ChilCOmptOn reStOratiOn planS abOrted aFter lOCal OppOSitiOn

Enthusiasts looking to restore Chilcompton station have been forced to rethink their plans in the face of opposition from local residents.

The Friends of Chilcompton Station was set up earlier this year by Chairman John Graham with the aim of rebuilding the demolished station, and ultimately re‑laying the line southwards to Binegar or northwards towards Midsomer Norton, headquarters of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust.

But builder Taylor Wimpey, the owner of the station site, has written to local residents stating: “We have no intention whatsoever to sell or transfer land to these or similar organisations” and that the area is safeguarded with the designation of ‘Public Open Space’.

Of more than 100 Chilcompton residents who attended a public meeting to discuss the proposal, the “vast majority” are reported to have been against the project, raising concerns about a lack of privacy for those living nearby, increased traffic and pollution.

Undeterred by the opposition, John Graham said that the group, now renamed the Mendip Railway Trust, would seek a new Somerset & Dorset location “between Chilcompton and Shepton Mallet.”