HOPES are high that a bridge over the East Okement River in Okehampton which was washed away in 1953 can be reinstated.
Okehampton Rivers Improvement Group want to purchase a wooden bridge and create an access path to it from Simmons Park.
The aim is to create a link from the children's play area to the woodland recently purchased by the Woodland Trust.
A bid for funding is going into the 'Key Fund', which supports community projects, for in excess of £8,000 and this will pay for the bridge, reinforcing the abutments and creating an access path wide enough to cater for pushchairs and wheelchairs.
Okehampton Town Council is acting as agent for the Rivers Improvement Group and applying to West Devon Borough Council for planning permission.
Okehampton mayor Christine Marsh told a town council meeting this week that Bradleys estate agents in the town had agreed to fund the £50 application fee as part of their commitment to the community.
'The aim is to take the path from the play area to the side of the river, people can then cross the bridge and do a circular walk from Tram Lines to the park,' said Cllr Marsh.
Okehampton Rivers Improvement Group was formed earlier this year to bring the town's East and West Okement Rivers into focus and clean them up.