WATCHET could get increased bus services and small road improvements to offset the impact of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail programme, according to the town’s MP.

As part of HS2, the government is pushing forward with the construction of Old Oak Common railway station, around three miles west of London Paddington where many services from Somerset currently terminate.

Passengers using Great Western Railway (GWR) services into the capital face substantial disruption during the construction process and longer journeys once the station is operational.

Tiverton and Minehead MP Rachel Gilmour is among the Somerset MPs who have criticised this move, calling on the government to provide discounted rail fares to keep the county attractive to tourists and investors.

Mrs Gilmour has now hinted that a HS2 ‘mitigation plan’ could lead to more bus services for the town of Watchet, along with small improvement schemes to the local road network.

However, she ruled out any immediate reopening of the B3191 Cleeve Hill, which has been closed for two years, arguing that neither the government nor Somerset Council could provide the “£72m” that was needed.

Cleeve Hill – which connects Watchet to Blue Anchor – served as a key commuting route for locals and provided a valuable diversionary route for holidaymakers whenever the A39 between Minehead and Williton was congested.

The road was closed indefinitely by Somerset County Council in January 2023 due to concerns about coastal erosion.

While the road reopened to pedestrians and cyclists before Easter 2024, motorised vehicles are still banned from using it – a move which has made a severe dent in Watchet’s economy, which is heavily reliant on tourism.

Mrs Gilmour made her comments during an Q&A event held at the East Quay venue on Friday evening (January 17), organised by the Watchet Coastal Community Team.

Bernice Scott-Field, a team director and locally based social worker, said she was “dismayed” by the ongoing impact on the town and asked what scope there was for reopening the road (for instance, by realigning it further inland).

She said: “The road closure is having a devastating impact, not only on those of us who live and work in Watchet but on the traders in the town.

“We are seeing the evidence of that almost week by week, and also the impact on the local, smaller communities who rely on this thoroughfare.

“We have heard many mixed messages, and we ask you if there are any governmental plans to address an alternative road plan for the economy of Watchet and the surrounding area?”

Mrs Gilmour asked the government to “allocate funding to rebuild the B3191 between Watchet and Blue Anchor” in a written question following the appointment of transport secretary Heidi Alexander MP.

The Department for Transport (DfT) responded that it was “entirely a matter for Somerset Council” on how it allocated additional highways funding provided in the October 30 budget.

Responding to Ms Scott-Field’s question, Mrs Gilmour said: “I’m going tell you straight: you ain’t going to get any money from Somerset Council. They just haven’t got it – they haven’t got £72m, they’ve barely got 72p.

“There was an announcement in the budget that the government is looking to put more money into roads, but I don’t think they’re going to use it to cover a road as small as that.

“They’re going to be looking at bigger project with more infrastructure. I have written to the minister about it twice.”

Somerset County Council previously commissioned a study into protecting the road at both Watchet and Blue Anchor, which was published by WSP in July 2020.

The council’s preferred option for the Watchet end at the time was to strengthen up to 350 metres of the lower cliff slopes along the coast and realign the B3191 inland towards Saxon Close, allowing traffic to bypass the at-risk section on Cleeve Hill.

This remains the preferred option of Somerset Council, with officers estimating in late-March 2023 that it would cost between £21.96m and £33.72m to implement this scheme successfully.

In the absence of a scheme to reopen Cleeve Hill at present, Mrs Gilmour said that she would be pushing the government to improve Watchet’s other key roads and its public transport to offset the impact of the HS2 construction.

She said: “We are going to take the hit in terms of trains for HS2.

“As of now, all trains from the south west, south Wales, and the Cotswolds will have to go to London via Old Oak Common and they’ll be diverted into Euston – so it will take an extra hour to get to London, or to get back from London, and there will only be one train an hour.

“For us, that’s a disaster in terms of economic development.

“I’m working cross-party with the Peninsula Transport Forum, which is chaired by Andrea Davis, who’s a Conservative councillor in north Devon.

“We’re seeing the minister later this month, working with MPs of all political persuasions, and we’re going to talk to him about a mitigation plan.

“Part of that mitigation plan will be reduced rail fares in the summer for tourists, to encourage them to come down.

“We also want more buses, because we are 200 buses short in this part of Somerset, more bus routes and investment in our roads.

“I can see the DfT possibly considering improvements to the A39, because it’s a nightmare. I don’t see them doing that little road.”

Following the original road closure, the Watchet Task Force was set up to provide short-term relief for affected businesses and create a long-term strategy for redesigning the town centre to reduce the negative impact of the road closure.

The finished strategy (known officially as the Watchet urban design strategy) was published shortly before Christmas 2024, and identifies several big changes which could be implemented on the local road network to boost businesses and help residents.

These include turning the junction between the B3191 Swain Street and Harbour Road into a mini-roundabout, enhancing the town’s main car parks and resurfacing Swain Street to make it more inviting.

The Environment Agency (EA)’s Wessex flood and coastal committee previously committed £1.5m towards coastal defence works in the Watchet area – funding which remains available.

Following the East Quay event, Mrs Gilmour said she would be speaking to the EA’s chief executive to see whether there was any scope for unlocking this funding as part of a road improvement scheme.

She said: “I need as a matter of urgency to get myself a meeting with the chief executive of the EA – I’ve already met the chairman, and I’ve got a whole lot of things to talk about with him.”