A DECISION by Devon County Council to leave out a number of railway proposals in its new Local Transport Plan for 2011 to 2026 has this week been slammed by a national campaign group.

Railway representative for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Devon branch, John Hartley, heavily criticised the county over its failure to include several railway proposals, including the re-opening of the line between Okehampton and Tavistock.

Mr Hartley said the possible re-opening of the Okehampton-Tavistock line did not appear on the plan given to executives, despite the proposal being submitted to officers.

He said: 'Many organisations put in submissions for inclusion, but on receiving a copy of the report, many had not been recognised at all on railway proposals. It appears two officers at Devon County Council chose what was to be included.

'What right has Devon County Council leader John Hart, and cabinet member covering transport, Councillor Stuart Hughes, to ignore what communities want?

'At the same time they passed Devon County Council and Torbay Council spending £33-million on three miles of road, the proposed South Devon Link Road (Kingskerswell Bypass).

'Worse still this cost cut version at £108-million has had no public consultation, no economic benefit known and no demonstrated public support.

'This money would go a long way to reopening the railway line from Okehampton to Tavistock, that would have many benefits toward the economy, tourism and employment.'

He said the rail link between Okehampton and Tavistock was the line that 'should never have closed and should definitely re-open'.

'What Devon County Council has done is an insult to the rural communities who don't have access to railways.'

Penny Mills, chair of the CPRE Torridge group said: 'These railway routes not going ahead is terrible news for the whole of Northern and West Devon. We have got to get people out of their cars and not using up fossil fuels, but there is no alternative around here.

'The Government has made a huge commitment to the reduction of carbon emissions, but it seems Devon County Council is not very green, otherwise the opening up of the railways would be of paramount importance.

'Apart from green reasons, the railways would bring a huge benefit to the local economy and create jobs, so this not going ahead is dreadful news.'

Chairman of Devon County Council Christine Marsh said of the re-opening of the link: 'If the opportunity arose we would be silly if we didn't open it but at the moment there is no provision for it — we have to wait for the right opportunity.'

Cllr Marsh said she would love to see the Okehampton to Tavistock line opened again but realistically she could not see that happening before 2026.

'It will cost a phenomenal amount of money to open that line. If we can get the Tavistock to Bere Alston and the Okehampton to Exeter lines open then we can fill in the missing bits like the Tavistock to Okehampton line after that.'

She did add, however, it would have been nice to see something about it in the transport plan: 'Even if it is a pie in the sky wish at this stage I would liked to have seen a line about it in the transport plan because it keeps it alive.

With a number of councillors upset about the decision not to include railway proposals in the plan, action has now been taken to organise a 'call in' to have the plan looked at by the county council's scrutiny committee — how the cabinet puts the council's policies into effect, examining in detail how the goals are being met and making recommendations for change and improvement.

Devon County Councillor for Northam Andrew Eastman initiated the call in. He said: 'We have managed to get the matter put on the agenda for the next scrutiny meeting, where it will be well and truly debated.

'There are a number of Devon county councillors supporting the motion for the railway proposals to be included in the Local Transport Plan 3. All we want to see is that it is included so that in decades to come, it's involved in the plan.'