AN Okehampton councillor is seeking support for a minibus service which could beat the traffic and offer a quick route in to the town centre. John Young, Liberal Democrat Cllr for Okehampton West on West Devon Borough Council, is proposing that a new route be created ? just for minibuses. This would allow them to avoid the usual congested way to the shops, and act as an incentive for drivers to get out of their cars and onto public transport. The route would link Okehampton?s new developments, and other outlying parts of town, to the centre, dropping shoppers off in Waitrose car park. It would require a new bridge over the Okement river. Cllr Young suggested the minibus service at a recent council meeting and said it could take a route to bypass the queues. ?We are to have many more properties built on the perimeter of the town. ?These have been wished on West Devon by the Government in London, and there is not any real possibility of refusing them,? he said. ?The traffic situation is obviously going to get worse. My suggestion is that we need an alternative to people driving their cars into the centre of town. ?The developers of the next phase of 540 houses are to make a £300,000 contribution to local bus provision, but the problem with this is that we will still have the queues.? Cllr Young said there had been talk for years of using Oaklands Drive for an alternative traffic route. But Oaklands Drive is a privately owned access to house, farm and cottages and lots of traffic driving along the narrow road crossed by children going to the primary school would be unwise. ?However, a regular minibus service, with professional drivers, using a minibus-only route, could make a safe contribution to bring people into the town centre. ?There is a good road bridge crossing the West Okement in the Waitrose car park, which gives access to the further car park. ?It would be no difficult matter in practical terms to link this to Oaklands Drive, giving a town centre pick-up and drop-off point. ?If a bridge were to be built across the Okement further downstream, linking North Road with Oaklands Drive, well away from Oaklands House, a route could be established, with minibuses going up by way of the hospital, taking in a circuit of the housing east of the town, and the industrial estate, and returning again to the town centre.? Cllr Young said it was ?ridiculous? that many residents of these estates have had to walk so far to reach the town?s facilities. ?I realise many people would continue to use their cars to drive into the town, but for those who wished to avoid making the queues longer, there would be another option,? said Cllr Young. ?Those using the service would save themselves time and money, and help toward reducing the traffic. This route would have to be strictly closed to normal traffic for safety reasons. ?If there is enough will, then something could be done here, but we, locally, may have to push hard for it. ?The highways department of Devon County Council would have to be persuaded, as would West Devon and the town councils.?
