Somerset transport campaigners have called on a major developer to provide part of a crucial 'missing link' to a long-distance walking and cycling route through a planned major development.

Stonewater submitted plans in April to redevelop the existing Wells Rugby Club ground on Charter Way into 106 homes, as the club prepares to relocate to a planned new facility on the A371 Portway at the city's western edge.

Somerset Council is expected to make a decision on both sets of plans before the end of the year, which would enable construction of the new homes to begin some time in 2026.

The Strawberry Line Society has now called on Stonewater to provide a new section of the multi-user path as part of the development, arguing that the new residents will be "forced onto busy and dangerous roads" if it is not delivered.

Both developments were anticipated as part of the Mendip Local Plan Part II, which was ratified by Mendip District Council in December 2021 and is designed to meet additional housing need within the now-former district.

The existing Charter Way site was estimated to provide a minimum of 80 dwellings using the existing access, with the prospect of Wells Tennis Club relocating alongside the rugby club if the club was willing.

The rugby club's new facility will be accessed off the A371 Portway, with three full-sized pitches, mini-pitches, a clubhouse building (including changing rooms, toilets and function rooms), and enough parking for 141 cars and three coaches.

The Strawberry Line currently runs uninterrupted between Yatton railway station and Station Road in Cheddar, with numerous efforts being made in recent years to extend the route towards Shepton Mallet.

A lengthy off-road section of the route runs from Haybridge to just outside the rugby club, terminating outside the Wells Sports and Fitness Centre and providing a car-free route to local facilities from numerous housing estates.

The existing rugby pitches are bordered by a public right of way on their northern and eastern sides, providing a potential connection between the existing terminus of the Strawberry Line and cycle lanes leading through the city and out towards Dulcote.

Tony Hathaway from the Strawberry Line Society made the case for the new path before Wells City Council at a recent meeting, before publishing a formal statement on Somerset Council's planning portal.

He said: "We would like to see a strip of land provided along the northern boundary of the proposed housing site, at Charter Way, to allow a future extension of the Strawberry Line path into the centre of Wells.

"The existing path to the west of Wells stops at the leisure centre. The eastern continuation of the path to Shepton Mallet starts behind the new Lidl store. Efforts are being made to provide safe crossing points at Priory Road and Tucker Street.

"The long-term aim is to provide a suitable link between the Portway and the completed path near the leisure centre.

"This will enable safe off-road travel from the west of the city into the centre of Wells."

Those wishing to reach the city centre from Charter Way currently have to navigate through residential streets onto the busy A371 Portway, using narrow pavements or sharing space with cars up to the junction with the A39 Strawberry Way.

From there the A39 bends south over the upgraded Burcott Road crossing, with a limited amount of shared use pedestrian and cycling paths being available before the revamped Lidl store, which opened in late-January.

The supermarket includes a new short section of cyclepath along West Street, enabling onward travel to the Charlie Bigham food campus at Dulcote Quarry and the recently-completed Strawberry Line extension out to Churchill Batch Lane.

To make the journey from the Charter Way site safer, the Strawberry Line Society wish for the existing footpath on the rugby club's boundary to be upgraded into a three-metre-wide shared use path.

This path can then either connect up with existing quiet paths to Portway via Lethbridge Road or could transition into a sheltered 'greenway' delivered behind the existing homes on Lethbridge Road and Mount Pleasant Avenue, emerging on Portway near the existing crossing.

Mr Hathaway added: "If this opportunity is lost and no suitable alternative link into the centre of Wells is found, future generations of cyclists, mobility scooter users and local walkers will be forced onto busy and dangerous roads to complete their journey to, from and through Wells.

"This doesn't make sense at a time when the government is preaching the need for sustainable development and greater use of cycling and walking."

Somerset Council is expected to make decisions on both the Stonewater and the rugby club proposals before the end of the calendar year.

Councillors Tessa Munt and Theo Butt Philip (who represent the Wells division) have both requested that the final decisions be taken in public by the council's planning committee east, rather than through the delegated powers of its planning officers.