No money for solar panels on Octagon Theatre under £15m upgrade
Council shelves solar plans to keep Octagon project within budget
There will be no money to install solar panels on the roof of the Octagon Theatre under its impending £15m regeneration.
Somerset Council secured planning permission in late-February for its planned regeneration of the Yeovil theatre, which will see significant improvements to the auditorium and backstage area in order to stage a wider range of events.
The council is about to begin the procurement process to secure a contractor for the scheme, which will be funded by a £10m government grant, £3.75m from Yeovil Town Council (which will run the theatre after it reopens) and £1.25m from a ticket levy, fundraising and other secured contributions.
But the new theatre will not include solar panels or heat pumps, which could cut its long-term running costs – with officers stating “something else would have to give” if these were included.
Councillor Andy Kendall (whose Yeovil Central division includes the theatre) raised the issue when the council’s communities scrutiny committee met in Taunton on Thursday morning (March 26).
He said: “This is a big building, and we’re in a climate emergency. It’s very energy-heavy.
“Even though it’s closed at the moment with the doors locked, we’re still paying £3,000 a month just to have it sat there doing nothing – and we know when it’s open, it’s averaging £9,000 to £10,000 a month.
“Why are we not putting solar panels on it? Why is that not in the plan?
“We talk about other buildings in our county that are putting them on and doing great. This is the time to do things like this – you have to invest to save sometimes.”
Chris Hall, the council’s executive director for community, place and economy, said that the cost of installing solar panels would push the project’s budget beyond its £15m limit – meaning a different element of the scheme would have to be sacrificed.
He said: “It’s a really valid question – you look at the roof and you think: ‘How many solar panels could I get on there?’.
“The simple answer is one of capital cost. There’s a scheme here which is really tight – we started off with a much more ambitious scheme, as you know.
“We’ve had to curtail our ambitions significantly, and what we have in front of us is a scheme that we are determined to deliver for £15m.
“If we add in things which are additional costs, something else has to give.
“At the moment, we can’t find a justification for adding in solar when something else would have to give that would have a knock-on effect to the finished scheme, either in its accessibility standards or in its ongoing operating costs.
“The beauty of solar, of course, is that there is still an option at the end of the project that it could be added – it’s a fairly simple addition, unlike some of the design changes that have to be made now to the structure of the building.”
The original vision for the Octagon Theatre regeneration was expected to cost £23m – but this spiralled to £30m due to rising inflation and interest rates, leading the council to scale the project down to its current vision.
Councillor Edric Hobbs (Liberal Democrat, Mendip Hills) said: “Costs always seem to go up on every project, because of the amount of time they take.
“Do you have in the back of your mind things you night have to cut back on if costs escalate?”
Mr Hall replied: “We have a range of contingencies built into the budget, and we are monitoring those as we go.
“We made a change to the flooring design – it was an upgrade that we think is worthwhile, at around £12,000 of additional cost, which came from one of the contingency pots. So there is some room for manoeuvre within those budgets.
“If we get to a stage where we see costs rising to an extent that can’t be managed within those contingencies, we’ll have to make some decisions around value engineering – and we would naturally start with the things that don’t directly impact the operational cost of the building.
“What we don’t want to do is cut something out that then means revenue is reduced for the theatre. We are doing our best to protect and defend the design and impact of this building.”
Councillor Marcus Kravis (Liberal Democrat, Dunster) said: “It’s a shame that the planned capacity didn’t get up to as high as initially thought, but it is really good that Yeovil is going to get this facility.
“I would go further than solar panels, I would have ground source heat pumps.
“I’m sure there’s people who are cleverer than me who could work out that the extra capital investment would probably pay for itself in a short amount of time.”
The council will begin to procure a contractor for the project in April, with the final business case expected to be approved by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) by the summer.
The council will formally appoint its chosen contractor in November, with construction formally getting under way in January 2027.
Councillor Wes Read (Lib Dem, Yeovil West) said that every effort should be made the delivery the project as soon as possible, given how long the venue had been closed.
He said: “For me, we’re probably not being quick enough. I’m asked on the doorstep quite often: ‘How much longer? How much longer?’.
“Let’s hope it moves along very quickly – as quickly as possible.”