THE contentious element of a cycleway plan for Okehampton has been withdrawn from a planning application by West Devon Borough Council.

Local residents objected to the part of the plan which included the demolition of a 40 metre two storey stone building on the Old Mill site which dates back to the 1700s.

They said that the site was 'one of the last remaining parts of Okehampton's industrial heritage'.

The council's economic and leisure department is proposing that the Sustrans cycle route goes through land at the Fountain Inn, the council car park, the Mill site and the old Bostock site.

Members of West Devon Borough Council's planning committee were told at a meeting in Tavistock on Tuesday that officers were trying to leave some options open for the Old Mill site and therefore this part of the proposal had been taken out of the application.

Conservation Area consent would have to be required for this demolition anyway and would have to be referred to the Secretary of State, the committee was also told.

Councillors indicated support for the cycle route but a site meeting was called by Cllr Joan Pauley to see if the route could be redirected to run alongside the river. This was agreed.

Okehampton resident Ana Pultenay said she was in favour of the Sustrans route coming through Okehampton but she would like to see it routed through the Old Mill site in a way which was 'imaginative and sustainable'.

She said it was a key site for the town and one which formed a central part of regeneration plans for Okehampton.

Ideas that have been suggested include craft workshops, retail outlets and a climbing centre.

'This is a hidden gem and needs great care in any development plan,' she said.

'I am bemused by West Devon Borough Council's apparent incompetence in suggesting the demolition of a structure which is next to a listed building and in a conservation area.'

Ward member for Okehampton Cllr Pauley said she would like to see the borough council take on the site and come up with ways to develop it — the authority currently has an option to buy the site.

'Remember what you did with The Wharf in Tavistock,' she said. 'What an asset that has turned out to be.'