ONE of Somerset’s historic canals will be significantly regenerated in the coming years as part of a government-funded project and a newly-adopted strategy.

The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal runs for just over 14 miles over the Somerset Levels, connecting the River Tone at Firepool Lock in Taunton to the River Parrett at the Northgate Docks in Bridgwater.

Bridgwater’s docks will be given a substantial facelift over the coming 12 to 18 months, with £5.2m from the government-backed Bridgwater town deal being spent to modernise the marina, encourage new leisure uses and provide better walking and cycling links to the town centre.

Somerset Council has now approved its Taunton waterways strategy, which commits to enhancing the Taunton end of the canal through a series of potential projects and extensive maintenance.

The strategy – which went out for public consultation in the autumn of 2024 – was approved by the council’s planning and transport policy sub-committee when it convened in Taunton on April 8.

The finished document commits in principle to delivering a “linear water park” through the town, with pedestrians and cycling connections around the River Tone and the canal to link the town’s major facilities and green spaces, encouraging more people to explore the town for leisure.

As part of this, the strategy “places a new emphasis on the role and use of both the canal and river”, with a particular focus on increasing the recreational use of both watercourses for walking, cycling and other activities. 

During the consultation, the Inland Waterways Association (IWA – which campaigns for improving Britain’s rivers and canals) argued that making the canal fully navigable by boat again would be a huge economic and cultural boost to both settlements (as well as the small villages along its length).

A spokesman said: “While we recognise that the use of paddle craft is a fast-growing pastime, we believe that the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, together with the River Tone, are vastly under-utilised assets – they could significantly contribute to the local economy.

“We envisage that Taunton, with its 14-mile navigable link to Bridgwater, could go even further than Langport by encouraging the establishment of businesses such as a trip boat, day boat hire and short-term narrowboat holidays.

“The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal is an example of a similar, relatively short navigable waterway that thrives as a destination for all manner of boats, paddle craft, walkers, cyclists and nature lovers, thus providing employment and revenue for local businesses.”

Councillor Mike Rigby, portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets, raised the question of what improvements would be needed at Firepool Lock to allow more boats and other craft to use the river and canal.

He said: “For too long, Taunton has turned its back on the River Tone and the other waterways.

“There are lots of opportunities where we can make the river the centre of the town rather than something that has been ignored, as in the past.

“How do we repair the Firepool Lock? Is that something where we would need to work with the Canal and River Trust?”

The trust is responsible for maintaining the canal, including the pedestrian and cycling access along its towpath.

To this end, the trust recently reopened the towpath between Albert Street and West Street in Bridgwater, which had been closed for the best part of three years due to safety concerns.

Jenny Clifford, the council’s Taunton garden town implementation manager, responded: “There are various technical stakeholders that would need to be liaised with in detail.

“This is where I see partnership working being absolutely vital to achieving an enhancement of that area.”

Ms Clifford added that further feasibility work was needed to “understand the nature of these challenges and the potential cost of resolving them.”

Council leader Bill Revans (whose North Petherton division includes the bulk of the canal) said he would push for the Bridgwater docks regeneration to be complemented by similar actions at the Taunton terminus, in order to boost the entire appeal of the canal.

He said: “I’m very conscious that at the other end of the canal we have a town deal project which is the renovation of Bridgwater Docks, and it would be great to see some sort of linkage between these two projects.

“I would be interested to understand the technical challenges at the Firepool end and whether those are insurmountable.

“Those of us who’ve been around long enough will remember a time when we were promised that the Somerset Levels would be the new Norfolk Broads. That is a vision that has not been realised, and I wouldn’t want us to raise expectations beyond what is feasible at the moment.

“The Somerset Boat Centre at Maunsel Lock has been a business that has been very successful in being able to operate, using the potential of our waterways.

“I think there is considerable economic development potential in this area, and if the Bridgwater docks project is to be successful, it needs to harness that connectivity.”

Nick Tait, the council’s service manager for place-making and projects, said that undertaking the Bridgwater docks project would allow the council to accurately plan what similar regeneration work would cost at the Taunton end.

He said: “We’ll have reasonably up-to-date estimates of what it costs to restore lock gates, for instance.

“We know the Canal and River Trust hasn’t got any money, but it does have engineering expertise, allowing us to harness some work in kind.

“It’s a short stretch of canal, but there are real opportunities here.”

The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is also home to the Somerset Space Walk, a sculpture trail with plinths marking the scaled distances between the Sun and the planets in the solar system.

The walk was the brainchild of investor Pip Youngman, and was constructed to a scale of 1:530,000,000 – meaning that one millimetre on the model equates to 530 kilometres.

The Sun is sited at Higher Maunsel Lock, with one set of planets being installed in each direction, to convey both the distance between the planets and the overall diameter of the solar system (before Pluto was declassified at a planet in 2006).

The ‘Taunton Pluto’ can be found near the Brewhouse Theatre and Coal Orchard, while the ‘Bridgwater Pluto’ lies near Albert Street, a short distance from the Meads Eco-Park.

Part of the Bridgwater section of the space walk will be improved next month, with the existing towpath at Standards Lock (near North Newton) being resurfaced and repaired by the end of May, according to IWA West Country branch vice-chairman Mike Slade.

Further public consultation on the Bridgwater Docks project will be carried out in the coming months, with Somerset Council aiming to secure planning permission by the late-summer or early-autumn.

This will allow it to contract for the necessary building and construction work before March 2026, when any unspent or committed town deal funding must be returned to central government.