Taunton Urban Design Framework - Taunton Deane Borough Council

The River ToneA Focus for ActivityThe river is a natural focus for speciality retailing, culturaland leisure activity and provides an appropriate setting forcivic buildings. A high quality riverfront close to newemployment and housing will attract bars, restaurants andspecialist retail to complement the major attractions suchas the new Cricket Club and theatre. It can provide thequality of pedestrian and cycle routes that would activelydiscourage car use for short cross-town trips.A Green LinkThe River Tone corridor, including the side waters andtributaries such as the Galmington stream, provides ahabitat for a number of protected species and retains ahigh degree of ecological interest. A number of treespecies such as alder, sycamore, crack-willow and ashcontribute significantly to the ‘green’ appearance of theriverfront. Public access to the riverfront will be combinedwith protection of the river banks to prevent damage tobankside vegetation. There will be low-level, discreetlighting along the river to minimise disturbance tonocturnal species such as bats and otters.FloodingThe flood risk from the River Tone is an existing problemfor central Taunton. Enhancing flood protection is aprerequisite for many of the development opportunities inTangier and Firepool, and is likely to comprise a mix ofupstream alleviation measures, a remodelled weir, andincreased flood defences along the river. This will requireongoing work with the Environment Agency.River Tone from Tangier to FirepoolAttractive riverfrontImproving flood defences20 OpportunitiesSection 2Taunton UDF