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00:00Greetings once again, people of Somerset, and welcome to another live stream with Daniel Mumby, your local democracy reporter.
00:07You join me today on a cool but so far clear-ish Saturday morning on Carnival Way in Bridgewater, appropriately enough, I suppose, considering we're now officially in autumn.
00:20I am within the Bridgewater Gateway site just off the A38 Taunton Road.
00:24We're right on the boundary here between Bridgewater and the neighbouring town of North Petherton, and only a stone's throw away from Junction 24 of the M5.
00:33Like I say, I'm on Carnival Way, but I'm not here to talk about the Carnival, which is coming up on the first week in November, tying in with Bonfire Night, of course.
00:41What we're talking about is the Bridgewater Gateway site, which stretches behind these industrial buildings all the way in that direction towards North Petherton.
00:52Now, I was hoping to get a little further down Carnival Way, but as you can see from these concrete blocks in front of us and this rather angry-looking privacy notice,
01:02we would probably get arrested for trespass if we attempted to go further down Carnival Way.
01:06But essentially, what we're talking about today is the housing development, which will be carried out in the coming years behind these commercial units,
01:15which are Phase 1 of the Gateway site, along with the Premier Inn and the Costa Coffee drive-thru that you can see in front of you now.
01:22And what we're going to do for the next 20 minutes or so is to walk from the Gateway site using the existing cycle paths and walking paths.
01:31We're going to go through the Willstock Country Park, skirting past the motorway junction and end up at the Somerset Bridge Primary School of Stockmore Drive
01:41in the middle of the Willstock and Stockmore developments, which are next door to these houses.
01:46We're talking 511 homes being delivered by two housing developers, and we're going to see how easy it will be for the new residents of these homes, as and when they begin,
01:58to walk to school and access all the other local facilities on this southern edge of Bridgewater.
02:04You know the drill by now with live streaming. If you have any comments or questions, please do drop them in.
02:09I'll get to as many of them live as possible. I'm particularly interested if you live in North Petherton or within the existing homes in the Willstock and Stockmore estates in Bridgewater.
02:21Let me know your thoughts on this major development. And like I say, we'll get to as many of your comments live as we can.
02:28Any that I don't manage to get round to, I will respond to once we finish broadcasting.
02:32So a bit of background, first of all, if you're not familiar with the Bridgewater area, if you haven't been following the numerous deliberations surrounding the gateway site,
02:43like I say, many of the commercial spaces that were delivered in Phase 1 have been open for quite some time,
02:50and this section of the route benefits from having wide, demarcated pavements and cycle paths,
02:57along with good crossing points over the 838 towards the Holiday Inn, the White Willow and the Dentists.
03:05But the gateway site behind me, as we just look back, you can see Compass Avenue just stretching away in the distance there towards the Quantock Hills,
03:16or certainly the foothills of the Quantocks.
03:18This will deliver 511 homes, driven by two different developers.
03:26361 of those properties will come from Bocock Housing Limited, which is part of the IKEA group.
03:34They will deliver homes on the eastern side of the house, of the development site.
03:39So essentially the area up to the edge of Willstock Way, which you can now see,
03:44you might just be able to see the Stockmore Estate telescoping off into the distance,
03:48because we'll be getting closer to that in the next few minutes.
03:50And the remaining 150 homes on the western side, so back in that direction towards North Petherton,
03:58they'll be delivered by Vistry Partnerships,
04:01which is one of the firms involved in the Orchard Grove Development Consortium,
04:06just down the road in Taunton.
04:07Now, planning permission for those two developments
04:10was granted by Somerset Council's Planning Committee North back in March of this year.
04:18We're now in late September, going into October.
04:23We've been blessed with a sunny day, even though it's been very autumnal here
04:26over these last couple of weeks,
04:30and with all the heavy rain and storms and flooding and so forth.
04:34Localised flooding, we should say.
04:35Now, there were concerns raised at the time that those plans were approved
04:42about how easy it would be for individuals living in the site,
04:47and particularly for children and young people,
04:50to access the local facilities.
