PLANS to dual the A358 between Taunton and Ilminster have been officially cancelled by the Labour government as part of its first budget.

National Highways (formerly Highways England) has been working for several years on a planned scheme to dual the A358 between the Southfields roundabout in Ilminster and junction 25 of the M5 in Taunton, holding numerous public consultations to gain residents’ input.

Reports surfaced in early-March that the scheme was being cancelled, with one local land agent alleging he had “been told to settle all claims” – reports which neither National Highways nor the Department for Transport (DfT) sought to clarify.

Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves MP announced on July 29 that the DfT and the Treasury would review a number of major transport schemes after uncovering £1bn of unfunded spending commitments for the coming year.

In her first budget, Mrs Reeves has now officially cancelled the A358 scheme, along with a number of other road-building schemes across the UK.

In the official budget documents, which lays out the spending for every government department, the Treasury stated: “As part of the government’s commitment to growth, it will take difficult decisions where there is not a clear value for money case to invest.

“After a review, the transport secretary [Louise Haigh MP] has decided not to progress with the following unfunded and unaffordable road schemes on the strategic road network: the A5036 Princess Way [in Liverpool], the A358 Taunton to Southfields, the M27 J8 in Southampton, the A47 Great Yarmouth

Vauxhall Roundabout and the A1  from Morpeth to Ellingham [in Northumberland].”

The A358 scheme was expected to cost £328m to deliver, and would have seen new junctions created to link the dual carriageway with the A378 towards Langport, along with the villages of Hatch Beauchamp and Ashill along the existing route.

National Highways’ most recent designs involved digging up the Nexus 25 roundabout – delivered as part of a £19.2m upgrade of junction 25 – and replacing it with a signal-controlled crossroads.

Somerset Council leader Bill Revans said that the A358 cancellation was disappointing but not entirely unexpected.

Speaking shortly after the budget on Wednesday afternoon (October 30), he said: “It is disappointing that the A358 dualling scheme between Ilminster and Taunton has now been dropped, but we weren’t surprised by that decision – it had been trailed.”

National Highways declined to comment on the government’s announcement.

The DfT is expected to provide updates in the coming days on the fate of other major transport projects in Somerset, including the new £15m railway station in Wellington, for which Taunton and Wellington MP Gideon Amos has been lobbying.