New active travel route approved between Puriton and Woolavington
A major new development site will now be easier to reach thanks to the project being green-lighted
A major new employment site in Somerset will be easier to reach on foot or by bicycle after plans for a new active travel route were approved.
The Gravity enterprise zone (or smart campus) will be delivered on the former Royal Ordnance factory between the villages of Puriton and Woolavington, east of the M5.
This is Gravity Ltd. applied in February to provide new pedestrian and cycle links from the two villages to the site, as well as outdoor fitness zones where people can exercise.
Somerset Council has now given the green light to the new route – meaning the infrastructure must be put in place within the next three years.
At the Puriton end, the new cycle route will begin at the northern end of Enterprise Way, north of the new roundabout and a stone’s throw from the Polden Orchards development of 120 new homes which will be constructed by Redrow Homes.
From there, the route will bend further north towards the Gravity site and then rejoin Woolavington Road.
The first ‘fitness zone’ will be located at the junction of Woolavington Road and the Western Approach Road, leading to the main entrance to the enterprise zone.
At the Woolavington end, the new route will begin west of the existing junction with Lynham Close and run along the northern side of Woolavington Road and up the Eastern Approach Road, via a second fitness zone halfway along the thoroughfare.
Each of the fitness zones will be fitted with a range of outdoor gym equipment to encourage both local residents and employees to stay active.
A spokesman for Stantec (representing the applicant) said: “The proposal will contribute to increasing footfall and increased dwell time within the village centres by encouraging travel between them, in turn contributing to a buoyant and sustainable economy and through promoting physical activity.
“The proposals will also make provision for walking, cycling and other personal mobility modes to access Gravity, the 37 Club and between the two villages, whilst also making the villages more attractive and safer places for those modes of transport.”
The plans were approved by the delegated power of the council’s planning officers, rather than a public decision by its planning committee north (which makes decisions on major applications in the former Sedgemoor area).
The new route forms part of a wider aspiration within the Bridgwater local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LWCIP), which would see the delivery of an interrupted cycling route between the Gravity site and the town centre.
The relevant route – dubbed the ‘purple route’ – would run from the Gravity site through both Puriton and along the A39 link road, cross the M5 at Junction 23, go around the Dunball roundabout and proceed south into the town centre along the A38 Bristol Road (with a separate loop for the Express Park).
The Express Park loop, which passes by the planned site of the Bridgwater tidal barrier, opened to the public in November 2022 and currently runs from the A38 down to the Saltlands Bridge.
Cycling improvements on and around the Dunball roundabout will be delivered as part of a £5.3m upgrade which is currently under way, funded primarily by the government’s levelling up fund.
Further improvements to the ‘Bridgwater northern corridor’, including changes at the Cross Rifles roundabout, are expected to be delivered by 2025.