04:53Like I say, aside from the Premier Inn and the Costa and the industrial units,
04:57which you can just see behind us there,
04:58there aren't any existing facilities within the gateway site,
05:05and in order to actually get out from the farthest reach,
05:08you have to still go the long way round past the Costa.
05:12There is a little cut through here,
05:14but for reasons that I don't entirely understand, it's chained off.
05:16Hopefully, when they start building homes, that section will be unlocked.
05:20If we go back to March, Bill Revens, who is the leader of Somerset Council
05:28and also one of the division members for the North Petherton Division,
05:32in which all of this new housing is being delivered,
05:36he raised serious concerns about how easy it would be
05:40to get between the Bridgewater Gateway site
05:43and the neighbouring estates at Wellstock and Stockmore on foot.
05:47This is what he said back in March.
05:49There is no access from Stockmore and Wellstock onto Wellstock Way,
05:54so it creates an isolated community.
05:57Is this the Bridgewater Gateway site an extension to Stockmore,
06:00to Wellstock, or to North Petherton?
06:03Nobody seems to know.
06:05At the moment, there are eight primary school places
06:07at North Petherton Primary and 14 places at the Somerset Bridge School.
06:12This development will create 164 primary school children to accommodate.
06:16The two schools which are currently there do not have the spaces.
06:19I'm really concerned about the reduction in affordable housing as well.
06:23This is deeply disappointing.
06:26So that's Bill Revens, the leader of Somerset Council,
06:29and one of two division members for North Petherton,
06:32in which the Gateway site, along with Wellstock and Stockmore, primarily lie.
06:36North Petherton itself, the town, lies about a mile or so in that direction,
06:43but there are plenty of concerns from people
06:46that the two settlements will end up merging
06:49as a result of all this new housing.
06:52You can put lots of green space as a buffer in
06:55to your heart's content as we seek a safe time to cross.
07:01But it does create the feeling of urban sprawl if you're not careful.
07:07It's very easy for those two areas to merge.
07:09I'm just going to quickly cross here as well.
07:15This is the busy Junction 24 roundabout that we've just managed to negotiate.
07:20As you can see, although there are traffic lights on every entrance,
07:23there are no pushpads for pedestrians and cyclists to signal their intent.
07:28Unfortunately, there are quite light lanes,
07:30but even here on a Saturday mid-morning,
07:32it's very busy with people going into town to do their shopping,
07:35with people using the motorway services,
07:37getting onto the motorway to travel north to Bristol or south towards Exeter,
07:41and of course, people coming in to North Petherton itself.
07:45So imagine how busy this will be.
07:48511 new homes over a number of years,
07:50average of two cars per household.
07:52That's around 1,000 more cars.
07:55And with all of those primary school children
07:56having to brave that main road to get to school.
08:02You can see here on the left-hand side of Willstock Way,
08:04where we are now,
08:06there is a wildlife buffer in place,
08:08a kind of bun designed to take noise
08:10from this link road away from the surrounding area.
08:14But what that means in practice
08:15is that there's no scope, unless you build a tunnel,
08:19to get a route onto Willstock Road
08:22to create a direct pedestrian access.
08:24And if you build a link road straight through
08:26from the top of Carnival Way,
08:28you create rat running.
08:29And that's something that planners and house builders
08:32try to avoid at all costs.
08:35This is not, of course, the first time
08:36that Bill Revens has been a critic of these proposals.
08:41He also criticised the plans
08:44going back to 2022 when he was a district councillor,
08:49also for North Petherton,
08:51on Sengmore District Council.
08:53And he described those plans
08:55when the master plan was originally published as
08:57a ghetto at the end of a cul-de-sac.
09:00And I don't know how people living on the Willstock
09:06and Stockmore estates feel
09:07about how the infrastructure has been piled on
09:10as they've moved in.
09:12But certainly it is an ongoing issue
09:14for lots of housing estates up and down Somerset
09:16and across the southwest.
09:18The homes are built,
09:19but the infrastructure takes a while to arrive,
09:21whether it's safe parts,
09:23doctor surgeries, new schools,
09:24or whatever else it may be.
09:26It's getting very blustery out here.
