LAND earmarked for Wellington’s railway station will be protected if the government does not allow the £15m project to go ahead, a local developer has confirmed.

West of England Developments (Taunton) Ltd. secured planning permission in May 2024 to deliver 200 new homes on Nynehead Road in Wellington, providing the access to the town’s proposed railway station.

The government will announce whether the station (and its sister project in Cullompton in Devon) will go ahead at the conclusion of its spending review in mid-June, following months of vociferous campaigning by local MPs Gideon Amos and Richard Foord.

But West of England managing director Chris Winter has given assurance that the station site will be protected in the event of the project hitting the buffers – meaning it could be revived at a later date.

He also pledged to begin construction work on the new spine road to the station site in the autumn – which would be completed before any of the 200 new homes were built and occupied.

Plans for 220 homes, commercial space and access to new railway station on Nynehead Way in Wellington.
Plans for 220 homes, commercial space and access to new railway station on Nynehead Way in Wellington. (Focus On Design)

Under its Section 106 agreement with the council, the company must begin work on the spine road by June 5 – though it is currently seeking permission to delay this until the autumn through a separate planning application.

Mr Winter explained: “We had an obligation to put the square in upfront and we’ve got a sum of money budget to do that – but it’s a question of: do we want to finish the whole thing so it’s sparkly and new now, when the station and housing might be some years away?

“The alternative is that we put all the infrastructure in so that the station square can be paved at the right time. The budget’s there, the sum of money is protected, but we’re still in discussions about that.”

The council’s planning and transport policy sub-committee voted in January 2024 to provisionally allocate up to £4.5m to ensure the spine road could be delivered, with the funding coming from other housing developments via the community infrastructure levy (CIL).

The access road to the Lidl store in Wellington will be extended to reach the new railway station.
The access road to the Lidl store in Wellington will be extended to reach the new railway station. (Daniel Mumby)

Mr Winter said he was reasonably confident that the government would give the new station the green light, in view of both the money spent on getting the project to this stage and how much of the infrastructure would be delivered by his company rather than the taxpayer.

If the government gives the station the go-ahead, Network Rail will still have to secure planning permission for its section of the site before any work can begin.

Until they are in a position to start building, the station land will effectively by held in trust – meaning that it will be protected for future use if the Treasury isn’t feeling generous this time around.

Mr Winter said: “Network Rail doesn’t want the land until they know they can build on it.

“What we’ve agreed to do is vary the Section 106 agreement so the council can call on that land for a station use at any time in the future.