Shepton Mallet's bid to receive a multi-million pound cash injection for regeneration schemes has failed to win the support of local MP James Heappey.

The town had joined forces with Cheddar and Highbridge to put together a bid for a share of the government's Levelling Up Fund – a scheme put in place to support high street and town centre regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets.

And on Thursday (August 4), the local authorities announced that they had submitted the £19.3million bid.

But on the same day, MP for the Wells Constituency James Heappey announced that he wouldn't be giving the bid his backing, saying that his input and advice from the Levelling Up Minister had been ignored.

The bid is being supported by £2.4m in match funding from Sedgemoor and Mendip District Councils, bringing the total value of the potential investment in the area to £21.9m.

The Levelling Up Fund bid brings a variety of projects in Highbridge, Cheddar, Shepton Mallet and the wider districts which have been identified as having potential to deliver economic benefits and help revitalise the local economy, allowing residents to have more pride in the places they live and tackling local deprivation issues. 

The bid was prepared following advice from Central Government who highlighted Mendip and Sedgemoor as priority 1 areas most in need of Levelling Up investment. The consultation showed the overwhelming support of local residents, who agree that this investment is needed.

The Councils believe that a strong bid has been submitted that if successful will not only deliver transformational change, it will also be a catalyst for further public and private sector investment.

In Shepton Mallet, the funding would help to deliver public realm and highway infrastructure improvements, a travel hub with enhanced cycle storage and better bus interchange and tourist information, new signage and pedestrian crossing improvements.

Across parts of Sedgemoor and Mendip Districts, the funding has been earmarked to support new tourist signage, further improvements to the Strawberry Line cycle route, a new travel hub at Natural England's Avalon Marshes Centre and a new online tourism resource.

A spokesperson for Mendip District Council said: "By working together, the projects proposed in our joint bid offer opportunity and will have considerable positive impact on our communities. One of the significant areas of this bid is the extension and further improvements to the Strawberry Line, a much used and loved cycle route. This will enhance the tourism offering and provide connectivity between communities across both districts. These projects will make a real difference in Mendip, Sedgemoor, and Somerset."

But MP James Heappey has said that he won't be backing the bid, claiming that his input, and the advice from the Levelling Up Minister was ignored.

He said: "The bid to the Government's highly competitive Levelling Up Fund should have been an enormous opportunity for Highbridge, Cheddar and Shepton Mallet but instead plans for the two towns have focussed mostly on cosmetic improvements to the town centres, whilst Cheddar's bid hoped to increase tourist footfall by 40 per cent without any improvement to car parking and the village's already congested roads. 

"Regeneration in Shepton and Highbridge and a step change in the tourism offer at Cheddar were the right focus for the bid and we were all in agreement on that from the outset. 

"But as the months have gone by, I've been raising with the councils my growing concerns that plans for Highbridge and Shepton would not catalyse growth in the local economy or create more skilled jobs. 

"Whilst improving the appearance of the two town centres is hugely important and long overdue, when compared to other towns elsewhere in the country our pitch to the Levelling Up Fund was less substantial and clearly unlikely win favour." 

Mr Heappey also revealed that before a briefing with council officials four weeks ago he raised his concerns with the Levelling Up Minister, Neil O'Brien MP, to seek his advice on the likelihood of the bid succeeding. 

He said that Mr O'Brien was clear this was unlikely to find favour compared to the more imaginative bids from other towns. Mr Heappey says he subsequently shared this advice with the councils but, despite the advice "there were no meaningful changes to the bid offered by the councils. "

Mr Heappey says that he has written to the leader of Sedgemoor District Council to offer his support in developing a more strategic bid that genuinely drives economic growth in Highbridge, Shepton and Cheddar but in a way that respects the needs of existing residents.

A Mendip spokesman said it was "disappointing that James Heappey MP has not formally endorsed the levelling up fund bid that seeks to secure over £19m of investment into parts of the constituency in most need.

"The prospectus for the Levelling Up Fund confirms that MP support is not a requirement for submission of the bid or indeed its ultimate success".

Cllr Matt Harrison, chairman of Shepton Mallet Town Council, said: "It's obviously disappointing that Shepton Mallet finds itself without it's MPs support of the Levelling Up fund bid that was sponsored by Mendip. Once the decision on whether it is successful or not is formally announced, I hope all levels of government will sit down together to decide on the best way to drive economic development in the town; with the imminent disappearance of our district council that currently has that responsibility, the Town Council, the new unitary Council and our MP need to be aligned on the best way forward."

The Levelling Up Fund is jointly managed by HM Treasury (HMT), the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department for Transport (DfT) to deliver investment in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK. The £4.8 billion fund is supporting town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets. Decisions on this funding round are expected in autumn 2022.

For more, see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-fund-round-2-prospectus