Blow as vital Devon M5 upgrade put on ‘maybe’ list

A major upgrade to a Devon M5 junction said to be vital to unlocking the development of thousands of new homes has suffered a blow after being put under review.

Proposals to upgrade J28 at Cullompton appeared to be progressing well, with funding pledged by the previous government towards the scheme.
But now ministers have released a list of projects they say will be reviewed over the summer to ascertain whether they remain “viable, affordable and deliverable”.
Mid Devon District Council sees the proposed upgrade to the motorway junction as a non-negotiable piece of the Culm Garden Village puzzle.
Culm Garden is where around 5,000 homes are planned, and proponents of the development claim upgrades to the road network must be made before thousands more residents move into the new properties.
Back in 2023, Mid Devon District Council released a statement saying the then government, led by Rishi Sunak, had included the J28 scheme as part of its Network North program that sought to make a host of transport upgrades across the country.
However, in a letter to local councils this week, the Department for Transport said it had split the 70 schemes included in the Network North program into two groups; 28 which are moving ahead, and 42 that have “not yet reached the critical point of outline business case stage, or which have other issues and challenges”.
The DfT said those 42 schemes it is reconsidering amount to a combined £3 billion, which could prove difficult to fund on top of the £1.5 billion it expects to spend on the 28 schemes it has given the green light to.
Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat), the MP for Honiton and Sidmouth, Cullompton had already seen “significant new housing” and has been “chalked-up for more”, meaning the M5 junction upgrade should be progressed.
“The government should crack on with the scheme straight away,” he said.
“It is essential to provide infrastructure before new housing is built.
“Thousands of new houses are proposed for the town and this will cause absolute gridlock unless we can secure improvements to J28.”
Mr Foord added he would continue to make the case to ministers in the “strongest possible terms”.
Cabinet members at Mid Devon District Council heard that the government was aiming to make a decision on which schemes would be given the go-ahead.
Richard Marsh, director of place at Mid Devon District Council, said the wording in the government’s letter suggested the projects not immediately waved through had failed to progress to the outline business case stage.
“But we have been waiting for the government view on [the prior step of] our strategic outline business case for over a year before can progress,” he said.
“It is not that we have not done anything, we have been waiting for feedback to allow us to carry on but now we have a clearer timescale [about when a decision will be made] we can re-engage the DfT and Treasury via Devon County Council to understand what that looks like.”
Mr Marsh added he would continue to impress on government that the future delivery of East Cullompton and Culm Garden were dependent on the upgrade of the M5 junction, and “in every conversation we will make that clear”.
Council leader Councillor Luke Taylor (LIberal Democrat, Bradninch) said he was concerned that the government might believe that the prospective reopening of Cullompton train station negated the need for the motorway junction upgrade.
“I’m worried about them saying ‘give them the station and we don’t need to worry about the motorway junction’,” he said.
“They might think the station will support the delivery of housing, but the rationale for reopening the station isn’t necessarily linked to that.”
The council’s chief executive, Stephen Walford, was cautious on pre-empting government decisions but appeared to agree with Cllr Taylor.
“It’s impossible for me to speak for the government in terms of what it intends to do, but all I can do by way of seeking to give collective reassurance [to councillors] is that while reopening the station is a good thing to facilitate growth, what it doesn’t do is substantially move the dial on generating highway capacity needed to bring forward strategic development sites like Culm Garden Village,” he said.
“That level of development will generate a traffic need and transport demand that a new station cannot mitigate.”
Councillor Steve Keable (Liberal Democrat, Taw Vale), the cabinet member for planning and economic regeneration, said he believed Homes England, a government body, would support the council in its case for the J28 upgrade.