A PROPOSAL to ban traffic from a well-used short-cut in Gulworthy is sparking controversy among residents and councillors on both sides of the River Tamar.

Devon County Council?s proposed closure affects the steep hill between New Bridge at Gunnislake and the main road junction close to Tavistock Woodlands.

The road is only used one-way uphill, but is considerably shorter than the main route and is frequently used to enable drivers to pass slow moving traffic.

Julia Massey, Calstock parish clerk, said she would be objecting to the closure on behalf of Calstock Parish Council.

Following last week?s council meeting, Mrs Massey said: ?They are against it, they don?t feel there is a problem there. They feel it?s a short-cut on the road between Gunnislake and Tavistock that has very few passing places.

?It?s a way of getting past heavy vehicles and they feel it could encourage people to try and overtake on more dangerous places.?

David Soulsby, of Gunnislake Post Office, said: ?As far as I?m aware, people don?t see the sense in it. I think people think it?s totally stupid.

?It?s not a major accident blackspot and it?ll just mean you have to crawl up the hill.?

Cllr Roger Mathew, a member of West Devon highways and traffic orders committee (HATOC) which sanctioned consultation of the scheme in November, was sharply critical of the move.

He said: ?This is an utterly disproportionate solution to a very minor problem and there are other means to be explored before taking the draconian measure of effectively turning a public road into a private drive, maintained at public expense.?

Cllr Robin Pike, West Devon Borough Council?s member for Gulworthy, said the proposal was ?premature?.

He said: ?There are going to be improvements at Gulworthy Cross and I think they should wait until that?s done and look at the whole network then.?

Cllr Pike said ?convoy situations? often occurred when traffic built up behind heavy vehicles travelling towards Tavistock ? the short-cut was the only place that cars could pass such vehicles.

Jeremy Hutchison, chairman of Gulworthy Parish Council, said personally he had no objection to the closure ? but other members of the council took the opposite view. The council had not yet formally debated the issue, he said.

Brian George, local service officer, said following the consultation period, the issue was likely to be decided by the HATOC, probably at the next meeting on February 20.

Mr George said: ?We do a safety review every year and there have been sufficient accidents in this location for this to be proposed on the basis of safety risks.

?The question that people will have to weigh up is what would happen if there was a bad accident there and we had not taken steps to lessen the risks??

Mr George said the highways authority accepted that some people would find such a closure inconvenient, but the measure presented a low-cost method of improving safety in the area.

Members of the public have until February 13 to register their views on the proposed closure. They should be submitted in writing to Roger Gash, County Solicitor, Devon County Council, County Hall, Exeter EX2 4QD.