A £1.75 million development of new workspace units in Williton aimed at regenerating the area's economy has been declared out of bounds to one local business, it was claimed this week. But while the village-based firm - which the Free Press has agreed not to name - has been told its activities are not suitable for the Wrigleys site on the Roughmoor industrial estate, rents for the units look set to be slashed because of the poor take-up. West Somerset Council, which owns the development, is preparing to subsidise businesses in a bid to fill eight empty units. The authority's cabinet will be recommended at a meeting next Wednesday to grant a 20 per cent reduction in the first year of tenancy and ten per cent for the following year, with charges reverting to full market value in the third and subsequent years. Just six of the 15 units are currently occupied, with another under offer, meaning the council is recouping only £42,646 - with a possible further £13,526 in the pipeline - of the £128,712 a year it hoped to generate from rents. But Cllr Hugh Davies, who represents Williton on the district authority, told parish councillors in the village on Monday that he was disgusted at the way a local business had been refused a unit. Councillors were also told that another business in a neighbouring parish had had to relocate to Minehead because it had a retail element which did not fit the criteria of the development. "This is a huge loss of revenue. It is so silly and I would be thinking of a sensible way to get people in. "I don't think the homework has been done on what was needed before these units were built," said Cllr Davies. He said he and fellow Williton district Cllr Eddie May had been acting both independently and collectively to "fight the cause." Cllr May, a cabinet member, said he understood the policies relating to the letting of the units were being changed: "I believe this can be sorted," he said. Cllr May said there was only limited parking on the site and the number of vehicles involved with a business had to be taken into account. But parish council chairman Cllr Ian Aldridge described it as "short termism" to allocate only two parking spaces per unit and not to allow retail. He said there were other businesses on the industrial estate "selling at the door". "I would like to see some sort of policy for Williton as a whole - what does this tell you about what is being decided for Williton by the district council?," he asked. "Everyone must see that it is important for Williton to develop - employment is the life blood of any living community." The exact criteria and conditions businesses wishing to occupy the units must meet is unclear. A district council spokeswoman told the Free Press that although there was no overall letting policy, criteria from the Government Office for the South West and the relevant planning conditions had been among the factors determining a business's suitability to date. But she added: "To streamline the process for future use, the council's asset management group will be asked to draw up procedures for letting units at Wrigleys." In a report to next week's cabinet meeting, economic development and tourism portfolio holder Cllr Michael Downes said the introduction of an incentive to businesses was aimed at improving the occupancy rate. He said all tenants, including existing ones, would be offered the rent reduction. The current rent levels have been independently assessed by Alder King, the letting agents for the site. "This high under occupancy rate was not anticipated," said Cllr Downes. He said the council's medium term financial plan had assumed that in the year 2008/09, rental income would total £80,000. The plan also allowed for £40,000 from the Government's Working Neighbourhoods fund to be used to subsidise the creation of jobs at Wrigleys. "Based on current trends and feedback from both existing and prospective tenants, it is evident that rents are considered excessive and that as a result of the low occupancy rate, achieving rentals totalling £80,000 in the current year will prove difficult, if not impossible, to achieve," said Cllr Downes. Rents currently range from £3,640 to just under £24,000 a year. Cllr Downes said one prospective tenant had recently made a 'take it or leave it' offer to pay rent of £10,000 - £3,560 below the required figure. In addition, a number of existing tenants have asked for temporary rent reductions because of the inconvenience caused by 'snagging' faults with the building itself and the need to improve, at their own expense, the facilities and services offered. Cllr Downes said as well as being an inducement, the rent rebate would give tenants the financial capacity to establish their businesses and improve future viability. But if the sweetener leads to all the units being snapped up, the cost to the already cash-strapped council will be £25,742 in the first year and £12,871 in year two. The cost of providing the 20 per cent subsidy to just the existing tenants would be £8,529 this year and £4,265 next year. Cllr Downes said the actual total cost to the council of the rent reduction would fall somewhere between the two sets of figures, depending on the take-up. Meanwhile, the ongoing cost would be completely dependent on the turnover of tenancies. But the council's finance officer Allison Griffin has warned that if approved, the subsidy would have to be funded by cutting back the authority's already approved budget to ensure its balances are not further reduced. The former Wrigleys factory was bought by the council almost three years ago but work to refurbish the original 1960s building and provide some new-build elements has suffered a series of delays. The first contractors appointed pulled out at the 11th hour following a rise in costs but the contract was finally awarded to Taunton-based builders Rok, who completed the scheme last October. The council invested just under £1m in the development, with the remainder being met by the European Regeneration Development Fund. The 0.63-hectare site has units ranging in size from 46 to 210 square metres.