BUSINESS owners at a business park near the M5 say they face a future of uncertainty with fears of “financial hardship” and a drop in trade after plans were announced to close junction 26 near Wellington.

On Wednesday, April 23, Somerset Council announced they would be closing the M5 junction to carry out refurbishment works to the junction’s roundabout and surrounding roads.

Foxmoor Business Park, situated on the Chelston Link Road which will also be replaced, is set to be immediately impacted by the closure next month.

The council has said that while the link road will be closed from the Foxmoor Business Park junction to allow access to the site, they expect there to be some weekend and overnight closures.

Business owners at Foxmoor say they face a future of uncertainty and are upset not to have been consulted on the closure plans.

Sophie Clanachan, owner of Rhea’s Raw Pet Foods, has been based at the business park for the past three years.

Since Somerset Council’s announced the closures, Sophie says there’s still little clarity for her and other business owners.

She said: “I don’t know what to tell my customers at this point.

“On average, I have between 20 and 30 customers per day, but if there are queues to get here, people may choose to go elsewhere. And the potential weekend closures are going to be a huge issue as a lot of my customers come on the Saturday and Sunday.

“No one came to ask us for our thoughts, and a decision was then made beyond us. All they needed to do was come around and speak to us.

“We’re a small country town - we don’t have the kind of infrastructure to cope with these kinds of closures.

“It’s going to have a hell of an impact on the entire area.”

Many of the businesses at the site are contracted by national operators, including Openreach and Wessex Water, and are required to attend a call-out within a limited time frame.

For Gary Barr, owner of Barr Engineering – a contractor for Openreach – the closures risk the termination of his contract.

He said: “We’re bound by a contract and need to be able to get to sites within a certain period. It may take my lads one and a half hours just to get on the road now, when previously it would’ve only taken 10 minutes.”

Director of Foxmoor Business Park, Gideon Sumption said: “Closing junction 26 for three months will cause chaos and financial hardship, not just for the 72 businesses at Foxmoor Business Park, but also for all the other businesses and residents in and around Wellington.

“We will all be paying for the savings Somerset Council are making by not keeping one lane open at the junction whilst they do the work.

“They kept junction 25 open while it was resurfaced, but it seems the needs of Wellington businesses and residents are secondary to those of Taunton.”