PLANS for a car-free link between two Taunton and Wellington have taken a step forward after funding for a new study was secured.

Pedestrians and cyclists wishing to travel between the growing towns currently have to rely on the A38, which is frequently congested and has narrow or limited pavements

A long-awaited feasibility study into a proposed active travel route linking the towns was published in late-2023, identifying numerous options for where such a route could go – including the delivery of new cycle paths right alongside the main road.

Retired health professional and Wellington resident, Charles Biscoe, has put forward a different route, dubbed the Grand Western Greenway, which will link the two towns by following much of the route of the former Grand Western Canal.

Mr Biscoe has now secured funding from Taunton Town Council and Wellington Town Council for a new study which will develop detailed designs for the new route, making it easier to secure grant funding in the coming months and years.

The Grand Western Canal originally ran between Tiverton and Taunton, with the original idea being traced back to 1796.

While the Devon stretch of the canal remains in use for recreational craft and has been designated as a country park, the Somerset stretch has largely disappeared save for a few footpaths and surviving heritage assets, such as the Nynehead boat lift near Wellington.

The Green Western Greenway is intended to run from the Longforth Farm housing development in Wellington all the way to Taunton railway station – some seven-and-a-half miles.

Mr Biscoe has managed to secure £8,000 for a new study into the precise route the greenway could take, with Taunton and Wellington’s town councils both chipping in £4,000.

The study will be undertaken by Greenways and Cycle Routes, which has previously assisted in delivering new section of the Strawberry Line and new multi-user paths as part of the Glastonbury town deal.

Mr Biscoe, chairman of the Grand Western Greenway Association, said: “It has taken a while, but we have been successful in our bid to find funding for the study.

“We will be looking closely at the Taunton and Wellington phases – in order words, from Taunton to Allerford and from Wellington to East Nynehead – and will look at route options for each.”

The official Grand Western Greenway website includes an outline map of the proposed route – the feasibility of which will be established through the new study.

Moving from Wellington, pedestrians and cyclists will start at an existing footbridge at Longforth Farm and connect up with the proposed new Wellington station.

From there it will skirt around the existing footpath to the Nynehead boat lift, crossing over Nynehead Road and following the West Deane Way through East Nynehead and Bradford-on-Tone.

The planned route then continues along land between the River Tone and the railway line, moving close to the new housing being built at Norton Fitzwarren and passing through the Netherclay Community Wood before reaching the A3065 Silk Mills Road.