Sidbury to Sidford Cycle Route

This consultation is closed and the Consultation Report is now available. This report was updated on 7th of March 2024 to include additional emails received.

Background to the Proposals

WSP has been commissioned by Devon County Council to assist with the development of a new combined cycle and walking scheme from the north side of the village of Sidford along the western side of the A375 (Two Bridges Road) connecting to Hillside, near Sidbury.

This is a non-statutory consultation exercise to provide members of the public and other consultees (such as Councillors) the opportunity to view the draft plans/scheme and provide any feedback which can be taken into account as part of the development, before the formal planning application is submitted to the Local Planning Authority.

It should be noted that a planning application was submitted previously for a cycle scheme from Sidford to Sidbury, but this was on the eastern side of the A375 road. Due to a number of constraints with that route, a decision was made to withdraw that planning application, and develop an alternative route on the western side (which has less constraint issues). These issues include:

–    Attractiveness: the eastern route, particularly in future phases, is well away from the road in rural land. Whilst this would be attractive in daylight, due to the topography of the area, there is no natural surveillance which may reduce the perception of personal safety for people using the path.

–    Environment: in order to reduce steep slopes, large amounts of vegetation would need to be removed which would be detrimental to the environment. Additionally, this route cannot avoid encroaching onto land which is classified as Flood Zone 3, indicating a high probability of flooding. The western route in contrast utilises arable fields with limited vegetation clearance required, minimising impact on habitats and ecology with no flood risk.

–    Land: both routes require the acquisition of third-party land. However, whilst the eastern route requires agreements with multiple landowners, the western route involves just one.

–    Engineering: construction of the northern element of the eastern route will require significant ground and structural work. Comparatively, construction of Phase 1 of the western route is expected to be straight forward, subject to on-site ground investigations.

–    Cost: the eastern route is expected to have higher construction costs due to more structural elements, which would be difficult to justify taking into account the number of other County Council strategic cycle trail priorities. This route option also has significant ongoing maintenance implications and higher whole life costs.

About the Proposals

The scheme provides a new walking and cycling path from the land opposite the ‘Fords’ site. It is proposed to connect the path proposed on the western side of the A375 with the cycle track proposed on the opposite eastern side via a new signal-controlled crossing. However, this crossing does not form part of this proposed planning application and would be installed under the Council’s ‘Permitted Development’ rights.

The proposed path will continue north alongside the A375 crossing Otterly Lane with a new cycle/walking pedestrian priority crossing and through the existing agricultural land eventually connecting into Hillside.

The latest plan for the scheme can be found by clicking here.

Please be advised that no works are proposed to Hillside itself, apart from signage (as indicated on the proposed plan). Signs are proposed along Hillside to denote that this will be used by cyclists and pedestrians, with additional warning signs proposed along the A375 (either side of the Hillside junction) to warn road-users of the likely presence of cyclists. However, these would be outside of this planning application and would be displayed under the Council’s Permitted Development Rights. There is also the potential to implement Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) in form of yellow lines at the Hillside junction to limit indiscriminate car parking and improve visibility. However, again, this would also fall outside of this planning application and would be undertaken separately by the County Council if considered necessary.

In respect of the proposed route itself, please be advised that this current proposal would be considered Phase 1 of the scheme, with the potential for Phase 2 to connect to Sidbury itself in the future. Please see the map here.

It was not possible for the current route to connect to Ebdon Lane due to the topography and height differences between Hillside and Ebdon Lane, so it was considered the most suitable alternative would be to connect into Hillside.

We are aware that a separate planning application for a housing scheme near Ebdon Lane is being considered, and there is potential for this scheme to provide a link to Phase 1, as indicated by the dark blue lines on the map. Please note, however, that this will be dependent on the development of the housing scheme and separate planning application, and is therefore outside the scope of this planning application.

Have Your Say

An online consultation event was held via Microsoft TEAMS on Monday 4th December 5:30PM – 6:30PM.

A online questionnaire was available to provide comments on the proposed scheme.

Alternatively, responses could be sent to transportplanning@devon.gov.uk or written to: Transport Planning, Room 120, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter. EX2 4QD. 

All correspondence should quote the scheme name: Sidbury Walking and Cycling Scheme.

This consultation exercise ran from 22nd November 2023 for a period of 6 weeks and closed 5^th January 2024.

The Consultation Report is now available.

Accessibility

We take accessibility seriously and recognise that some of the information presented in the files available on this page may not be fully accessible to someone using assistive technology such as a screen reader.

If you need guidance or an alternative format, email transportplanning@devon.gov.uk with details of any preferred format and the assistive technology you use.