Shepton Mallet could receive a share of £80M for new regeneration projects if funding from central government is approved.

Somerset's four district councils are finalising four bids to the government's levelling up fund, which could see town centres given a new lease of life and major improvements to local infrastructure.

The four councils have already been working on their own regeneration schemes, funded either by other government funding pots or out of their own funds, which are at various stages of progress.

A decision on the levelling up bids is expected in the autumn, with the money having to be spent in full by the end of March 2025.

Here's everything we know so far about the bids.

What is the levelling up fund?

The government announced the £4.8bn levelling up fund in the 2021 Budget, with the money being made available in different rounds up to March 2025.

The first round of the fund, which focussed on "oven-ready" schemes to improve local infrastructure, saw success for Somerset County Council, which was awarded just over £10M to improve the "Bridgwater northern corridor" – including enhancing the Cross Rifles roundabout (where the A38 and A39 join) and delivering big improvements to the Dunball roundabout near junction 23 of the M5.

Successful bids in this current round have to meet one or more of the following three themes:

Transport investments

Regeneration and town centre investment

Cultural investment

Bids to the levelling up fund have to be done on the basis of parliamentary constituency boundaries, rather than the boundaries of local councils – meaning councils have to work together and share the fruits of any successful bid.

Each successful bid can provide up to £20M for projects – but each MP can only support one bid for their constituency in each round.

Furthermore, different parts of the country are given different priorities for funding, with the intention being that successful bids target the area which most require investment and support.

Which Somerset constituencies are bidding this time around?

There are five parliamentary constituencies within the political county of Somerset – Bridgwater and West Somerset, Somerton and Frome, Taunton Deane, Wells and Yeovil.

All five of these seats returned Conservative MPs at the last general election in December 2019.

Four of these constituencies are submitting bids this time around – with Yeovil being the one choosing not to bid.

Each constituency could receive up to £20M – meaning a total of £80M could pour into Somerset if all four bids are successful.

Small amounts of detail about each bid have been published up to this point, with consultations taking place about potential projects – but the four district councils have declined to put any more meat on the bones at this stage.

In a joint statement, they said: "The bids are still under development and so it is not possible to confirm which projects in which locations and to what funding ceiling will be submitted to government.

"The aim with the collaborative bids is to present to government projects that support the criteria set, and allow the funds to be allocated fairly across the current individual district council areas.

"The towns selected are those where significant regeneration is needed to support residents and businesses."

The Wells seat – represented by James Heappey since 2015 – stretches from the coastal town of Burnham-on-Sea to the edge of the Mendip Hills AONB near the eponymous cathedral city.

Glastonbury has already seen significant government funding committed, with the £23.6M town deal expected to deliver huge benefits in local employment, education, transport, leisure and the environment by 2026.

In light of this, the levelling up bid for this seat focuses on three settlements which are seeing significant housing growth – Cheddar, Highbridge and Shepton Mallet.

Sedgemoor's executive released more details of this bid on Wednesday (June 1), having previously launched a consultation for all three areas which will expire on June 24.

Mr Lucas said in his report: "The Wells bid aims to address a number of historic issues including under investment in town centres and infrastructure, social deprivation, weakened local economy and decline in the tourism industry.

"For Shepton and Highbridge, this means supporting opportunities for regeneration through new employment, housing and improved community facilities.

"For Cheddar the bid will be focussed on substantially enhancing the tourism offer (which over time has significantly degraded), making much more of its natural assets and linking these through active travel."

The council's ongoing consultation has already identified several options for improving Highbridge – including upgrades to the B3139 Market Street, a new transport hub near the railway station, and improved flood defences on the River Brue.

A previous consultation, staged by Mendip District Council in October, put forward options for Shepton Mallet – including better pedestrian links between the town centre and lido, improvements to Collett Park, redeveloping the former prison and extending the Strawberry Line active travel route.

Regarding Cheddar, Mr Lucas said the bid would focus on "supporting and enhancing the visitor environment and experience" at Cheddar Gorge, as well as "a number of interventions that can improve user connectivity within the village and within the wider tourism area" – which may include the Strawberry line and the infamous 'magic roundabout' near Axbridge.

What happens next?

The four bids will be submitted to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) by July 6.

These will then be scrutinised thoroughly by government officials, with councils finding out in the autumn whether they have been successful.

The councils stated: "The decision from the government regarding these bids is likely to be available in autumn 2022, with work to commence in the current financial year (2022/23) and completion of the projects is required by March 31, 2025."

With this timeframe, any projects begun by the four districts will come to fruition under the new unitary Somerset Council, which will formally assume power on April 1, 2023.