Somerset Council has said its rural enterprise centres provide "value for money" for taxpayers – despite the most recently-completed centre still being empty months after it was completed.

The rural enterprise centres form a network of offices and light industrial space across Somerset, and are intended to provide commercial space in parts of the county where the private sector has failed to meet local need.

The most recent of these centres, at the bottom of Beeching Close in Chard, remains vacant after its soft opening in the summer, with each of its units currently being marketed by Alder King.

But Somerset Council has defended the centres, claiming they are serving their intended purposes – and assured taxpayers that the new Chard units would become occupied over the coming months.

There are currently ten rural enterprise centres in Somerset, including Chard's, which have been constructed through a mixture of external grant funding and council borrowing.

The other nine centres currently operational are as follows:

• Barle Enterprise Centre, B3322 Battleton, Dulverton – 11 industrial units and one office
• Bruton Enterprise Centre, A359 Frome Road, Bruton – ten offices, five light industrial units and one studio space
• Keyford Court Enterprise Centre, Manor Furlong, Frome – 16 industrial units
• Highbridge Enterprise Centre, Isleport Business Park, Bennett Road, Highbridge – six light industrial units and one large office hub
• Minehead Enterprise Centre, Mart Road, Minehead – five industrial units, four offices and one hot desking space
• Wells Enterprise Centre, Cathedral Avenue, Cathedral Park, Wells – 12 offices and five light industrial units
• Market Enterprise Centre, B3224 Summerway, Wheddon Cross – five industrial units
• Williton Skills and Enterprise Centre, Bridge Street, Williton – four offices and two training spaces
• Wiveliscombe Enterprise Centre, Sandys Moor, Wivesliscombe – ten offices and seven light industrial units

As of September this year, nine of the ten units have an occupancy rate of 84 per cent or higher – with Bruton and Wells being 100 per cent occupied and Barle, Highbridge, Minehead and Wheddon Cross all being close to capacity.

The council said it was confident that the Chard centre would gradually increase in use over the next few years as new businesses settled in the town and existing ones expanded.

A spokesman said "We are currently advertising, with the first tenants expected shortly.

"Our modelling for new centres anticipates an occupancy of circa 30 per cent in the first year, increasing over time to between 85 per cent and 90 per cent over five years.

"The Somerset enterprise centre network is considered to represent good value for money.

"The operating model for the network should be self-financing longer term, with rental income covering running, maintenance and renewal costs.

"The most recently built centres noted above have leveraged more than £5m of external grant funding in rural locations. Where possible funds have been spent with local contactors."

The most recent enterprise centres have been delivered in part through external grant funding, including contributions from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Heart of the South West local enterprise partnership (LEP).

The £3.29m Wiveliscombe centre, which opened in October 2020, included a £972,000 contribution from the ERDF and LEP, and was designed to complement the Elworthy Place development delivered on the adjoining land by Barratt Homes.

Similar grants were also made to the centres in Wells, which opened in December 2020 (£1.3m out of a £2.3m budget) and Bruton, which opened in December 2021 (£1.5m out of a £2.5m budget).

The most recent centre in Chard, which cost £4.4m to deliver, included a £1.5m contribution from the EDRF – and also involved upgrading a footpath linking to the Stop Line Way active travel route, which runs into the town centre and out towards Ilminster.

A spokesman said: "Grant funding conditions require that projects commission an evaluation of the project to identify any learning for future projects.

"The independent reports for the above centres have identified net return for every £1 invested, ranging from £1.54 to £3.98.

"On review of one of the most recent projects in Bruton, an independent assessment of the office space project estimated that £570,000 of the budget cost of this was spent locally. It is estimated that the Bruton project created or secured 14 jobs.

"The demand for units in rural areas is clear with strong occupancy figures at all centres."

Two additional enterprise centres are currently at early stages of development, using funding from the government's towns fund matched from other contributions.

In Bridgwater, a new "step-up" centre will be created in the town centre, near the Angel Place shopping centre to give small businesses opportunities to test their products in 'pop-up' shops – with £700,000 coming from the Bridgwater town deal to make this a reality.

As part of the Glastonbury town deal, the Glastonbury enterprise and innovation hub will be created from the existing council-owned Beckery Resource Centre on Beckery Road, at a cost of £1.7m.

 The council put forward proposals to revamp and expand the Keyford Court centre as part of a bid to the government's levelling up fund, which also included the delivery of co-working space on Carrington Way in Wincanton.

Following the failure of this bid, the council is expected to undertake improvements to the Frome site under its own steam, with a contract expected to be awarding in the coming months.