Curry Rivel campaigners call for more traffic-free routes in Somerset
They're trying to build an active travel route between Curry Rivel and Langport
A growing village on the Somerset Levels is seeking funding to deliver a safe walking and cycling route to local schools and other vital facilities.
The Curry Rivel Active Travel Group has been working for a number of years to create a new route between Curry Rivel and Langport, taking pedestrians and cyclists away from fast-moving traffic on the A378.
Work could shortly begin on the first short section, with volunteers and a local civil engineering firm working hard to prepare the ground for the new path.
But further financial support is needed to deliver the entire route, which will link up with other local footpaths and cycle-paths in the surrounding area.
Tony Greenaway, who lives on the northern edge of the village, first became involved in the project when he joined the parish council in 2016 – though the aspiration within the village dates back to the mid-1990s.
He said: “I’ve always thought this village needs a proper connection to Langport. The A378 is a horrible road – it’s busy, it’s noisy and the pavements are rubbish.
“I also thought that the connectivity within the village was pretty poor. There are grass paths and back lanes, but with increasing traffic and increasing numbers of people living in the village, we needed to do something.”
The parish council bid for funding from Somerset County Council after the latter declared a climate emergency in February 2019, securing £5,000 towards a feasibility study to the new route (which was matched by the parish council’s own fundraising and donations from neighbouring parishes).
The study identified a number of improvements which could be delivered both within the village and between the two settlements, which formed the basis of further community consultation.
Mr Greenaway said: “Over the last two years, we’ve just been walking our way through treacle trying to get something started.
“The problem that we’ve got here in Curry Rivel is that most of the proposed route is on privately owned land, and our landowners have not all played ball.”
Much like certain sections of the Strawberry Line active travel route, the new route between Curry Rivel and Langport would be a permissive multi-user path, where each landowner allows access to walkers, cyclists and other users without the parish council or Somerset Council having to acquire the land on which the new path will be constructed.
The group aspires for the new route to run from the eastern end of Dyers Road to the north of the existing houses, skirting along the A378 past the junction with North Street before crossing the road and either following Park Lane or a separate path in the neighbouring fields.
From there the route will run along Frog Lane and Huish Drove, linking up with the Westover Trading Estate and the River Parrett Trail along Cocklemoor, enabling onward travel into the town centre and out towards Huish Episcopi Academy.
Mr Greenaway said: “The project has opened up a wider-ranging debate and interest in the surrounding parishes and communities.
“Langport and Huish Episcopi are working on improving their footpaths and cycle-paths around there. Drayton is very interesting and they’ve got a good link which could connect up with our route.
Volunteers from Curry Rivel and Drayton have cleared the overgrown land along the A378 between North Street and Park Lane, where the first 200 metres of the new route could soon be delivered.
Using similar methods to those practised on the Strawberry Line or as part of the Glastonbury town deal, the new path will be laid using locally sourced materials at a fraction of the cost of an on-road Tarmac cycle lane or widened kerb (such as along the A39 in Minehead).
Mr Greenaway: “It could be a couple of months until we get it in place, but it could be less than that if everything falls into place.
“The hardcore cyclists on the touring bikes, who are out there every Saturday and Sunday, will continue to use the road because the new paths will not be fast enough for them.
“It’s aimed at families and children, and encouraging changes in behaviour. If you want behaviour to change, you have to have the infrastructure.”
Curry Rivel Primary School has thrown its support wholeheartedly behind the project, with headteacher Alison Pook arguing that improvements around the school would ease traffic congestion and encourage healthier lifestyles.
She said: “It will decrease use of cars used to drop-off and pick-up, which causes congestion around the green and the parish car-park. This will increase safety for all.
“It will incentivise the children to ride bicycles, as there are very few safe routes in the area.
“Half of our pupils will not be entitled to free transport to secondary school, so therefore a cycle option to Langport is welcomed.
“The project is not just about cycling and the group are looking at improving footpaths for walking, scooting, enabling better access for wheelchairs and pushchairs/ buggies within Curry Rivel as well as links to other communities.
“This is an excellent opportunity to promote inclusion. A good example is the existing footpath from Heale Lane (behind Chatham Place), across the fields to connect to Water Street and of course the school and The Green.
“This would benefit from a weather-resistant surface and an access from Chatham Place plus better signs at the entrance to Water Street. This would make it easier for parents and children to access school on foot, by bike or by scooter via this route.”
Somerset Council recently received more than £400,000 from Active Travel England to design and develop new walking and cycling schemes in Somerset – but it has not given any indication as to where in the county the funding will be spent.
A spokesman said: “We know this cycling and walking route is a clear aspiration for the parish council and community, and we believe it would be an excellent addition to the active travel network in Somerset.
“Our team is working with the parish council on how this can be delivered.”