent on structural and roofing repairs to protect Toneworks after the authority discovered the work was more expensive than it expected.