Bridgwater’s historic docks will be given a new lease of life as part of a multi-million-pound regeneration programme for the town.

Bridgwater is one of 101 towns across the UK – and one of only two in Somerset – which has received funding from the government’s towns fund, with £22.6m being provided for projects designed to enhance the town centre and improve the town’s fortunes.

The initial programme included the regeneration of the Northgate Docks, which separates the River Parrett from the eastern end of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal.

Sedgemoor District Council has now approved more than £5m of funding to deliver this regeneration, as well as providing new pedestrian and cycling infrastructure around the site to link up with the town’s ‘Celebration Mile’.

The Grade II listed docks are currently owned by Somerset County Council and are “in a poor state”, with numerous elements needing to be completely replaced.

The docks were previously leased to the Canals & Rivers Trust, which operated it as a residential marina.

The district council intends to replace the pontoons and other infrastructure to provide “a high-quality residential and leisure marina community, and a new destination feature in the town centre”, similar to Watchet Marina on the west Somerset coast.

A total of £5.2m from the town deal budget will be spent on the project, with £4.2m being specifically directed at the docks and the remaining £1m being used to deliver better walking and cycling links.

This latter sum was originally due to be spent on better cycle links around the A38 Bristol Road; however, these will now be delivered by the county council following its successful £10m bid to the government’s levelling up fund.

Nathaniel Lucas, the council’s service manager for economic development, told the executive committee on Wednesday morning (November 30) that revitalising the docks would provide a focal point for tourism and be a crucial component of Bridgwater’s growing active travel network.

He said in his written report: “Following completion of the Bridgwater local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP), the docks area is emerging as a critical connecting hub creating active travel routes which link the planned river corridor network to the tidal barrage and major employment destinations to the north, through the docks and towards the new Northgate Yard commercial area and the wider town centre.”

The docks form the western endpoint of the Celebration Mile, which runs through Brewery Field and the recently-completed Northgate Yard complex, through the town centre and out to the railway station.

The council’s development committee has already approved plans to deliver three separate sections of the Celebration Mile, with work on all three phases due to begin by the summer of 2023.

Once the work on the docks has been completed, the site will be transferred to Bridgwater Town Council as part of the wider reorganisation of local government in Somerset.

Council leader Duncan McGinty said: “This will compliment all the other developments which are taking place in the town, and show it is an exemplar compared to other town deals in the area.”

Councillor Mark Healey said: “This will be a great extension to Northgate Yard as you walk through.”

Following unanimous approval by the executive, the council will now submit the business case for the carnival project to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) for final approval.

Provided approval is granted by March 2023, the council – or its unitary successor – will be able to consult with the public on the detailed designs and secure planning permission by early-2024.

The bulk of the construction work on the docks will be carried out between April 2024 and March 2025, with the project expected to be completed in its entirety by June 2025.