Behind the scenes demolition work is underway at Glovers Walk as the key part of the Yeovil Refresh takes a big step forward.

Somerset Council’s contractors are disconnecting utilities and removing hazardous materials like asbestos from the vacant buildings. The demolition of buildings will not take place until the New Year, avoiding additional disruption in the busy festive period.

The Council is pleased to confirm that throughout the demolition work, facilities including a passenger waiting room and accessible public toilets will be reinstated at Yeovil Bus Station. This is thanks to work with the adjacent building owners and tenants, including bus station operators First Bus and South West Coaches.

The empty Glovers Walk shopping centre was bought by the Council using Future High Streets Funding (FHSF). The ambition is that the site is redeveloped as the final part of the Refresh programme, becoming a central part of a revitalised town centre.

For this to happen, the site needs to be demolished. The deadline for spending the funding is 31 March 2025, so the demolition needs to happen over the coming months.

Community engagement work is being carried out by two local groups – Love Yeovil and Yeovil Art Space – to gain local views and ideas about how best to use the site in the short-term and this will also help inform longer-term plans. Residents and businesses are invited to take to share their thoughts and ideas and to sign up to a series of workshops at Glovers Walk Survey.

Due to the time constraints of the FHSF funding, there is an unavoidable gap between the demolition and the delivery of a longer-term development. The community consultation will help support the process of developing ideas for ‘meanwhile’ uses for the space during this period, as well as the longer-term plans

Councillor Mike Rigby, Lead Member for Economic Development, Planning and Assets, said:

Yeovil Refresh represents major investment in the town and the Glovers Walk site an exciting blank canvas at its heart.

We don’t want to tell people what should go there, we want to know what local people, businesses and communities of Yeovil want to see – in the long-term and in that shorter meanwhile period.

Most people would agree that Yeovil deserves better than it has at the moment, and this project is all about delivering that.

Once a longer-term plan for the site has been agreed, Somerset Council will be seeking a development partner to deliver it.