A NEW campaign was this week launched in an effort to scrap the controversial Whitchurch rural gateway.

The move is being spearheaded by Plasterdown Grouped Parish Council, which is calling on neighbouring parishes and the borough council to back the action.

Ian Walton, chairman of Plasterdown Parish Council, said there were two main reasons for the campaign.

He said major problems were caused when there was an enforced closure of the A386 and traffic in both directions was rerouted through Whitchurch Road.

The council was also concerned about a proposed rerouting of Anderton Lane, linked to a future extension of the Bishopsmead estate.

Cllr Walton said: ?We have been trying for quite some time to get the gateway removed. We decided last September that our approaches directly to the county weren?t getting anywhere on our own, so we decided to put in a co-ordinated approach.?

Cllr Walton said the ?vast majority? of residents in his parish were opposed to the gateway, a section of the two-way Whitchurch Road near Grenofen which was converted into a one-track carriageway with passing places.

Plasterdown wants to make a joint submission to the next meeting of the new West Devon Highways and Traffic Order Committee (HATOC), requesting the rural gateway is re-instated to two-way traffic as soon as possible ? and that no further traffic calming scheme is implemented without consulting local people.

At Tuesday?s meeting of Tavistock Town Council, members gave their full backing to the campaign.

Town mayor Norma Woodcock said although the gateway was beyond Tavistock?s boundaries, it affected the town greatly, particularly on occasions when the main A386 was closed.

She said it was dangerous and felt it would fail ?every health and safety criteria?.

?It doesn?t calm traffic and has produced a big hazard,? she said.

Cllr Ted Sherrell said it was an issue that would not go away and had ?caused more problems than it had ever resolved?.

Cllr Alison Clish-Green said it was ?inappropriate and unpopular?, and Cllr Mandy Govier said the sooner the gateway was abolished, the better.

?A lot of people have admitted to me that when they get to it, they put their foot down to get through it before anyone else ? it actually encourages people to drive inappropriately and in an unsafe manner,? said Cllr Govier.

David Incoll, West Devon Borough Council chief executive, said the previous council?s policy was to seek re-instatement of two-way traffic through the gateway.

He said: ?I have no reason to believe that the present members would have a different view and I have informed our two members of the HATOC of the views of Plasterdown Council.?

The rural gateway was installed in 2000, part of a £26,000 package of traffic calming measures in Whitchurch Road, which included an ?urban gateway? and a 20mph speed limit outside Whitchurch Primary School.

The package was sanctioned by the now-defunct West Devon partnership committee.

But the rural gateway proved very unpopular with residents and there have been repeated calls for it to be scrapped, including an all-party move by West Devon borough councillors, who clashed with their county council colleagues on the partnership committee.

The move failed narrowly, although some modifications were agreed to improve visibility in the area.

The next HATOC meeting is scheduled for February.