Block Management in Midsomer Norton
Class 6 radon at the centre and no square below class 5
We provide block, estate and leasehold management in Midsomer Norton for RMCs, RTM companies and freeholders. Radon here is the highest reading of any town covered on this site, with six of twelve squares in class 6 and none below class 5. The conservation area was itself on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register in 2018, and much of the town is a Coal Authority development high risk area.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Midsomer Norton
Measure Radon Before Anything Else
Every square over the town is class 5 or class 6, the maximum band. We would recommend radon measurement in communal areas, basements and sealed communal risers, and record the results before any works that change ventilation paths.
ComplianceAllow for a Coal Mining Risk Assessment
The council's placemaking plan puts much of the town in a Coal Authority development high risk area requiring a coal mining risk assessment. We would allow for that in the specification and consultation for any ground or extension works.
Major works and Section 20Reserve for Heritage-Appropriate External Works
The Midsomer Norton and Welton conservation area was on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register as published in 2018, its condition very bad and its trend improving. We would plan reserve funds for suitable external works and obtain consents before specifying them.
Reserve fundsInspect Drains on Logged Sewer Flooding Streets
Sewer flooding has been logged on Chilcompton Road, Riverside Walk, Phillis Hill, Westhill Road and Somer Avenue. For a block on those streets we would schedule drainage inspections and raise defects with Wessex Water, which provides sewerage here.
InspectionsManaging a Block in Midsomer Norton at a Glance
- Local authority
- Bath and North East Somerset Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Bath and North East Somerset Council Building Control
- County
- Somerset
- Fire and rescue service
- Avon Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Bristol Water for supply and Wessex Water for sewerage
- Setting
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Midsomer Norton to Us
Management is a fixed annual fee, quoted for the building and agreed before we start. We take no commission and no third-party incentives, so the fee is the whole of what we earn from the building. Taking a block on carries a one-off start-up fee, set by size:
| Block size | Fee |
|---|---|
| Start-up fee, up to 10 units | £420.00 |
| Start-up fee, up to 25 units | £540.00 |
| Start-up fee, 50 units and above | £660.00 |
Taken from our published Additional Services price list, PBM Form #01-27 rev.6, effective 23 June 2025. All fees quoted are inclusive of VAT. See the full price list and how a handover works.
No Midsomer Norton Square Falls Below Radon Class 5
The highest radon reading of any town covered anywhere on this site, and the single most consequential fact on this page. The town centre returns class 6, the maximum band, where the published wording is that maximum radon potential is greater than 30 per cent of homes at or above the action level. Across the twelve one-kilometre squares covering the town, six are class 6 and six are class 5 at 10 to 30 per cent: there is no square below class 5 anywhere in Midsomer Norton. This is former coalfield ground, and the council's placemaking plan separately puts much of the town in a Coal Authority development high risk area requiring a coal mining risk assessment. For block management that bears directly on ground floor flats, basements, sealed communal risers and any works that change ventilation paths, and measurement rather than assumption is the right starting point. The council's own radon page says only that the district is an area affected by naturally occurring radon and names no town, so the town-level reading comes from the national mapping.
Compact Wards Make Midsomer Norton's Flat Figures Reliable
Three wards cover the settlement. Midsomer Norton North held 2,463 households with 224 flats, 9.1 per cent, of which 168 are purpose-built. Midsomer Norton Redfield held 2,665 households with 347 flats, 13.0 per cent, of which 279 are purpose-built. Westfield held 2,609 households with 236 flats, 9.0 per cent, of which 193 are purpose-built. The two Midsomer Norton wards are compact and fit the built-up area well, which is not true of most wards in this part of Somerset, so those figures can be used with more confidence than usual. Westfield is a separate parish adjoining the town, so it belongs in the count only when the wider settlement is meant.
