Many thanks to Lauren, who found a few articles by BBC Somerset:
£10.6m bill to redevelop tannery
24 February 2003
Quote:
"More than £10m is needed to redevelop a huge disused tannery in Somerset which has been empty for more than 15 years.
The South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) is asking the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for £10.6m to fund the next stage of the development of the Morlands site near Glastonbury.
So far, the RDA has spent £5m on acquiring the 30,000 square metres of derelict buildings at the factory, which made leather and sheepskin products for 150 years."
Note the caption under the picture: Proposal for Morlands include offices and a skate park. The skate park was opened in 2003 but demolished without warning last year due to "health and safety considerations". Luckily a new park is being built: no thanks to the RDA.
Approval for tannery's £13m revamp
7 May 2003
Quote:
"A disused tannery will be demolished after the government approved a £13m plan to revitalise the site.
The cash will mean the Morlands site on the outskirts of Glastonbury will be transformed with new roads, refurbished houses and a skateboard park.
There will also be space for small and medium sized businesses.
After Wednesday's official announcement, the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) said it would now press ahead with redeveloping the rundown area."
Redeveloping? Yeah, right. I found a new word for it: developmestruction
Old tannery demolition continues
9 January 2004
Quote:
"The second phase to clear the site of an ex-tannery for redevelopment has started.
The old Morlands sheepskin factory in Glastonbury, Somerset, lay empty for 15 years before being bought by the South West Regional Development Agency in 2001.
A total of 29 buildings on the 31-acre site have already been cleared, and work has now started to demolish the derelict Hepworth building, and an on-site chapel.
Proposals recently submitted for the site include a combined emergency services control centre, offices, shops and cafes."
Great! We'd like to see them!
I love the next headline:
Morlands site ready for business
27 May 2004
Quote:
"The site of a former sheepskin factory in Somerset is finally ready for a developer to transform it for new use.
Morlands in Glastonbury has been one of the biggest industrial wastelands in the region.
In the 1960s the tannery employed hundreds of workers during the sheepskin boom but when the industry declined, it was left to rot."
...until the Wunnerful SWRDA took it over, spent 19 million quid...and left it to rot.
Developers to revamp old tannery
13 December 2006
Quote:
"Two developers have signed up to redevelop a former sheepskin factory site in Glastonbury.
Urban Splash and Priority Sites will build offices and other buildings at the new Morlands Enterprise Park, providing 400 jobs.
Work will begin in spring 2007, with business moving on to the site in 2008.
The 31-acre former tannery site has been now been fully cleared. It had been one of the biggest industrial wastelands in the region."
It's still a wasteland, except it's now empty and has a lovely set of traffic lights.
I'll add a headline of my own:
Autocratic, wasteful and arrogant Regional Development Agency invent another good-news story and then do nothing of any use to the local community.
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