Taunton’s new A38 ‘park and bus’ facility will open before Christmas
Orchard Grove residents to benefit from new park and bus service by year-end
Taunton’s new ‘park and bus’ facility, serving a major housing development on the A38, will be up and running by Christmas, a senior councillor has promised.
The Orchard Grove development (which is being delivered by Taylor Wimpey, Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and LiveWest) will eventually comprise 2,000 new homes between the A38 Wellington Road and Honiton Road, on the western edge of Taunton.
Alongside the new homes, commercial premises, a care home and a primary school, the development will include a ‘park and bus’ facility, enabling residents to park their cars and board bus services which will take them into the town centre for shopping, leisure activities and medical appointments.
Despite building work being completed in the summer, including dedicated entry and exit lanes onto the Orchard Grove roundabout, the facility has yet to begin operating.
Somerset Council has now promised that the facility will enter commercial operation by the end of the year following extensive negotiations with the developers and local bus companies.
Councillor Andy Sully (who represents the Norton Fitzwarren and Staplegrove division) raised the issue when the council’s planning committee west met in Taunton on Tuesday afternoon (November 25).
He said: “Every time I go to Wellington, on the way I look at the site and I see the ‘park and bus’ facility.
“It was finished in the summer, but I’m wondering why it’s not operational? It’s just sort of lying idle now.
“I would have thought we would have got whoever is responsible for taking it on, such as the bus companies, to go in there.”
Councillor Mike Rigby, portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets, reassured Mr Sully that the facility would be up and running within a matter of weeks.
Mr Rigby (who represents the Lydeard division) said: “I have been protesting this for some months now.
“I had another string of correspondence with our legal department yesterday November 24, and I understand that the land needs to be transferred to the council before we can operate the ‘park and bus’ facility.
“That is expected now on December 3, and I have asked our parking services and transport teams to give me a plan for how we then intend to open it.
“I’m hoping that, with a fair wind, we should see the ‘park and bus’ car park open soon.
“The buses are already stopping at the bus stop; the car park should be operational this year, and I’m happy to give the committee an update as those plans firm up.”