Radstock Co-operative supermarket shut down in August 2020, and the long-awaited demolition process began just months ago in November 2022. The process started with an "internal soft strip" before moving on to external demolition in December.

With bulldozing now well underway, The Journal looked into the planning applications made to decipher the future of the site.

An initial application was submitted in 2018 for big changes to be made, two years prior to the closure of the store.

Some details have since been changed, which can be viewed via the B&NES Council website.

Cllr Eleanor Jackson (Westfield), said: "There had been innumerable delays because of problems with the planning applications, getting the asbestos removed from a 1959 building, finance and finding subcontractors with space in their busy schedules. I could only help with the B&NES Council interface, as ward councillor for Westfield. Economic uplift for all B&NES residents is a Labour obsession of course, but having a suitable ‘gateway’ successor building enhancing the conservation area at the entrance to Westfield is the icing on the cake!"

Radstock councillor Chris Dando said, "It's good to see the site finally being cleared, so that the new building can commence. The Co-op is a major employer who is making a significant investment in the centre of Radstock that will help with the ongoing regeneration of the Town."

"We are now working with B&NES Council to look at other properties within the Town Centre in need of improvement. The Town Council is also acquiring the former Trinity Methodist Church to redevelop as a community facility."

"The street scene in Radstock will have changed following the demolition, but it signals a bright future for our town."

After taking a trip down to The Street in Radstock, Cllr Jackson reflected, "‘everyone is excitedly talking about the demolition of the RADCO store in the centre of Radstock, Westfield ward."

"There seems to be a similar enthusiasm among the workforce because yesterday I got reports of small chips and dust showering vehicles queued up in the Somervale Road in ‘rush hour’. The future of this ‘gateway’ site to Westfield in the heart of the Radstock conservation area has provoked more ward councillor conversations between me and local residents than any other subject except the former railway lands development. I am absolutely delighted that the project is finally going ahead after I spent so much time nudging things through the planning system."

"In 2018 Radstock Co-operative Society employed more than 180 people locally, and we need the jobs the store and the six or so small shops the site will provide. Since 2006 I have been fighting to get Radstock/Westfield recognised as a proper retail and entertainment destination, and the development, one of the aspirations of the Westfield Neighbourhood Plan (2017), will go a long way to providing that."

"The Radstock Co-operative Society, of which I am a member, has twenty four stores stretching from Peasedown St John to Bridgewater. For historic reasons, these are administered from Radstock, and in addition to the shops there will be a modern head office, properly accessible. There will be twenty nine dwellings in this part of the development, eventually fifty four. At present the intention is to provide the ‘affordable or social housing’ by means of a co-operative housing scheme for present and former RADCO employees. So win-win".

There is one slight concern for Eleanor - wildlife emigration.

"One only hopes that the otters, sometimes seen 4-5 am in the stream, will not move home, and will flourish in the ecological mitigation scheme. "

RADCO have set up a live stream of the regeneration project. To view, click here.