"Local people are fed up": Somerset Council pushes for action after landslips
They're working with a local landowner to prevent any more landslips on the A358
Last updated 9th Jun 2024
Somerset County Council are pushing for action following landslips on the A358 at Combe Florey.
The authority say they're working with a local landowner to make sure work is carried out on the site 'urgently' to make sure there are no more landslips on the 'vital county route'.
This week, the Highways Team - ran by the Council - is undertaking essential upgrades on the drainage, as well as clearance works on the A358 at Combe Florey, however at the site, a number of recent incidents have caused significant disruption to drivers.
The route links Taunton with West Somerset, and with three incidents in the space of five months, the local authority have now decided to take up action with the owner of the land.
Just weeks apart, two flooding incidents closed the road in August and September after periods of heavy rain, thanks to run-off from the fields.
In those incidents, tonnes of soil slurry and potatoes ran onto the road at Combe Florey, whilst on December 20, another smaller incident also resulted in a closure.
During the first incidents, a local tenant farmer was asked by the Council to carryout remedial measures to prevent another incident - which proved to be insufficient to stop the slip on 20 December.
The Council is now in negotiation with the Landowner and will require further remedial measures.
Somerset County Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Digital, Cllr Mike Rigby said: “Local people and road users are quite rightly fed up with this happening and the landowner has a clear responsibility to do something about this.
“We have made this clear to the landowner, and we are committed to ensuring that effective remedial works are carried out urgently so that this sort of incident cannot happen again.
If you spot a problem on the roads, you can report it to the council here.