09:28We are quite exposed as we go over Widgeon Road.
09:33At least I'm hoping that's pronounced the right way.
09:36And again, you can see there are
09:37sort of buns and landscaping
09:39and attenuation pond over there in place.
09:42So we don't get huge surface water runoff
09:45from the top of Carnival Way.
09:47You can just see the end of the,
09:49what I suppose we'd call the Spine Road.
09:52That's the area that we couldn't access
09:54without trespassing,
09:55but hopefully in the future
09:56you'll get a more accurate picture.
09:59If you've only just joined me,
10:00it's Daniel Munby,
10:01your windswept local democracy reporter.
10:04We're out technically
10:05in the division of North Petherton,
10:07but on the southern edge of Bridgewater.
10:09We started our journey today
10:10at the Bridgewater Gateway site
10:13where 511 new homes
10:16will be delivered in the coming years
10:17in a joint effort between
10:20Vistry Partnerships,
10:21who are providing 150 to the west,
10:23and Beauclok Housing,
10:25which is part of the IKEA group,
10:27which will provide the other 361
10:30on the eastern side
10:31behind the existing commercial units
10:33on Compass Avenue.
10:35We're just going to pause here
10:36to allow these cars
10:38to negotiate the junction safely.
10:39This is the top of Charolais Drive,
10:43which if you follow it down
10:44through the Wiggly Lanes
10:46leads you straight to the primary school,
10:48but we're not going to take that route.
10:50Instead, we're going to go
10:51through the country park,
10:52partly because it's more car-free,
10:55partly because it's a great green space
10:57that we should show off.
10:58You might have seen the live stream
10:59that we did
11:00of the newest paths
11:02that were installed
11:02back in November last year,
11:04but also because
11:05it provides
11:07a kind of safer green route
11:10straight to the front door
11:11of the primary school
11:13without having to wiggle around
11:15all the twisty bits
11:16of Stockmore Drove.
11:17I'm sure if you've got pupils there already
11:21at pick-up and drop-off times,
11:23that can be catastrophically congested.
11:26They never build
11:27these relief roads
11:28or estate roads
11:30wide enough
11:30to account for parked cars
11:32and all the rest of it.
11:34Now, one of the reasons
11:35that we are doing this stream today
11:37is that, like I say,
11:39it's been six months,
11:42give or take,
11:42since the Council's
11:44Planning Committee North,
11:45that's the body
11:47that handles major applications
11:48in what was the Sedgmore District.
11:51It's six months
11:52since they voted
11:53to approve,
11:55albeit reluctantly,
11:57the two different elements
11:58of the Bridgewater Gateway site
12:01residential area.
12:03And in order for development
12:04to start,
12:06all the legal agreements
12:07between the Council
12:08and those two developers
12:10need to be in place.
12:11But six months on,
12:13Vistry have told us
12:14that they still haven't been signed.
12:16And until they're signed,
12:17not a single brick can be laid.
12:20And it also means
12:21that any improvements
12:23to the pedestrian
12:25and cycling infrastructure
12:27to make it easier
12:29for people to walk to school
12:30and access local shops,
12:32including those
12:33in the Willstock Estate,
12:35where we'll be finishing
12:36in about five or ten minutes,
12:37none of those improvements
12:38can be made
12:39because the money
12:39has to be provided
12:40by the developer.
12:42The money is often done
12:43on the basis
12:43of a series of trigger points,
12:44such as after how many homes
12:46are built or occupied,
12:49they can't just stump up
12:50the money up front
12:51without raising
12:52viability issues.
12:54So in the meantime,
12:56this is the route
12:57that pupils will have
12:59to choose between.
13:02Either walking along
13:04the busy 838 Taunton Road
13:06all the way to Charolais Drive,
13:09or doing what we're doing,
13:11which is ducking in here.
13:13This is one of many
13:14entrance points to
13:15the Willstock Country Park,
13:17this network of paths
13:19and reeds and reens
13:21and various other
13:22ecological and
13:24biodiversity improvements
13:25has been set aside
13:27to provide a buffer
13:28between the gateway site
13:30in that direction
13:31and the Willstock
13:32and Stockmore Estates
13:33over there.
