Minutes:
*O&S 26
Representatives from Devon County Council Transport Planning conducted a presentation to the Committee that provided an update on potential infrastructure improvements in the Tavistock area.
In the ensuing debate, reference was made to:-
(a) the cost breakdown of the reinstatement of a railway from Tavistock to Bere Alston. In response to a number of Members expressing their concerns that the cost projections of reinstatement had now risen to £93 million, it was agreed that a breakdown of these figures would be provided to all Members;
(b) accessing funding from Central Government. The representatives highlighted some of the potential solutions (e.g. the use of autonomous or electric buses) and advised the meeting that Central Government funding tended to be more readily available for innovative and original infrastructure concepts;
(c) a report that considered the benefits between a light and heavy rail solution in the area. In response to a request, the representatives agreed to circulate a copy of the report that had been produced;
(d) the Okehampton to Exeter rail route. It was confirmed that the progress of the rail route would have a positive impact on the Tavistock to Bere Alston proposals and a number of lessons learned could be taken forward;
(e) the opportunity for a segregated cycle route to be created adjacent to the busy A386. Members expressed their support for feasibility options (including the segregated cycle route proposals) to be further investigated;
(f) the data source. When questioned, it was confirmed that the 2011 Census was the data source that was applied for a number of the projections. In reply, some Members wished to make the point that data such as population figures and commuter trends and statistics had significantly changed since 2011;
(g) the Dawlish to Teignmouth rail line. The representatives emphasised that the clear steer from Central Government was that its focus was on improving the resilience of the existing Dawlish to Teignmouth rail line. As a consequence, it was recognised that there was no Central Government appetite to establish an alternative rail route across Dartmoor and DCC was therefore focusing its efforts on progressing local routes such as Okehampton to Exeter.
DCC representatives confirmed that, at present, they were not actively lobbying Central Government to reinstate the Tavistock to Bere Alston rail line and their top priorities were currently:
1. funding the remainder of the Dawlish to Teignmouth rail line;
2. improving mobile connectivity was travelling by rail; and
3. creating a diversionary route around the Exeter Waterloo line;
In response, some Members highlighted the constant changes at Central Government and requested that DCC increase its lobbying efforts to ensure that funding was made available for the Tavistock to Bere Alston line;
In conclusion, the Committee thanked the representatives for their presentation and informative responses. Such was the importance of this matter that Members requested that a further update be given to the Committee meeting on 7 April 2020. In the meantime, it was felt that Member Workshops should be convened to consider the infrastructure requirements across the whole of the Borough with the views of the Council then being forwarded to DCC before the next update was considered.
It was then:
RESOLVED
1. That the DCC representatives be invited to provide a further update to the Committee at its meeting on 7 April 2020; and
2. That Member Workshops be convened to consider the infrastructure requirements across the whole of the Borough with the views of the Council then being forwarded to DCC before the next update was considered.