AS the 2020s get underway, there are lots of projects in the pipeline that will change the face of Devon over the next decade.

From new roads, a realigned railway, and even a new swimming pool for Exeter, the county is set to look very different over the next few years.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service takes a look at some of the biggest projects that are in the pipeline.

The Dawlish railway line:

Network Rail’s plans to protect 1.8-km of railway between Parsons Tunnel and Teignmouth will hopefully have been implemented.

The stretch of railway, which was closed for six weeks following a landslide in 2014, needs to be better protected from cliff falls, land slips and damage caused by the sea during extreme weather.

The plans, unveiled in June, include moving the railway away from the sections of cliff that pose the greatest hazard and out towards the sea.

The design would require some land reclamation to allow a buttress – a sloping rock structure to stabilise the cliffs and protect the railway – to be built, and to protect the realigned railway from the sea, a rock revetment or enhanced sea wall will also be required to absorb the energy of the waves and allow for the railway to be relocated away from the cliffs.

The proposals also include enhanced leisure access, cycling and walking routes and new amenity areas so that users of Holcombe beach continue to enjoy the space and views of the Devon coastline. A footpath on the sea wall next to the railway line would be maintained, but a new footway/cycle path would be created on the inside of the line between it and the cliffs.

Subject to the plans being agreed and funded, the works to realign the railway and protect the cliffs could be complete by 2026.

The first round of consultation on the plans took place last summer, and the second round is set to begin on January 20.

The next round will have more detail than before with exact measurements of how much beach will be affected and what the design will look like, plus more.

New railway stations:

By the end of the decade, it is hoped that more of the Devon Metro proposal from Devon County Council to develop the existing railway network based around Exeter into a County Wide Metro ‘turn up and go’ service will be back on track.

The aim was to encourage people to use sustainable transport, such as walking, cycling and public transport instead of the private car, with opportunities to enhance the rail travel journey experience into Exeter, facilitate both economic growth, and a reduction in carbon emissions.

The strategy included seven new rail stations, regular services from Okehampton to Exeter, and the reinstatement of the former railway between Bere Alston and Tavistock.

But eight years on, only two of the seven stations proposed as part of the Devon Metro have opened. Cranbrook saw trains arrive for the first time in 2012, and Newcourt station opened in 2015.

However, Marsh Barton, one of the other priority stations, is set to final have some good news. It was due to open in 2016, but early in 2020, a planning application for the station is finally due to be submitted.

And it is hoped that regular services on the line between Okehampton and Exeter will have resumed, with latest predictions suggesting that by 2021 services will again be running, which will in turn see Okehampton East Parkway, another priority station, come to fruition.

Longer term proposals for new stations at Edginswell, Monkerton and Cullompton could even happen.

Thousands of new homes:

Across the county, thousands of new homes are set to be built. Local Plans across the county allocate 17,200 new homes to be built in North Devon and Torridge, 26,700 new homes across the South Hams, West Devon and Plymouth, while 12,000 new homes are planned in the Liveable Exeter vision, and a further 7,860 in Mid Devon, plus more in East Devon and Teignbrige.

New roads:

Major upgrades to one of Devon’s most notorious roads – the North Devon Link Road – called ‘the biggest thing to happen to North Devon in a generation’ should have happened.

Devon County Council’s development management committee in January took just 20 minutes to approve plans to widen a 7.5km stretch (just under five miles) of the A361 North Devon Link Road.

The stretch of carriageway in the plans runs from the Portmore roundabout in Barnstaple to Filleigh Cutting near South Molton. The application also includes plans for a footbridge across the road at Portmore and improvements to the junctions at Landkey and West Buckland. Work on the £93m scheme should take around two years to complete.

The decade should also see plans to upgrade the road network around Newton Abbot approved.

The upgrades to the A382 between the town and the Drumbridges roundabout should be completed by the end of 2024, while the A382-A383 link road could be open by the end of 2021. Plans are also in place for a link road connecting the A380-A381 as part of development schemes for Wolborough.

Also being supported as part of a bid to the Major Roads Network Fund are plans for the A374 / A386 / A3064 in Plymouth will deliver targeted junction improvements at the Marsh Mills roundabout, the Cattedown roundabout, the Weston Mill junction and the Pennycomequick Roundabout, a scheme to realign the A39 to the north of Camelford and have improvements relating to journey times, congestion and air quality, improvements to the A39 and the A361 around Roundswell to Bishop’s Tawton, a new junction around J28 of the M5, and potentially a new bridge to cross the River Exe from the A379.

Paris Street and St Sidwell’s Point, Exeter: 

Exeter should have a new state-of-the-art swimming pool and new bus station by the spring of 2021.

The £52-million scheme is split between the £8-million for the bus station and £44-million for the new leisure centre.

St Sidwell’s Point – the UK’s first super energy efficient and passivhaus leisure complex – is being built at the Exeter Bus Station site.

The project will also help to kickstart a £300-million multi-purpose scheme with houses, shops, hotels and a performance venue.

Surf Lake:

Plans for a £200-million major attraction at Junction 27 on the M5 could finally happen after the planning inspector said he was content with proposals.

The current Local Plan allocation includes a site of approximately 71 hectares adjoining the southbound carriageway adjacent to the junction.

The allocation makes provision for an agronomy visitor centre, 1,000 square metres of ancillary retail, an outdoor adventure zone including a surf lake, lagoon, beach, high ropes adventure area, and an outlet shopping village.

Sir Tim Smit, the man behind the Eden Project as well as promoter Malcolm Dudley Williams, have backed plans to create a £200-million surf lake and a ‘mini’ Eden Project. It is a partnership project by the Eden Project and investors Friends Life, part of the Aviva Group.

The Eden Ark will be at the centre of the scheme that will be split into four zones and will include a hotel, a visitor hub, an artificial surfing lake, a food hall, outdoor play areas, cafes and restaurants, shops for small businesses and a designer clothes outlet discount shopping centre.

The surf lagoon will be at the heart of the outdoor adventure zone, similar to Surf Snowdonia, Wales.

Other plans include a £100-million investment to hotels in Torbay and further development at Cranbrook in line with the Cranbrook plan which allocates land to take development to around 7,750 homes – for 18,000 residents.