B&NES Council is due to meet on Thursday to approve final site allocations and proposals to expand the area’s Business Enterprise Zone.

The Council has been asked by the Government to submit a business case for the expansion of the Enterprise Zone, which it won as part of a bid last year to help regenerate old industrial sites and encourage local employment and business growth, particularly targeting areas in need following major factory closures. It is also hoped that it will bring better broadband and investment to the area. The Somer Valley was chosen alongside Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Riverside.

The proposed sites for expansion locally include Old Mills, Paulton, the Welton Bibby and Baron site, land at Westfield, Bath Business Park at Peasedown St John, Welton Hollow and the Midsomer Norton Enterprise Park. Keynsham is also being included in the plans. Speaking about the forthcoming meeting, Cllr Barry Macrae (Conservative, Midsomer Norton North), said: “It has taken a long time to get here, and we are grateful for the support from the planners and the Cabinet. It’s obviously good news for Midsomer Norton, but I welcome the help to other areas of the Somer Valley, too. It’s a really positive step forward for local work for local people – it will stop people having to commute every day and I hope that the community and the local Chamber of Commerce will treat this positively.”

It is projected that there would be an extra 2,952 jobs created in the Somer Valley through the Enterprise Zone.