RURAL enterprise centres run by Somerset Council were providing ‘value for money’ for council taxpayers the authority has said, despite its most recently-completed still being empty months after it was finished.

The rural enterprise centres form a network of offices and light industrial space across the county and were intended to provide commercial space in areas where the private sector had failed to meet local needs.

Among them is Wiveliscombe Enterprise Centre, in Sandys Moor, Wiveliscombe, which offers 10 offices and seven light industrial units.

Others include:

The council’s newest centre in Chard has remained vacant after a ‘soft’ opening in the summer, with each of its units currently being marketed by Alder King.

However, the authority said the 10 enterprise centres, built with a mixture of external grant funding and council borrowing, were serving their intended purposes and taxpayers could be assured the Chard units would become occupied in the coming months.

As of September this year, nine of the 10 units had an occupancy rate of 84 per cent or higher, with Dulverton, Minehead, and Wheddon Cross all being close to capacity.

The council said it was confident Chard would gradually increase in use over the next few years as new businesses settled in the town and existing ones expanded.

A spokesman said: “We are currently advertising, with the first tenants expected shortly.

“Our modelling for new centres anticipates an occupancy of circa 30 per cent in the first year, increasing over time to between 85 per cent and 90 per cent over five years.

“The Somerset enterprise centre network is considered to represent good value for money.

“The operating model for the network should be self-financing longer term, with rental income covering running, maintenance, and renewal costs.

“The most recently built centres have leveraged more than £5 million of external grant funding in rural locations.

“Where possible, funds have been spent with local contactors.”

The £3.29 million Wiveliscombe centre, which opened in October, 2020, included a £972,000 contribution from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), and was designed to complement the Elworthy Place development built on the adjoining land by Barratt Homes.

The council spokesman said: “Grant funding conditions require that projects commission an evaluation of the project to identify any learning for future projects.

“The independent reports for the above centres have identified net return for every £1 invested, ranging from £1.54 to £3.98.

“On review of one of the most recent projects, in Bruton, an independent assessment of the office space project estimated that £570,000 of the budget cost of this was spent locally.

“It is estimated that the Bruton project created or secured 14 jobs.

“The demand for units in rural areas is clear, with strong occupancy figures at all centres.”

Two more planned enterprise centres, in Bridgwater and Glastonbury, are currently at early stages of development, using funding from the Government’s towns fund matched from other contributions.