MORE than 1,000 people have backed a campaign opposing plans to permanently close a West Somerset road.

Somerset Council is applying for an order to upgrade the temporary closure of the B3191 Watchet to Blue Anchor road.

But, 1,152 residents have signed an open letter opposing the idea of permanently closing what they consider a vital coastal route which also serves Old Cleeve and surrounding villages.

Critics of the council proposal said it would leave communities cut off, damage the local economy, and was effectively ‘abandoning the future of Watchet’.

The letter was collated by Exmoor farmer and rural campaigner James Wright and delivered to the council on Thursday (June 12), a day ahead of a consultation deadline on the proposed Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).

The campaign calls on the council to pause the permanent closure until a long-term alternative can be put in place.

Mr Wright said: “This is not just about a road.

“It is about whether coastal communities get heard or ignored.

“We are not asking for a miracle.

“We are asking Somerset Council to do its job, protect public safety without walking away from its responsibilities.”

The road was closed at Cleeve Hill following a cliff collapse in January, 2023, when a geotechnical survey warned it was at risk from continuing coastal erosion.

It was opened last year for pedestrians and cyclists only, but not vehicles, and the closure the order was amended.

Somerset Council, which has been battling to avoid becoming bankrupt, said it could not afford the estimated £36 million cost of re-routing the road further inland.

Instead, it gave £30,000 to fund a Watchet task force to come up with ideas to promote the town to attract more visitors to help the economy.

Mr Wright said: “Most people would not even know this consultation was happening, and that is the problem.

“It is not just about one road.

It is about how decisions are made and who gets a say.

“This campaign proves that when communities speak up, councils have to listen, and now we expect them to act.”

Mr Wright said the campaign had been widely supported in West Somerset, with volunteers delivering leaflets and hundreds of comments submitted by residents across the district.

He said the concern was that approving a permanent TRO would remove the council’s duty to act, thereby effectively shelving any long-term plans and leaving the local communities and businesses stranded.

The road had been identified in the South West peninsula transport strategy as part of a wider coastal erosion scheme, which includes the development of a re-routed alternative.

Mr Wright, who is chairman of the Conservative South West Rural Forum, said: “Thank you to everybody who signed.

“Everybody I spoke to, the families, older residents, local businesses, told me the same thing, this closure is hurting people.

“The council now has a clear choice, to listen, or to keep letting West Somerset down.”

Mr Wright said he would submit by email to the council any further public responses received via his website.