WEST Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox is to meet the managing director of the Kilbride Community Rail Group, Peter Frost, to discuss the group's proposals to rebuild the Tavistock to Bere Alston railway line. Mr Cox has expressed his support, in principle, for the railway project and the meeting tomorrow (Friday) has been arranged to allow the MP to explore the company's plans for the line and how it will finance its construction. Mr Cox said: 'In principle, the re-opening of the Tavistock to Bere Alston line would be a very good thing for the town and the surrounding area. 'However, among other things, I want to find out whether the project is based on unrealistic expectations of the volume of housing the town can absorb, and what other conditions may be attached to it.' Closed since 1968, the re-opening of the Drake line would provide an important link between Tavistock and Plymouth and the wider region. The Kilbride Group specialises in infrastructure and community rail projects linked to property developments. The government has proposed that West Devon must absorb 4,400 new homes by 2026. However, both the Department of Transport and the Kilbride Group have said that the line extension, and the new railway station required, would have to be paid for by a levy on new housing developments to the west of the town.
