Feasibility Study, for want of a better name...

In 2022, the long standing campaign to see a cycle route built between Wellington and Taunton focused on a route alongside the A38. Somerset Council pledged to establish the route by 2025, although this has slipped and slipped as all pledges do.

The most recent development at a cost of £50,000, has been made by the Council to commission a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC), the purpose of which is to be prepared for submission to the Department for Transport (DfT) in the event of competitive funding becoming available - an 'oven-ready' plan! There is no such funding at the moment, and the SOBC has been delayed by several months before it made any real progress.

The firm of consultants preparing it, Stantec , are briefed to put forward a plan for' improving sustainable transport between the two towns, and this is suitably vague so that everything, including cycling, can be looked at. We would have preferred them to focus solely on creating a cycle and walking path, but this specification as it is could include rail travel, bus travel or, as one officer recently said in jest, 'the addition of anothe rcar lane on the A38!'

Nevertheless, the SOBC (or feasibility study as we would prefer to call it) is underway, and making progress towards a set of stakeholder workshops. The Grand Western Greenway Association has submitted a proposal document to Somerset Council and to Stantec. We have engaged with our pratners as we developed it, and you can download it below.

Grand Western Greenway

.pdf

Download PDF • 3.65MB

How is the campaign going?

There has been a campaign to get a traffic-free cycle route between Wellington and Taunton for many years. In the last three years this has involved a well supported protest and rally at which prominent local politicians including the current leader of Somerset Council pledged their support and committed to getting it done.

Somerset Council has commissioned consultants to put together an outline strategic business case for a cycle path from Wellington to Taunton. This is in preparation for the time when funding is available from the Department for Transport and other sources, and is looking at all the options between the railway line to the north and the M5 to the south.

The consultants will be conducting stakeholder consultations in the next few months, and we, the Grand Western Greenway Association, will lobby hard for our route to be favoured. The more people we have supporting us, the stronger our case will be, so please cick here to Get Invilved

What's the purpose of a Greenway?

Wellington is a substantial town 6 miles from the county town of Taunton. It is proposed to establish a predominantly traffic-free greenway between them along the route of the disused Grand Western Canal. Wellington will have a new railway station by 2025 which would mark the starting point, and it would end at Taunton Railway Station giving access to both town centres

Sustainable transport initiatives in the coming years mean that more will be cycling from Wellington to Taunton,

• the canal corridor provides a level route separated from most traffic,

• its heritage and wildlife assets make it also ideal for recreational use,

• It will provide 6 miles where walkers and cyclists can exercise without traffic noise and fumes,

• it will link Taunton station and the new Wellington station for benefit of visitors

• links with other local community initiatives (Friends of the Grand Western Canal, the Wellington Green Corridor) will provide opportunities for business development along the route.