Visitors to Glastonbury could find it a lot easier to move around the town as part of effects to regenerate the town centre.

Glastonbury was one of 101 towns across the UK – and one of only two in Somerset – which has received funding from the government's towns fund, with £23.6M being provided for projects designed to enhance the town centre and improve the town's fortunes.

An initial list of 12 projects was published in January 2021, with the government providing £500,000 of 'accelerator funding' upfront for five smaller initiatives designed to kick-start the town's redevelopment.

Mendip District Council's cabinet agreed the business cases for ten of the 11 finished projects in June, with central government allowing for a short delay in the eleventh project being finalise.

The business case for this project – dubbed the Robert Richards initiative – has now been approved unanimously by the cabinet, with final confirmation from the government expected in the late-autumn.

The Robert Richards initiative is named after the former chairman of the town deal board, who passed away in March aged 65, and is designed to reflect the theme of 'sustainability' which runs through each of the other projects.

To that end, it has three basic aims:

– Creating an "innovative website and learning platform" in collaboration with the Open University – the first partnership of its kind in the UK – to support the other town deal projects, local people and businesses

– Allowing three buildings already included in the town deal to become more green through "innovative sustainability solutions"

– Delivering more than 1.5 miles of multi-user paths across the town, connecting up the town deal project sites for pedestrians and cyclists as well as complimenting the Glastonbury Way

The Glastonbury Way circular route was one of five projects delivered through the initial 'accelerator funding' provided during the coronavirus pandemic.

A further connection between the town and the Avalon Marshes Centre on Shapwick Road forms part of a £19.3M bid to the government's levelling up fund, which was recently submitted by Mendip and Sedgemoor councils.

Councillor Liz Leyshon, portfolio holder for corporate services and projects, said that civil servants from Whitehall had praised the project at the most recent meeting of the town deal board.

She said: "On the last town deal board meeting, the civil servant responsible for this bid said: 'Glastonbury is the golden child of the towns fund, and it is shimmering in the programme.'

"I was absolutely astonished by that – not just because it was lyrical and the way she said it was quite beautiful, but because it is so unusual for a civil servant to speak in such terms.

"I think that pays tribute to the work of the board for the extraordinarily innovative way they have found to work on the town fund."

Councillor Heather Shearer, portfolio holder for community health services, said she was "massively impressed" by the business case.

Councillor Barry O'Leary, portfolio holder for enterprise and finance, said it was "fantastic for Glastonbury" – but was also critical of local MP James Heappey for not backing proposals to regenerate Shepton Mallet.

Mr Heappey – who has represented the Wells constituency since 2015 – has been a passionate supporter of the Glastonbury town deal, but declined to support the "unimaginative" levelling up fund bid (which included improvements to Shepton Mallet town centre) after claiming his ideas had been "ignored" by council officers.

Mr O'Leary said: "This is fantastic for Glastonbury – but then I remember that we're a district with four towns, a city and rural communities, and how other communities looked to their members of parliament for support and just got silence.

"So while I commend the great support this has got across all parties, I think of where we're sitting in Shepton and think: yet again, Shepton falls short in terms of the support of its member of parliament, and that's just wrong.

"When you empower communities like Glastonbury, and give them the time and support, look what happens."

All 11 business cases for Glastonbury have now been submitted to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) for final approval, with the funding expected to be released for the different projects from the autumn.

The town deal funding will have to be spent in its entirety by 2026.

Map Of The Glastonbury Way. CREDIT: Mendip District Council.