13:34You can see some
13:35of the houses
13:35and maybe even just
13:36pick out the children's
13:37play area in the distance.
13:40And there will be
13:41other improvements
13:42carried out to the park
13:43as the rest of the remaining
13:45Willstock and Stockmore
13:47homes are delivered
13:49in total,
13:50the estates will number
13:51about 1,400.
13:52So 1,400 here
13:54plus 511 over the road.
13:57This area of Bridgewater
13:58Shore is growing quickly.
14:00Of course,
14:01one of the reasons
14:01that the house building
14:03in Bridgewater
14:03has moved so fast,
14:05aside from the natural demand
14:07created by a growing population,
14:09by the influx of workers
14:11up at the Hinkley Point C
14:13construction site
14:14needing accommodation
14:15on top of what EDF
14:17is doing with its campuses
14:19and all the rest of it,
14:21is that Bridgewater
14:22is one of the few parts
14:23of Somerset
14:24that is not affected
14:25by the phosphates crisis.
14:28We've done lots of stuff
14:29on phosphates
14:30over the last couple of weeks,
14:32some lively disagreements
14:33about following agricultural land
14:36versus having Wessex Water
14:38do their job.
14:38But in a nutshell,
14:41because Bridgewater
14:42does not lie
14:44upstream
14:46of the Somerset Levels
14:47and Moors
14:48Ramsar site,
14:49this area that's protected
14:50by international law,
14:53developers do not need
14:54to deliver
14:55additional mitigation
14:57to stop phosphates
14:58getting onto
14:59that protected area.
15:00So if you are
15:01trying to build
15:02in Bridgewater
15:03or further downstream
15:04of the Parrot,
15:06including other places
15:07like Highbridge,
15:08then it's relatively easy
15:10to get permission
15:11and to start
15:12pretty quickly.
15:15And there's a whole
15:16very lively discussion
15:18to be had, I think,
15:18about whether Bridgewater
15:20is growing too fast
15:21at the expense
15:22of the other towns
15:23across our beautiful county.
15:26And those issues
15:27are only going to become
15:28more prominent
15:30as a result of
15:33the changes
15:34in the planning law
15:35that the new Labour government
15:37will be bringing in.
15:38We're expecting
15:38the white paper
15:40on that
15:40sometime around
15:42the budget
15:43at the end of October,
15:44maybe sooner.
15:45And then
15:46there'll be various
15:47consultations
15:48and we'll take it
15:50from there.
15:52If you've only
15:53just joined me,
15:54it's Daniel Mumby here,
15:55your local
15:55democracy reporter.
15:57We've started
15:58our stream today
15:59from the Bridgewater
15:59Gateway site
16:00where 511 homes
16:02are planned
16:04to be built.
16:05planning permission
16:06at least in name,
16:09though the legal agreements
16:10haven't been signed
16:10as of the date
16:12of this live stream.
16:14And as a result,
16:16we don't yet have a start date
16:18for not just the homes,
16:19but for any of the improvements
16:21that will come on stream
16:22in terms of
16:23walking and cycling
16:25in this part of Bridgewater.
16:28And all of these improvements
16:30both to
16:31the route
16:32along the A38
16:33to and from the school
16:35where we'll be
16:36in a couple of minutes
16:37and the improvements
16:38to the park,
16:39which I'll
16:39just give you
16:40a slightly broader view of
16:41stretching off
16:43into the distance there
16:44towards the other end
16:44of the Wollstock estate.
16:46All of these improvements
16:47tie in
16:48with
16:49the Bridgewater
16:51local cycling
16:52and walking
16:52infrastructure plan,
16:53which we've discussed
16:54a fair bit
16:55on these streams.
16:56We've talked a lot
16:57about the purple route,
16:58which runs
16:58all the way
16:59from Cross Rifles
17:01up
17:02along the A39
17:03along the River Parrot
17:05past the Tidal Barrier site
17:07and up to Dunball
17:08eventually over
17:09to the Gravity site.
