Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning once again people of Somerset. It's Daniel Mumby, your local democracy reporter,
00:07on a halcyon day, meteorologically speaking. It's clear, it's a cool breeze, and you join
00:14me on the northern edge of Glastonbury. I'm standing at the junction between the A39 heading
00:19towards Wells and Long Drove, standing on National Cycle Network Route 3, and Lupin is joining us
00:26once again on these live streams. Say hello Lupin. He's already had a little bit of exercise
00:31when we were reconnoitering this route, making sure we didn't get run over in the process. Like
00:36I say, we are standing just off the A39 which links Wells and Glastonbury, right over the Somerset
00:41levels. Fortunately, although the rains are quite high, we haven't had much additional rain to cope
00:46with, and today we're going to be taking a route back down into Glastonbury, along this shared
00:52user path behind us, which forms part, I can say, of the National Cycle Network, and we're going to
00:58be talking about the efforts to improve this crucial link as it currently stands, and possibly
01:04extend it all the way to the City of Wells. If you have any comments or questions, as per usual
01:09with these live streams, do drop them in. Those that I can't get to live, I will respond to
01:13retrospectively, and hopefully we won't have any of the signal issues that we dealt with when we
01:18were out at the weekend in Burnham-on-Sea. So this is part of a series of live streams that
01:24we've been doing about Somerset Council's Local Transport Plan, which was published earlier this
01:28month, which makes a series of in-principle commitments to enhancing our transport infrastructure,
01:35not just through road improvement, but committing towards delivering new railway stations, including
01:41the Wellington station, and the possibility of one to serve Somerton, Langport, and the neighbouring
01:46villages, which no doubt would have huge benefits for the people of Glastonbury, and also looking
01:52at improvements to our walking and cycling network. Now, if you've been following the live streams
01:57that we've done, we've talked about Steam Coast Trail over in Washford, we've talked about the
02:03Stop Line Way, which forms part of National Cycle Network Route 33. Today, I'm going to chat just
02:10briefly about this part of Route 3, which links Glastonbury and Wales. Now, currently, there is
02:18this Shared Use section, which is just off the main road, as we go over this bridge over the
02:24Heartlake River, and then it hugs close to the pavements into Glastonbury, linking up with the
02:30Shared Use Pass along the A39, down towards the town centre, not far from West Bend Community
02:36Hospital, where we'll be finishing up. You can just see the tour poking through the clouds there. And if
02:42you're wanting to get to Wales, in the opposite direction to where we're heading, you currently
02:46get diverted down Long Drove, and in the back way, towards the southern end of the city. There is no
02:53direct cycle path along the length of the A39, once you get past the Long Drove Junction, where
02:59we started. But within the local transport plan, there is a specific, in-principle commitment, to
03:06improving the link between Wales and Glastonbury, to encourage more people to make short journeys
03:13between the two settlements, without using a motorcar. And as with all of these walking and
03:19cycling improvements, they are not designed to be anti-motorist. They are designed to cut pollution,
03:26encourage healthy living, and ensuring that those of us that do have to drive to get from A to B,
03:30can do so with less congestion to worry about. I'm hoping that my throat is going to hold up,
03:36because this short little stretch, right near the Reans, is it Rean or Ryne? I'm pretty sure it's Rean,
03:42but I have had multiple pronunciations during my eight years living in Somerset, so do correct me
03:47if I'm wrong. This short section will soon be coming to an end, as we pass these farm gates,
03:53and come further up onto the level of the main road. So if I start coughing or getting croaky,
03:58that's because I'm having to shout a bit. Now, as with all the other commitments, within the local
04:06transport plan, which is out for public consultation now, there is no financial sum attached to
04:14improving this section. We know that Somerset Council's financial state is not ideal, to put
04:22it charitably, as you may have seen from our coverage ahead of the budget, which is happening
04:26on March the 5th. However, that doesn't mean that there is no scope for improvements in the short
04:33term, because, in addition to the transport plan, there was an announcement recently by the
04:39Department for Transport that a further £291 million will be allocated for local authorities
04:46across the UK in this financial year 2025-26 that we're going into, to deliver walking and cycling
04:54improvements. Now, the bulk of that forms grants that are going to individual councils, of which
05:00Somerset will be receiving in the region of £2.5 million. However, £30 million of that goes
05:07directly to an organisation called Sustrans, which is the government's active travel charity, and is
05:14responsible for looking after the National Cycle Network, including the section that we're on at
05:20the moment. Now, we don't know how much of that £30 million will end up in the West Country, or in
05:27Somerset specifically. That's probably still being worked out by the pencil pushers in Whitehall.
05:32But what we do know is that Sustrans is very keen, not just to deliver new sections of the routes
05:38that it's responsible for, but also to upgrade what it currently has. And I'm sure the fact that
05:47the cyclists just passed us on the main road will be taken as a sign by people who don't like cycle
05:51lanes of, well, if you build them, the cyclists never use them. But in fact, the reason that
05:57gentleman did what he just did, is because this path is currently narrow and overgrown in places.
06:02You can see from where they've been out with the hedge trimmers, there's lots of debris. I'm having
06:06to keep a very close eye on Lupin, so he doesn't end up with a thorn in any of his paws. And of
06:11course, we were on the path first, so maybe he just overtook as a courtesy. But either way,
06:16widening this section a little bit, tidying it up in places, or just making it more presentable,
06:21would encourage more people to cycle. And the fact that this section is off the main road itself,
06:27even though we're right next to the traffic, it's a lot safer than taking a bush bike and
06:33braving the five miles in that direction, even before you take terrain into account.
