INDEPENDENT Parliamentary candidate Mike Rigby has called for action on the deteriorating condition of Tonedale Mill, near Wellington.

The mill, a former woollen textile mill complex, was last year listed as one of the ten most endangered Victorian and Edwardian buildings in England and Wales by the Victorian Society.

Writing on Facebook, County Councillor Mike Rigby insisted the buildings have been neglected for too long.

He said: “Some of these buildings are listed and are among the country’s most important examples of Victorian industrial heritage; and they are severely at risk.

“Taunton Deane Borough Council has significant powers under the Listed Buildings Act but seems serially reluctant to use them. We saw the same reticence at Sandhill Park, near Bishops Lydeard, which led to the arson attack that partially destroyed the mansion.”

The mill was earmarked for housing, yet nothing has happened on the site yet.

Cllr Rigby added: “As well as providing the spark to ignite action by becoming Taunton Deane’s MP, I will be lobbying on behalf of prospective borough councillors at the forthcoming council elections who show a similar desire to wake Taunton Deane from its slumber and drive forward the development of a series of redundant sites in the borough, including Tonedale Mill.

“I will also be speaking to the owners of the mill in order to gauge their appetite for actually bringing a redevelopment forward.

“If there is insufficient interest, then I will be encouraging them to sell it to a third party that shows the requisite desire, has the necessary means and the appropriate skill to deliver a sensitive conversion/restoration.

“In my view, some of the buildings at Tonedale Mill are of greater historical and architectural interest than Salts Mill, in Yorkshire.

“The latter is lauded as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, whereas the former, in the midst of our borough, lies rotting and neglected. Action is long-overdue.”