17:10The route
17:11along the A38
17:11here
17:12is part of
17:13what's called
17:14the Green Route
17:14which is designed
17:16to eventually run
17:16all the way
17:17from North Petherton
17:19through the town centre
17:20and up
17:21Bristol Road.
17:23And
17:23parts of it
17:24are
17:25at various
17:26late stages
17:27of delivery.
17:27there are a few
17:28missing links
17:29here and there
17:29and I'm sure
17:30our good friends
17:31at the Bridgewater
17:31Area Cycling Campaign
17:32if they're watching
17:33will drop a comment
17:35and let us know
17:37which areas
17:37they would like
17:38to see delivered.
17:40But we're now
17:40walking along
17:42this
17:43stony
17:44but otherwise
17:45decently laid path.
17:46it's not
17:47tarmac
17:48it's much
17:49more the
17:49strawberry line
17:51greenway
17:52style of path
17:53that you may have
17:53seen on some of
17:54our other live streams
17:55and we're starting
17:56to come into
17:56a built up area.
17:57Fortunately
17:58we're doing this
17:58live stream
17:59at a weekend
17:59so we don't need
18:00to worry about
18:00bumping into
18:01reams and reams
18:02of school children
18:03having to point
18:04the camera
18:05this way
18:05and that
18:05to avoid
18:06identifying
18:06any of them.
18:07But you can just see
18:08Somerset Bridge Primary
18:10is called
18:10peeking through
18:11that fence
18:11and
18:14so far
18:16it's been a
18:17relatively safe
18:18and flat route
18:19but
18:19there are always
18:21improvements
18:21that can be made
18:22to
18:22not just make
18:23the existing routes
18:24safer on paper
18:25but to actually
18:25encourage people
18:26to
18:27to get out of
18:28their cars
18:29and walk and cycle
18:29so that the
18:30roads leading
18:31from the new
18:32gateway estate
18:33are not
18:34snarled up
18:35every morning
18:37and night
18:37those of us
18:39who need to drive
18:40can use
18:41our cars
18:42our lorries
18:42our vans
18:43our ambulances
18:44safe in the knowledge
18:47that
18:47those
18:48who have the option
18:50of other routes
18:51certainly when the weather's
18:51like this
18:52can take advantage
18:53of that.
18:55And here we are
18:56as we just
18:57take another short
18:58little journey
18:59past these fences
19:01coming out
19:03onto Stockmore Drive
19:05where this
19:06particular route
19:07blends into
19:08the rest of the
19:09pavement
19:09you can see
19:11the
19:11the co-op
19:13and the other
19:14little businesses
19:16including the
19:16fish bar
19:17just
19:18stretching off
19:19into the distance
19:20there next to the
19:20bus stop
19:21and we have come
19:22to the entrance
19:23of Somerset Bridge
19:24Primary School
19:25it's about a
19:25mile's walk
19:26maybe just over
19:27a mile
19:28from the gateway
19:29site
19:29to this
19:31particular facility
19:32I don't know
19:34exactly whether
19:34they've changed
19:35the legal requirements
19:36for how far
19:37they can expect
19:38primary school
19:38children to walk
19:39to their place
19:40of education
19:41I think it is
19:42still around a mile
19:42it can be further
19:43if you're a
19:44secondary school
19:44pupil
19:45please do let me
19:46know if you have
19:47that information
19:47but in any case
19:48I hope that has
19:49been informative
19:49and useful
19:50thank you very much
19:52for everyone who's
19:52joined me here this
19:53morning
19:53if you posted a
19:54comment I didn't
19:55get round to it
19:56for whatever reason
19:56I do apologise
19:57we'll respond to
19:58that after the event
19:59and join me again
20:01next week
20:02we don't know
20:03exactly where
20:04we'll be streaming
20:04we might be back
20:05here in Bridgewater
20:05if we've got the
20:07start date
20:07for the Dumball
20:09roundabout work
20:10which we've been
20:10talking about for
20:11months if not years
20:12but in the meantime
20:14this is Daniel Munby
20:15your local democracy
20:16reporter
20:17desperately fighting
20:18the urge
20:18to go and get nice