Adoption of Taunton Waterways Strategy and Guidance

Taunton Waterways Strategy and Guidance has been adopted. It's now a material planning consideration for the preparation of masterplans, pre-application advice, assessing planning applications and any other development management purposes within the study area. 

The document provides a clear, overarching strategy and supporting guidance to direct investment in Taunton’s waterways, to bring about coordinated improvement for the benefit of the whole town. It aligns with the Vision for Taunton Garden Town which places Taunton’s waterways at the heart of the town’s regeneration.

It seeks to make the water corridors into a cohesive linear asset, coordinating and directing investment to bring about comprehensive improvement. As well as identifying character areas, it also includes a series of both general and location specific issues, challenges and opportunities. A series of prioritised investment projects are also identified for delivery, subject to funding. It contains site specific design guidance, primarily for the brownfield regeneration sites within the town centre and guidance for smaller potential sites close to the tributaries within Taunton’s neighbourhoods.

The Strategy’s focus is from the Silk Mills park and ride facility west of Longrun Meadow to the M5 motorway encompassing both the River Tone, the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal and incorporating the tributaries that connect to the river and canal through the town’s neighbourhoods.