IT is 15 months since Wansbrough Paper Mill suddenly closed - but what is happening at the site now and what does the future hold?
This week the County Gazette has been speaking with interested parties to get their thoughts on what is next for the historic site.

The mill was Watchet’s largest employer but closed its doors for the final time on Christmas Eve 2015 after 265 years of trading, leaving 176 staff out of work.

Mill owners DS Smith said the ageing plant lost a major contract and could not justify the huge investment that would be necessary to raise standards to meet the demands of the modern market and comply with new pollution controls. 

At the time, Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger described the loss of the mill as an ‘immense tragedy’.
He has been holding regular meetings with the owners but says it will still be a number of years before the site can be developed.

“The operation includes a number of phases,” Mr Liddell-Grainger said. “The first is shutdown which is virtually complete – this has included selling the equipment and a lot of paperwork. 
“Next is the decontamination of the site. This in itself could take up to two years, it will be quite some time before the site can come back into use which makes it difficult to speculate on what may or may not go there.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger said working to decontaminate the ground and relay soil was a lengthy process.“There are companies that specialise in this sort of work, so it may work that DS Smith sell the site to one of these specialist companies who decontaminate and then sell it on again to a developer,” Mr Liddell-Grainger said. “The next priority is to work out what we want to see on the site, whether it is housing, industry, leisure or hopefully a mix of the three.
“I want to assure people that work is ongoing but the sequence of events will take a long time – no-one wants the site sitting there empty. It is probably the second biggest industrial site in West Somerset behind Hinkley and has huge potential.”

Karen Mills, portfolio holder for regeneration and economic growth at West Somerset Council, said: “It was extremely disappointing that the area lost a significant employer and as a council we worked hard with the paper mill to ensure the 176 staff had appropriate access to career advice and support. 
“The site itself is a significant employment site and one that we would love to see developed back into full use. As a council we are having ongoing discussions with any interested parties that come along – and promote the site to potential inward investors where we can. Clearly we hope to see a return to some form of business use, that helps to replenish the local jobs that were lost when the paper mill closed.”

Cllr Peter Murphy, chairman of Watchet Town Council, said: “The town council ideally, would like to see this site utilised in the future with something that would replace the jobs that were lost when the Paper Mill as the largest employer in Watchet closed its doors. 

“The town council would wholeheartedly support a project or development that would have a wider economic benefit to the town. The town council recognises the success to date of the archiving project on this site, and would like to thank everyone involve.”

John Richards, chairman of Watchet Chamber of Trade said he was disappointed at how little information was available about what was going on.

“I have nothing about the future of the site, but the chamber would love see industrial units built there to encourage larger businesses to the area,” Mr Richards said.

“Small distribution hubs would also be great as we are off the beaten track and I am sure this would be useful to a lot of companies.
“It would be a shame if the site was solely used for residential. We are not aware of the owners plans but will be fighting to make sure the site is used for industry and jobs.”

DS Smith were contacted but only stated that they were exploring options and talking to interested parties.

Georgie Grant from Watchet’s Onion Collective said: “The regeneration work we have done in Watchet shows how important it is to properly consult and engage the community in development work. 

“We would urge the developer of the Paper Mill site to do this, and would be happy to work with them on any community consultation work they choose to carry out.”

Contains Art is putting together a heritage project which looks to preserve and celebrate the history of the Paper Mill.

Jon Barrett from Contains Art said: “We need help from everyone in Watchet and beyond in gathering as much information as we possibly can to form part of the archive.”

“The Wansbrough Project archive will be deposited in the Somerset Archive for use for future generations to research and find out about the Mill so the more information we can deposit the better.”