A 1978 Bypass Tunnel Controls the Somer Through Town
Fluvial from the River Somer and Wellow Brook, and most of the town is in Flood Zone 1. The council's own strategic flood risk assessment states that Flood Zone 3 is primarily confined to rural areas except at Welton Hollow, that most of Midsomer Norton is in Flood Zone 1, and that tidal risk is negligible. Flooding on the Somer through the town is controlled by a bypass tunnel: the Midsomer Norton Flood Alleviation Tunnel, built in 1978 and designed to provide a 50 year standard of protection. Environment Agency asset records also list concrete flood walls and gabion banks at a 100 year standard in condition category 2. The two warning areas on the Wellow Brook name Thicketmead Bridge, Coomb End Culvert, Coombend, Market Place, Church Street and St Nicholas Primary School, and Station Road, Welton Hollow, Riverside, Steam Mills, St Chads Green and Somervale School. One detail is often got backwards: the Somer through the town centre is largely open rather than culverted, running along the south side of Redfield Road and behind The Island before a short culverted length and re-emerging in the High Street. It is the Wellow Brook that is culverted, under the former Welton Manufacturing site, and the council's placemaking plan requires that site to de-culvert it. Historic events on the Somer run from November 1954 through to May 1979, and sewer flooding has been logged on Chilcompton Road, Riverside Walk, Phillis Hill, Westhill Road and Somer Avenue.
The Conservation Area Itself Was on Heritage at Risk
One conservation area, Midsomer Norton and Welton, first designated in April 2004, redesignated in April 2018 and covering 68.93 hectares. The appraisal and management plan were formally adopted for planning guidance purposes on 6 April 2018 and define eleven character areas. One fact carries real weight for anyone budgeting external works here: as published in 2018 the conservation area was itself on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register, with its condition assessed as very bad, its vulnerability medium and its trend improving. This is one of 35 conservation areas across Bath and North East Somerset.
The council's own appraisal contradicts itself on the count, so both figures are given: page 3 states that the conservation area contains thirty seven entries on the National Heritage List, while page 14 says thirty three building entries and notes that some entries cover more than one property. Intersecting Historic England's data with the boundary gives 36, which sits between the two. Seven are Grade II* and there is no Grade I building at all: Welton Manor House, The Hollies, the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost, the parish church of St John the Baptist, The Priory, 37 Priory Close with its Norman tympanum, and the Norman archway behind 83 North Road.
Bath's HMO Article 4 Stops Short of Midsomer Norton
Three adopted documents apply: the Core Strategy adopted 10 July 2014, the Placemaking Plan adopted 13 July 2017 whose Somer Valley volume carries a dedicated Midsomer Norton town centre chapter, and the Local Plan Partial Update adopted 19 January 2023. The emerging plan runs to 2042 and plan-making was reset after the December 2024 changes to national policy. Core Strategy policies SV1 and SV2 set the Somer Valley strategy and the town centre policy, the latter requiring the former Palladium cinema and former brewery sites to be unlocked and the River Somer treated as a positive feature. There is no made neighbourhood plan: an area is designated but no referendum has been held, and the made plan at Westfield covers a separate parish. There is no Article 4 direction here, which matters more than it sounds: the district's Article 4 direction on houses in multiple occupation applies to Bath only, so the additional planning control that catches out landlords in Bath does not operate in Midsomer Norton.
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Midsomer Norton Questions
Why Does Radon Matter So Much for a Midsomer Norton Block?
The town centre returns class 6, where the maximum radon potential is greater than 30 per cent of homes at or above the action level, and no square in the town is below class 5. This is former coalfield ground. It bears on ground floor flats, basements, sealed communal risers and works that change ventilation paths, so measurement rather than assumption is the right starting point.
Does the Bath HMO Article 4 Direction Apply in Midsomer Norton?
No. The district's Article 4 direction on houses in multiple occupation applies to Bath only, and there is no Article 4 direction here. Planning is decided under the Core Strategy of 2014, the Placemaking Plan of 2017 with its Midsomer Norton town centre chapter, and the Local Plan Partial Update adopted in January 2023.
Is the River Somer Through the Town Culverted?
Largely not. The Somer through the centre is open, running along the south side of Redfield Road and behind The Island before a short culverted length and re-emerging in the High Street. It is the Wellow Brook that is culverted, under the former Welton Manufacturing site, and the council's placemaking plan requires that site to de-culvert it.
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