What is Devon County Council’s policy and progress with regard to the reopening of the closed railway line between Bere Alston and Tavistock?
Unless the Environmental Impact Assessment revealed insuperable problems, plans for the reopening of the railway are surely now well advanced. If that is not the case, could you please explain what has held up the reopening and what plans the Council has with regard to the railway.
A report was taken to Devon County Council Cabinet in July 2014, accessible here: https://democracy.devon.gov.uk/Data/Cabinet/20140709/Agenda/pdf-PTE-14-49.pdf
The recommendations in the Cabinet report were approved, which included continued development on the project and the previous approval for a joint venture partnership with Kilbride Properties Ltd be rescinded. Further detailed design was commissioned including survey work, analysis of cuttings, embankments and bridges and ground investigations. The outcomes of these various workstreams fed into the continued design of the project and as a result scheme cost estimates escalated. With a significant funding shortfall, progress on the project has slowed. Land assembly has continued to be progressed.
There is a signed S106 agreement from the Callington Road, Tavistock development which commits a total of £11m towards a sustainable transport connection between Tavistock and Bere Alston. However, this is subject to payment on incremental trigger points and it is likely to be a number of years before the full contribution is received and relies on the development building out in full. The remaining shortfall will need to be sought from national grant funding opportunities which are often secured through a competitive bid process. A bid for its inclusion through the Restoring your Railway (RYR) ‘Accelerated Proposals’ was unsuccessful, and the Department for Transport has recommended a submission for development funding through the RYR ‘Ideas Fund’, which is currently being prepared. Any such funding would help develop proposals to the Strategic Outline Business Case stage.