COUNCILLORS in Callington have decided to go back to the drawing board in the hope of finding a traffic management scheme that the whole community is happy with — despite it being almost a year behind schedule.

The scheme for a one-way system, which went out to public consultation last year, has hit a number of stumbling blocks, including opposition from traders, although residents have largely been in support.

The aim, for the last decade, has been to make the roads safer for pedestrians and motorists and encourage people to shop in the town by increasing on-street parking.

With the opening of Tesco on the outskirts of Callington the project was considered even more important to attract people into the town centre.

At a meeting with Cornwall Council's project engineer Alistair Uglow last week town councillors decided that the proposal should be amended and would therefore require further consultation.

The new plan is expected to include a pedestrian crossing across Saltash Road and Tavistock Road as only one had been included in the original proposal.

There are also expected to be alterations to the one-way system such as introducing traffic calming in Church Street but continuing to make Well Street one-way.

Local residents will be consulted on the new plan via the town's newsletter so people can respond prior to a formal consultation.

Cornwall councillor for Callington Andrew Long said: 'As a town council we have said that we would rather get it right than rush it and then find there is a problem.

'It is unfortunate that we have to put it back for another consultation but it is better that we have a plan that brings everyone with it rather than enforce something which there is a degree of opposition to.'

The traffic improvement project is being funded by a community contribution from Tesco, a sum of £145,000 which was agreed when the supermarket received planning permission to build at Tavistock Road.

But with formal consultations costing in the region of £5,000 each time, there is concern that the money is being eaten up before any work starts.

Project engineer Alistair Uglow said all the design and consultation costs were coming out of the same pot of money and he was as keen as everyone else to get things sorted out as soon as possible.

'The longer it goes on the smaller the pot of money becomes,' he said. 'We may not be able to afford everything that everybody wants but there are some elements of the scheme that are more popular than others so we will focus on these.'