WITH reference to the new housing development in Tavistock, I may be mistaken, but I thought the original plan was for 750 houses in exchange for a complete rail connection to Bere Alston? Now it appears that the builders are not going to contribute even half the estimated cost without any guarantee that Devon County Council will stump up the rest! It seems that while Okehampton is leading the way for a full reinstatement from Plymouth to Exeter and has had support from other towns like Launceston, Holsworthy and even Bude, there is a noticeable lack of interest from Tavistock. Even when the Bere Alston link was announced on BBC Spotlight the people interviewed did not seem to be bubbling over with enthusiasm, in fact they seemed to be almost pessimistic about the chances of the railway being reinstated. I really cannot understand why, all the above towns want a rail link which would enable people to travel either to Penzance or Scotland if they so wish without having to start at Plymouth, so why not an important town like Tavistock? Then of course we have Jeremy Maddock from Bere Alston who only wants flat cycle ways because apparently he and his bike have difficulty going up hills and is annoyed that the track bed to Tavistock is again going to be used for the purpose for which it was intended. Mr Maddock states quite correctly that vast sums of money have been spent on creating cycle routes but then complains he was almost hit by a car on a main road, so why not use them instead of plodding along sedately at 10mph on a main road causing traffic tailbacks and endangering those who are trying to overtake? If the whole route is re-instated back to Okehampton I believe it will be a great benefit to the people of all the towns in the area and will far outweigh the inconvenience caused to the relatively small number of cycle enthusiasts who may have to put up with a few diversions to their cycle ways — but it will only happen if all the towns pull together and present a coherent case to the Government. Paul Mercer Ivy Cottage Peter Tavy