THE clerk to Wellington Town Council had to admit defeat and utter a phrase he had not wanted to use in reference to plans for a new train station.

Dave Farrow, speaking at the council’s full monthly meeting on Monday (March 6), joked: “You can’t have a conversation about the train station without referring to things ‘being on track.’ I have tried to avoid using that phrase, but I can’t get away from it!”

Mr Farrow and Cllr Marcus Barr joined a site visit last month at the proposed location of the replacement railway station on the Longforth Farm estate.

Also at the site meeting were local MP Rebecca Pow, representatives of the Somerset West and Taunton Council and Network Rail and architects from West of England Developments.

Mr Farrow said that it is expected that a planning application for the site will be submitted in the next three to four weeks.

A council report said: “The target date for opening is still 2025 if all continues to go to plan.”

But Cllr Barr, speaking at the council meeting, said that he was hopeful that if things went according to plan, the project might get ahead of schedule.