How other people do it...

We are not the only people who campaign to achieve their ambition about how cycling could be a more pleasant experience in Somerset. The Strawberry Line has been under construction for a long time, with the most significant part between Yatton and Cheddar. More sections are underway in Somerset, and in March 2022, a new section betwen Wells and Dulcote was opened.

The continuing work is managed by the Greenways and Cycleroutes in the form of John Grimshaw with whom our project has a strong relationship. John is the founder of Sustrans, and is the instigator and engineer that inspired the Bristol to Bath Cyclepath. He works with local contractors in a way that is sympathetic to the local environment, and which keeps costs to a level that is much more manageable than using large corporate organisations.

This section has got to this stage in 11.5 days!

Access for the farmer getting across his land has necessitated the construction which was designed by John and installed by the same contractor.

The trackbed of the old railway is roughly at the level of the tracks on the digger, but nothing is lost as material is transferred from one section to another to fill in the dips.

This section from Draycott is complete and has the first season of growth being managed by local volunteers who maintain the path.

In the distance you can just about glimpse Wells Cathedral

The Grand Western Green Association will adopt a similar approach to the Strawberry Line in that we hope to build in sections starting from Taunton to Silk Mills, and then from the Wellington Station through to the Nynehead Road. A phased approach to construction allows time for money to be raised, and for the concept to become deeply embedded in the minds of planners, volunteers and users alike.

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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