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On a recent inspection of Pitt Relief Culvert on the A396, one of our engineers discovered an area of concern adjacent to the culvert. There is an area where the River Avill has undercut the embankment and a very large tree stump to within 200mm to 300mm of the Highway, the river at this point is approximately 3m below the road. If allowed to continue unchecked there is potential that we may lose a section of the A396 leading to great inconvenience of the travelling public, local businesses, and local residents. The problem is situated just past the turning to Snowdrop Valley.

To pre-empt this, we have to design a retaining structure to keep the river from further encroachment on the Highway. The first phase of this will commence on 23^rd of February and will involve clearing up to 20m of vegetation along the embankment, enabling the required surveys, bore holes, and information gathering to go ahead. We will also install temporary fencing to cover the area where the vegetation is removed. We have to carry this out before the 1^st of March to avoid the bird nesting season which runs to August.

These initial works will take place under two-way traffic lights during the day. We had considered carrying out the works at night under the closure for the Cutcombe Hill works, but due to the near vertical embankment the operation will be carried out using Rope Access techniques. It simply isn’t safe enough to carry this out in this environment using artificial light.

At the moment we don’t have any estimates as to when the main body of the scheme will take place, however we are anxious to have it completed as soon as practicably possible. Undoubtably the main scheme will require a road closure, and we may have to further traffic controls for some of the surveys, the inconvenience of this is surely outweighed by the possibility of having the road collapse and the extensive time and expense it would take to repair.

Regards,

Nick Jacklin

Senior Bridge Engineer/Team Leader
Somerset Council

Roads, travel and parking (somerset.gov.uk) for live travel alerts, roadworks information and winter weather updates

I am pleased to be able to send you the link below to our Rights of Way Annual Report 2024/25.  The report actually covers the past 3 financial years – due to staffing shortages, no separate report was produced for 22/23 and 23/24. This catch-up report therefore covers all 3 years with the last full financial year 24/25 being covered in more depth. 

Annual Report

This has been a difficult period during which a major review of rights of way & access management was undertaken to help reconcile deep cuts to our core government grant and other budgetary pressures.  I hope you will see that whilst this has been challenging, we have still managed to achieve a great deal and maintained high levels of public satisfaction for access on Exmoor.  Thank you to those of you who have worked with us, sending in path reports or helping on the ground keeping paths clear for the public to use.  Your support is much appreciated during these tricky times, and I hope you are all looking forward to the weeks ahead enjoying Exmoor as spring emerges.

Please come back to us if you have any thoughts, queries, or suggestions. 

Kind regards

Sue Applegate

Senior Public Rights of Way & Access Officer

Exmoor National Park Authority

Exmoor House, Dulverton, Somerset TA22 9HL.

Tel:  01398 323665

Direct Line:  01398 322292

Working together for Exmoor     

CLOSING DATE 4 Days time

Property Features• Available at the start of March
• Housing Association Tenant – Starter Tenancy
• Double room
• Own garden
• Air source heat pump heating
• Off street parking
• Pets allowed at landlord’s discretion
• Energy Performance D
• Wet room
• Minimum age of at least 1 person in the household; 50 and over

Charges• Social Rent
• Rent £549.03 a month
• Service Charge £83.61 a month
• Rent in advance required – 4 weeks

Summary text

Let on an assured tenancy, new tenants will need to complete a 12 month starter period.  A minimum of 1 month’s rent in advance will be expected. Some service charges may not be eligible for benefits. Preference will be given to applicants over the age of 55 years. To help you make sure that you are placing your bid on the right property for you, please ensure that you read the overview, look at the images, review the local area and facilities available, check the location on the attached map and read the additional information and any attachments.

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