Mendip now faces being absorbed in a bigger authority – either by merging with South Somerset District Council or a single county-wide unitary council – and Mendip’s leader says they are happy for the City Council to take back control of the historic Bishop’s Barn and adjoining Recreation Ground.
They are now managed by a Mendip-controlled trust with about £470,000 in the bank which would come with the assets. Negotiations will start shortly. The costs that come with the assets are for maintenance and refurbishment. The historic tithe barn is very rarely used and needs an interior makeover to develop it as a venue for, perhaps, exhibitions and performances.