Recently published Midsomer Norton Town Council papers have revealed further costs and ongoing delays associated with the refurbishment of Midsomer Norton Town Hall.
At a recent Town Council meeting, councillors agreed to set aside a further £59,000 towards the project.
The largest allocation is £49,000, which was set aside to cover a future retention payment owed under the construction contract. Retention money is normally withheld until building work is fully completed and any defects have been resolved. According to the council minutes, the payment is now expected to fall into the 2027/28 financial year because of what the council describes as “further contractual delays” to the Town Hall refurbishment project.
The Council also set aside an additional £10,000 for the Town Hall project. According to the committee report, the funding is needed to cover ongoing project management costs and other monthly expenses that continue while the contract remains unfinished.
The council papers also show that a further £2,259.74 of expenditure was incurred during April 2026 that had not been included in earlier forecasts.
Whilst councillors have discussed the increasing costs and delays during council meetings, little information regarding the additional expenditure and revised timescales has been publicly announced. The last update published on the Town Council’s website regarding the refurbishment project was in September 2024. At that time, the anticipated reopening date was January 2025.
The Council has not stated when the refurbishment project will be completed or when the building will reopen to the public. No public events have yet been announced for the Town Hall, and the Council has not publicly confirmed which organisations will occupy the building when it reopens or what annual income the building is expected to generate.
Previously, the main tenant of the Town Hall was Midsomer Norton Community Trust, which also managed the building and organised events including the Community Cinema. However, after the Town Council declined to award the Trust a grant in January this year, the Trust made its full-time manager redundant. As a result, the Trust will no longer require space within the Town Hall when it reopens.
The future of the Community Cinema also remains unclear, with no plans for its return having been publicly announced.
The Town Hall refurbishment contract was signed in July 2022 with a construction value of £1.095 million and a completion date of 30 June 2023. However, council figures published earlier this year showed that the main contract value had increased to approximately £1.97 million, an increase of around £875,000 or almost 80 per cent.
The total project cost, including professional fees and associated expenses, is currently estimated at £2.38 million.
Nearly three years after the original completion date, the project is still not finished and the Council continues to set aside additional funds to cover ongoing costs.
The latest council papers provide no further explanation of the “further contractual delays” referred to in the committee minutes. Nor do they indicate whether the current estimated project cost of £2.38 million represents the final cost of the refurbishment.
With the project now approaching three years beyond its original completion date, some residents have questioned the lack of public updates and are seeking greater clarity on the final cost of the project, the reasons for the continuing delays and when the Town Hall will reopen.
The Council has previously reported borrowing £590,000 through the Public Works Loan Board to help fund the refurbishment project. Repayments on that borrowing are expected to cost approximately £30,000 per year for 50 years.
Local residents are left wondering what are the delays to the Town Hall reopening are, when will the building reopen, what will be the total cost of the refurbishment project, what public events are planned, and what will be the income for the building?
If this was a private company then all involved with the approval of this white elephant would have been fired and publicly shamed. As it’s not, then I think all councillors that voted in favour of this, against public opinion, should do the right thing and resign immediately so that we can have a council that actually represents what the residents of Midsomer Norton actually need and want.
This has been a total waste of public money (we know ther was a grant but it’s tax payers that will eventually have to foot the bill) – and along with the unused market place (as it’s too dear to hire) and crazy golf, which after the initial rush is now quiet, it’s been a total PR disaster for the council, which they now seem intent on hushing up!
Perhaps they’re waiting for the next election so that when they they’re all voted out they won’t be there to be blamed?
Added to this that they have also opposed the new Lidl development, they seem determined to kill off the town.
This is a very interesting article. Can you provide links to the papers referenced? This information isn’t detailed in the meeting papers published on the Town Council website – https://msn-tc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Agenda-Full-Council-Meeting-1st-June-2026.pdf.
It would be useful to know who authored this story?