New £510k bus station for rural Somerset town

More than £500,000 will be spent on creating a major new bus station in Somerset to improve rural routes in the county.

The new station will be in Langport after Somerset Council's proposal in neighbouring Somerton was dropped because of conservation concerns.

It comes months before Taunton's former bus station site will be brought back into use in the summer.

The council said Langport was "strategically situated within the county, on a number of key active travel and tourist routes and just four miles from the original proposed site of the hub".

The council has pledged to deliver a number of transport hubs across Somerset to create better travel connections, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It is not known when the new £510,000 station in Langport will be built.

The council found Market Cross, in Somerton, was "unworkable" as an option because of restrictions surrounding the town's conservation area.

Julia Gadd, chair of Huish Episcopi Parish Council, revealed the move at a Somerset Council meeting on 10 February during a discussion about merging two parish councils. The council later confirmed the new plan.

A Somerset Council spokesperson said other locations were considered for the station but were "discounted due to logistical or bus operational reasons".

"It was always our intention to have the rural transport hub in Somerton, but unfortunately a range of factors have made this option unworkable," they said.

"Key was the fact that the proposed area at Market Cross, currently the main bus stop/interchange for services in the town, is part of the Somerton conservation area and is very close to a scheduled monument."

They added: "Langport is also within our ongoing digital demand responsive transport trial area, an innovative scheme which is proving popular."

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