£40m bid to reopen Somerset coast road ‘on track’ despite Tory claims
The road provided a valuable diversionary route for holidaymakers whenever the A39 between Minehead and Williton was congested
A £40m bid to reopen a key coastal road remains “on track”, despite claims to the contrary by a local Conservative figure.
The B3191 Cleeve Hill between Watchet and Blue Anchor 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, leaving residents and visitors with only one route in and out of the town centre, using a 150-year-old bridge over the West Somerset Railway heritage line.
Somerset Council (which replaced the county council in April 2023) announced in late-April that it would submit a bid to the government’s structures fund to reopen the road, either by making the existing road safer or moving the route further inland.
Exmoor resident James Wright, director of policy of the Conservative Rural Forum, claimed that the Liberal Democrat-local council was “asleep at the wheel” and risked missing the deadline for submitting the final bid (having cleared the first hurdle in mid-May).
The council has categorically refuted this, stating it is on course to meet the final deadline of August 3 – with the Department for Transport (DfT) expected to announce the outcome before Christmas.
Cleeve Hill has been open to pedestrian and cyclists since the spring of 2024, but cars and other vehicles still have to use the A39 and narrow roads near Old Cleeve to travel between Watchet and Blue Anchor.
The council confirmed in October 2025 that the road would be permanently closed to motorised traffic, despite a consultation which attracted more than 1,000 local objections.
Both Conservative and Liberal Democrat figures have been pushing for the reopening of the road since 2023, either through a standalone scheme or as part of the proposed west Somerset tidal lagoon, backed by Tiverton and Minehead MP Rachel Gilmour.
Mrs Gilmour raised the issue in the House of Commons on May 18, describing it as “an absolute blocker for economic development” and urging the Labour government to take action.
Mr Wright cited an email (passed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service) from Mike O’Dowd-Jones, the council’s service director for infrastructure and transport, relating to a meeting on May 19.
Mr O’Dowd-Jones said in the email that there had been “concerns” raised about the “plan for engagement” on the business case, and wanted to ensure that the “economic impacts of the current closure are captured” (so that the relevant ministers could understand how badly Watchet had been hit by the road closure).
He said he was “at the final stages” of agreeing the level of support from consultants WSP in developing this business case, and that technical work was “progressing well” despite there being “much supporting detail to develop”.
Mr Wright claimed that this email shows that the council “had not agreed the terms of reference” with WSP, adding: “This council is asleep at the wheel.
“If the council misses this deadline or submits a shoddy proposal, they will need to explain to every business in Watchet, every family, every pensioner, and every visitor, why local pressure had to drag them to the table, and why they still could not deliver for them.”
Somerset Council said that it was committed to doing everything it could to reopen the road, and stressed that it would meet the government’s deadline for the final business case.
A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: “The bid preparation is going well and we are on track to make the submission on August 3.
“There has categorically never been any danger of the council missing this deadline.
“We fully understand how crucial this is for the community and west Somerset, and have been lobbying for this since the road had to close.”