Ex-cellent news for the environment in west Somerset

• £240,000 sewer project will boost protection of National Park
• Wessex Water work ensure integrity of pipes near Timberscombe

Efforts to protect the precious environment within one of southern England’s most beautiful open spaces will step up a gear with investment worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds this autumn.

Lasting just over a month, the scheme is aiming to restore the integrity of nearly two kilometres of the sewer system within Exmoor National Park and will take place from the middle of August.

The £240,000 project will see Wessex Water teams working mainly in fields near the village of Timberscombe within Exmoor – which was designated as a National Park in the 1950s. Specialist equipment will work deep underground to help complete the sewer repairs and reduce disruption.

More than 1800 metres of pipes will be relined to prevent both foul water escaping and polluting the environment and groundwater infiltration, which can overwhelm the system and lead to the automatic operation of storm overflows.

Most of the repairs will be carried out using ‘no-dig’ techniques, which are quicker and less intrusive than replacing the pipe in a conventional manner.

It continues Wessex Water’s hefty investment in environmental protection in west Somerset, the company having separately announced more than £12 million of improvements to two water recycling centres near the villages of Milverton and Bishop’s Lydeard to reduce chemicals and pollutants from the arriving sewer flows and the discharge of untreated wastewater into watercourses before January 2025.

Wessex Water project manager Daniel Kelly said of the Exmoor work: “Relining pipes in this way ensures the resilience of our sewer system can be maintained while preventing pollution from damaged pipes and we reduce disruption on local communities as much as possible by using the ‘no-dig’ methods.

“It continues our hefty ongoing investment in the sewer system, spending more than £2 million this summer alone relining nearly 7,500 metres of sewers throughout our region.

“This scheme is taking place mainly within fields in a rural area but we’re writing to customers nearby to ensure they are aware of the project and where there is an impact on local roads, an inconvenience for which we apologise.’’

Work gets under way on Monday 21 August with a rolling road closure to through traffic of Drapers Way from the A396 junction at Timberscombe to Cutcombe Hill to outside Bench Cottage, until Friday 22 September. 

Traffic will initially be diverted via Drapers Way, the B3224 and the A396 (Cutcombe Hill) from 21 August to 1 September, before being diverted via the A396 alone between 4 -22 September as the closure moves north. 

Between Monday 25 September and Friday 6 October, temporary traffic signals will be in operation on the Timberscombe Bypass, outside Ford Cottages. 

Finally, from Monday 2 to Friday 6 October, temporary traffic signals will be in operation on Dunster to Timberscombe Road between the junctions of Brook Street and Orchard Way. 

Wessex Water has written the local customers and businesses about the Drapers Way closure, with further information about the later phases of the scheme following in September.

Owen Houlihan Senior Communications Adviser Wessex Water Claverton Down Bath BA2 7WW Contact number 01225 526 329 Mobile number 07825 436 019 wessexwater.co.uk