Taunton Town Centre could soon be connected to Orchard Grove

The Orchard Grove consortium (which comprises Taylor Wimpey, Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and LiveWest) is in the process of delivering the Orchard Grove development on Taunton’s western edge, between the A38 Wellington Road and Honiton Road.

Hundreds of homes within the site have already been delivered and occupied, alongside the new Orchard Grove Primary School (which opened in September 2023), and work is also progressing on the commercial elements of the development near the A38.

The developers have now teased plans to provide better connections between the site and Taunton’s cycle network – though the actual work to deliver some of these connections remains “some time away”.

Somerset County Council produced the Taunton local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP) in late-2021, which identified numerous improvements to the town’s active travel network which could be delivered through central government grants or contributions from housing developers.

The Orchard Grove site lies at the western edge of the aspirational ‘blue route’, which when completed will run south-west to north-east across the town, connecting Orchard Grove to the town centre via Musgrove Park Hospital and the Monkton Heathfield urban extension to the Firepool site via the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal.

Much of the western section of the ‘blue route’ is already in place, with pedestrians and cyclists having access to a largely off-road cycle route all the way from Lloyd Close to the eastern entrance to the hospital.

The county council identified a number of improvements which would be needed to deliver the ‘missing links’ along this section, estimating that they would cost between £600,000 and £1.9m to deliver (at 2021 prices).

These improvements include:

Upgrading the  protected cycle track on Galmington Road

Redesigning the junction of Parkfield Walk and Hoveland Lane, and the junction between Parkfield Drive and Manor Road

Installing lighting on Parkfield Walk

Upgrading or reconfiguration the traffic signals at the junction of the A38 Wellington Road with the A3807 Castle Street (near the Tesco supermarket)

The most pressing ‘missing link’ between Orchard Grove and the existing ‘blue route’ is the section between Lloyd Close and Lipe Hill Lane, which links up with the spine road running through the development site (known as Egremont Road).

The consortium has provided a connection from Lipe Hill Lane up to Egremont Road as part of delivering the new primary school – and said it was committed to delivering further improvements as the rest of the site took shape.

A spokesman said: “Orchard Grove has been specifically designed to promote walking and cycling by making these types of trips easy and appealing, and by providing good access to public transport.

“Within the development, the movement of pedestrians and cyclists has been carefully considered to provide a safe environment and encourage trips on foot and by bicycle.

“On Egremont Road, there is a footpath and cycle path linking to Lipe Hill Lane, which enables easy access onto the ‘blue route’ into Taunton.

“Existing public rights of way are being utilised and incorporated, linking to the development’s pedestrian and cycle network.

“Further connections will be created as the new community progresses, and links for pedestrians and cyclists will be provided to Comeytrowe Lane and Honiton Road.

“There will be a new access point for pedestrians from Orchard Grove to Comeytrowe Lane, plus a new footpath connection to the junction at Comeytrowe Rise, and a pedestrian crossing point.

“Sustainable travel is central to the design of Orchard Grove and so a comprehensive cycling network is planned within the development (including through public open spaces and parkland) and these will link to existing public rights of way, the Galmington route and Taunton town centre.”

Egremont Road has currently been delivered as far as the new primary school, while much of the ‘eastern neighbourhood’ (i.e. the land nearest to Honiton Road) has been temporarily fallowed, allowing homes elsewhere in the site to be delivered until more permanent phosphate mitigation has been implemented.

The consortium confirmed it would be focusing its effort in the short term on delivering infrastructure within the ‘western neighbourhood’, including public transport links along the A38 into the town.

A spokesman said: “Both the new connection points to Comeytrowe Lane and Honiton Road are some time away.

“Prior to this, new public transport connections are set to be developed to ensure the community can quickly and easily travel to Taunton and beyond.

“Work on the ‘park and bus’ area is set to begin this month and will be completed in the spring of 2025.

“A new bus stop is being installed by the entrance to Orchard Grove imminently, offering frequent services to Taunton and Wellington.

“As part of the planning requirements for Orchard Grove, there is funding provision via a Section 106 agreement and the community infrastructure levy (CIL) that can be used to improve existing local transport routes.

“This will be at the discretion of Somerset Council, and might include steps such as enhancements to signage, street lighting, road markings and surfacing.”

Somerset Council said it was still in the early stages of discussions with the consortium about where new cycling links could be delivered and at what stage of the construction period these would see the light of day.

A spokesman said: “We are still at the very early stages in terms of taking forward any proposals.

“Our drive in working with the developers is to provide active travel connections which will link back into the Galmington and Comeytrowe parts of Taunton, which wouldn’t require people to go into town via the A38.

“This would be with a number of on-road and off-road connections to link in with existing infrastructure.

“We are still working through the specifics with the developer. In time, once we have clarity around the provision, we will be updating the Taunton LCWIP.”