The Liberal Democrat-run Somerset Council has still not agreed terms of reference with the consultants hired to build the business case for reopening the B3191, with weeks left before the bid must be lodged with the Department for Transport. An email passed to campaigner James Wright shows.
The B3191 between Watchet and Blue Anchor has been closed since January 2023, after cliff movement at Cleeve Hill rendered the road unsafe for vehicles. The closure was made permanent in October 2025, despite a petition of more than a thousand names co-ordinated by Mr Wright and objections from Watchet Town Council and several parish councils.
Following a campaign by Mr Wright, the Department invited Somerset Council to submit a funding bid in response in early May, with a submission deadline of 5 August.
Council officers met with local organisations on the 19th of May to discuss the business case and how local stakeholders would feed into it. In an email sent this week, Mike O'Dowd-Jones, the council's Service Director for Infrastructure and Transport, confirmed the authority remains "at the final stages of agreeing" the detailed proposal with consultants WSP. The terms of reference for stakeholder engagement, the economic case for the scheme, and the wider programme to submission are all still outstanding.
The closure has hit Watchet hard. The council's own consultation found a major effect on the economy of the town, including hours lost in traffic delays, the logistics of moving goods to and from Minehead, and a heavy blow to tourism.
James Wright, an Exmoor farmer and campaigner said "We had to fight the council to take this seriously; a thousand local people put their names to the letter that opened this door. Now, with weeks to go, we learn that the council has not even agreed terms of reference with its own consultants. This Liberal Democrat run council is asleep at the wheel."
"If Somerset Council misses this deadline or submits a shoddy proposal, they will need to explain to every business in Watchet, every family, every pensioner, and every visitor, why local pressure had to drag them to the table, and why they still could not deliver for them."
Mr Wright has called on the council to publish the terms of reference, the full programme to submission, and the name of the officer accountable for delivery before the end of the week.
