AN EXTRA £91,000 of public money will be spent on upgrading Taunton’s railway station – to ensure the forecourt paving is up to standard.

The station is currently being revamped by Great Western Railway, providing a new multi-storey car park, a new ticket office with better access to the town centre, extra cycle spaces and an improved bus interchange.

Due to design guidance adopted by Somerset West and Taunton Council, the paving chosen for the station forecourt and the surrounding will no longer be of a high enough standard.

The council is therefore allocating money obtained from local housing developments to make up the additional cost of putting this right.

The executive decision was taken by Councillor Mike Rigby, portfolio holder for planning policy and transport, and was published on the council’s website.

He said in his written report: “The station project includes the repaving of the entire station forecourt and adjoining areas.

“Since the time of going to tender for the work, the council’s garden town design guidance has been developed, which identifies the forecourt area as a core area where we should aim to achieve high standards in public realm.

“However, there is a difference of £91,518.06 in the cost of using the standard materials for the paving (which were costed out in the original tender) and the higher standard York Stone advised in the guidance.”

The additional funding will come from payments made to the council by developers under the community infrastructure levy (CIL) – money which can be used for infrastructure improvements (including transport) anywhere in the district.

The council has £500,000 of CIL set aside specifically for projects which will regenerate Taunton town centre – which was approved within its annual budget in February.

The station upgrade is due to be completed by the winter of 2020, when the ticket office will be relocated from the north entrance to the south side.

The new multi-storey car park and additional cycle parking are also expected to be open by the end of the year.