THE partnership behind plans to re-open the Tavistock to Bere Alston rail link last week denied they were trying to 'soft-soap' the community into backing the scheme. Representatives from the Kilbride Group, which is putting forward the £18.5-million scheme, along with the development of 750 homes in the Monksmead area of Tavistock, talked to members of Tavistock Town Council during their meeting last Tuesday. Peter Frost from Kilbride told members the project was in its 'very early stages'. He said: 'One of the purposes of meeting you, and the other consultation events, is to get a lot more information from everyone from Tavistock, to see how you view the project. 'I know it's not popular with everyone but we are starting with a blank piece of paper. We are hoping to take in as many views as we can, so if the project goes ahead, it's done the right way and it's everything that the community wants.' Mr Frost said Kilbride was now a 100% subsidiary of the multi-billion pound Kilmartin Property Group, which had a long and successful track record of developments across the country. Kilbride also had cross party political support at its London launch in April Mr Frost said: 'As with any big project, you need to have cross party support and you need to have the support of the local community. 'We have agreement in principle with Devon County Council to be involved in the re-instatement of the line and it will all be open to public scrutiny. 'Funding for the project will be entirely from Kilbride — we are not looking for public support for the project. 'From our point of view, the infrastructure comes first, then the development. 'We realise there are concerns about pressure on roads and hospitals and how, if the railway does come, how it can be linked into Tavistock itself.' Mr Frost said Kilbride appreciated the project would not be easy and would carry risks but it was confident with the right planning and backing, it could be delivered to the benefit of Tavistock and the surrounding area. Cllr Mandy Govier said she was concerned that Kilbride was trying to 'soft-soap' the community with its talk of re-opening the railway, when West Devon Borough Council had yet to announce its core strategy which would cover development of the area. She said she was 'sceptical' about the project. 'You are trying to convince us it would be lovely to have the train track — but really this is all about 750 houses,' she said. Cllr Michael Harper said he had serious misgivings about the project. He felt Kilbride could only turn in enough profit to fund the railway if the 750 houses planned were 'executive boxes' — when Tavistock needed average to lower priced housing. Cllr Harper said: 'Let's forget about the railway, let's think about the houses. I have a massive problem with 750 houses being built. That's 750 to 1,000 extra cars on the road. Would the train station be big enough? It's going into Plymouth on the wrong side for employment, it's more a tourist train you are talking about.' Mr Frost insisted that Kilbride genuinely wanted to know what the public thought about the project — which was why it was going to hold more consultation events on June 16 and July 2 in The Bedford Hotel in Tavistock. 'I am sure we would never get away with soft-soaping anyone,' he said.
