RESIDENTS calling for the building of a bus lane near a Bridgwater children’s centre are being assured work is set to begin.

Councillors are putting pressure on the developer of the Wilstock Village housing estate to fulfil its promise of putting in a new bus lane to help give access to the Hamp Children’s Centre.

As part of the planning agreement between Sedgemoor District Council and developer Bloor Homes, once the 1,100th occupation on the estate was reached, the installation of bus, cycle and pedestrian access between Wilstock and Rhode Lane was to begin.

Yet, despite the figure being reached more than a year ago, work has not started on the new route.

Somerset County Councillor Leigh Redman said he wanted residents of Hamp, Wilstock and Stockmoor to know that the issue was being pursued.

“When I first became a county councillor I visited Hamp Children’s Centre, and one of the parents asked me ‘When is the bus lane going to be done on Wilstock?’,” Cllr Redman said.

“She told me that to get from her home on Lilliana Way to the children’s centre, she had to travel 2km despite the fact her house was only around 500 metres from the centre.

“I regularly asked questions about the progress, and since then a number of hurdles and obstacles have been encountered and overcome and plans have been exchanged between Bloor and the county council.

“In April 2015 the occupied number of homes was 1,346 which means the trigger for the bus lane was activated more than a year ago.”

Cllr Redman said the bus lane was needed for the parents, schoolchildren and older members of the community who are waiting for a safe route to the children’s centre and town centre.

“I am on the case and will continue to push all parties but mainly the developers to get this bus lane in place and honour the agreement that is already long overdue,” he added.

A spokesman for Bloor Homes said the delay was due to plans being revised and that a final scheme was submitted to the county council in June.

“As part of the highway works sub-section of the S106 agreement surrounding the Wilstock Village development, originally agreed in 2007, Bloor Homes offered to build a bus gate which would run between Lilliana Way and Rhode Lane,” the spokesman said.

“The first submission of these plans were drafted and sent to Somerset County Council in 2010, and have gone through various iterations since, with the last submission of these proposals sent to the council in June 2016.

“Following recent correspondence with Somerset County Council, we now believe the plans and drawings are close to being agreed, and once we have this approval we will continue to work with the council to secure a bond and ultimately start work on the site to provide this area with a bus gate at the earliest opportunity.”

A spokesman for Somerset County Council said the scheme was in the final stages of approval, with work due to get underway at the start of next year.

“This scheme has been technically approved and we are working with the developer and designer to enable work to begin as soon as possible, which is likely to be in early 2017,” he said.