06:40If you've only just joined me, it's Daniel Mumby here, your local democracy reporter.
06:45We're coming into the northern entrance of Glastonbury, having started at Long Drove,
06:50further up the road towards Wells. Now, is it Coxley or Coaxley? Because again,
06:55I've heard multiple different pronunciations. And speaking of Coaxley, one thing I should point out
07:02in the efforts to close the gap between Glastonbury and Wells, in one of its final actions,
07:08Mendip District Council, before it was abolished back in April 2023, set aside some grant funding
07:15to deliver new walking and cycling links across the former district. Now, the bulk of that
07:20has been going on new sections of the Strawberry Line, which we've covered extensively on these
07:25live streams, but some of it has gone on creating a multi-user path heading out of Wells,
07:33from the western edge, near the new housing estates that are being built,
07:37towards Coaxley in the first instance, and then finishing up closer to Glastonbury.
07:44Sorry, Lupin was just eating a feather, so I had to give him a bit of a
07:48reproachful tug on the lead. He's a good dog.
07:52So, it isn't just a case of extending in one direction and then hoping for the best.
07:58Obviously, there are negotiations with landowners on both sides, where it's not land that's owned
08:05by the council, as in highway land. And all of these things do take time, as I'm sure you'll
08:11appreciate if you've followed any of our coverage of the Strawberry Line in this area.
08:20We are just coming into Glastonbury, near the Timberish Roundabout. The existing cycle links,
08:26there are two that branch off. One that heads down to the right,
08:30staying on the A39, heading into the town centre, past the site of 90 homes that is planned
08:39on Lower Side Lane, which we covered a few months ago. And then there is a further short section,
08:45which finishes on Brindham Lane, where we're going to be finishing up. And you can see
08:51there are crossings in place, informal crossings, it should be stressed,
08:55where you can get onto a wider route on the right-hand side of the carriageway,
08:59which also takes you into the town centre. Come on, Lupin!
09:03We're going to be following those today. Like I say, we're going to end up
09:06at a community hospital.
09:11There is also, I should stress, a local cycling and walking infrastructure plan
09:16in the works for the Glastonbury area, building on the Mendip Wide plan
09:24that was created back in 2023, that proposed several low-key improvements to Glastonbury's
09:32network, along with improvements in Street, Wells, through Manshup to Mallard, and some
09:37of the villages in between. The Glastonbury plan itself will be focusing on possible larger-scale
09:46upgrades and looking at the missing links that need to be filled in. That plan is obviously a
09:50little far away, but once it's approved, that will make it easier for the council to apply
09:55for grant funding, source contributions from housing developers, and work with organisations
10:01like Sustrans to improve these connections. And you can see here, we're still on Route 3,
10:08but you can either diverge going down in this section towards the bypass around Glastonbury,
10:15or carry on towards the Tor. And you can see there, the path does spread out into a walking
10:21lane and a cycling lane, but we're going to stay on the shared-use section for just a little bit
10:25longer as we head down Old Wells Road with looping in tow. He loves it in this part of the country.
10:34So we will post links in the description once the transport plan consultation window is
10:41officially live. Obviously this is intended to be a living, breathing document, so as new proposals
10:47become more essential, they can be incorporated into the plan.
10:51And the plan does put a stress on the health and well-being and environmental benefits as well as
10:58cutting congestion. One thing it does say, which I'm sure will be disappointing to many, is that
11:03there won't be a focus on building new roads anywhere in Somerset. There simply isn't the
11:09capital funding to do so, and I'm sure that will annoy the people that watch it in particular.
11:14And if you don't understand why, search on our website for Cleve Hill and you'll have a very good idea of what's going on.
11:25So we're just coming down Old Wells Road, heading past the entrance of the West Mendip
11:33Community Hospital, a vital health facility here on the edge of Glastonbury. And wouldn't it be great
11:39if the people of Wales, if they're healthy enough to attend appointments on foot or by bike,
11:45are able to use an extended cycle link from their city down to here, rather than relying on
11:52unreliable bus services or the private car. We're just crossing over here and we're going to just
11:58make it to the end of the designated route at Brindham Lane, not far from the new homes that
12:06have been constructed. We are not too far from the tour itself, although that will be obscured
12:12at street level by these homes. As you can see here, the quality of the path is pretty uniform,
12:21certainly wide enough for Lupin and I to use it without getting in the way of any cyclists or
12:27mobility security users. And who knows, maybe in a few years things will be expanded out,
12:34not just further north but further south as well, as we look down the narrow lane.
12:39So there we have it. That's what's in place at the moment on this section of
12:44the National Cycle Network Route 3. We've talked about Somerset Council's aspirations to improve it
12:49and now it's a case of wait and see and hope that they get some funding. If you missed any
12:53part of this video, it will be available on our Facebook page for the next 30 days. Unfortunately,
12:59Facebook have changed their policy that after 30 days live streams get deleted.
13:03I don't understand it either. I think it's great to have these as an indefinite resource but
13:08I don't have Mark Zuckerberg's ear. But we will make sure that there are copies of the video made
13:13available if you need them. And there will be no live stream this Saturday because I'm about to go
13:19on a week's annual leave, so join me again here on Somerset Live for another video, probably in
13:25the first weekend in March. In the meantime, from Glastonbury, it's Daniel Mumby, your local
13:30democracy reporter, wishing you a splendid rest of the day. Bye for now.