Hopes fade for rail link to Tavistock over funding

FEASIBILITY STUDY ‘IS NOT GOOD USE OF PUBLIC MONEY’

- By ALISON STEPHENSON

HOPES of Devon County Council using a pot of earmarked cash to reinstate the Tavistock to Plymouth rail link on funding a vital business case look increasingly unlikely.

Campaigners are seeking £1.5 million, which is one per cent of the cost of the line installation, to progress their plan to the feasibility stage.

The long awaited scheme has been left in limbo since the Labour government scrapped the Restoring Your Railway programme which it was part of and it has not been included it in any subsequent spending reviews.

Without government backing, support has been sought from Devon County Council who hold the purse strings to a £2 million pot of section 106 community infrastructure funds made up of contributions from developers who have built homes in West Devon. The money has been earmarked for the railway construction but West Devon Borough Council have asked if it can be used on the business case instead.