IN reply to recent letters referring to the rail reinstatement project from Bere Alston to Tavistock, and the main article in the edition of October 30, it might be helpful to provide an update on the progress of the project and to help answer a few of the queries raised.

We have always hoped that as the national and local planning process progresses and the housing numbers for Tavistock become more defined that there will be a greater involvement from Tavistock Town Council in particular to find the best way of delivering these houses.

We recognise that the additional 500 houses represent a significant development for the town, but if this change is to take place the town needs additional infrastructure.

For this reason we welcome the broad scope of West Devon's proposals for Tavistock, covering schools, open space, hospitals and care homes as well as highways and transport.

We would like to renew our offer to meet with the town council to discuss the proposals in more detail. There is much to be gained from the proposals and we hope that they take a leading role in the process, so that in particular new employment opportunities are developed at the same time as the rail and housing.

The town could benefit from these proposals to encourage new employment opportunities, which will in part be driven by the additional spending power that the extra housing will bring to the town centre. Local shops will clearly benefit, but perhaps there is also an opportunity to look at how smaller business start ups can be encouraged by providing suitable types of smaller units, perhaps targeted at high technology firms which are in short supply at the moment.

There may also be an opportunity to improve the high technology communication services in the town and businesses will undoubtedly be encouraged to move to a town with these advantages.

These issues are clearly more an area for the town council and its elected members than Kilbride, but we are willing to help where possible. The financial case for the reinstatement of the rail line is more our area of concern and the submissions to West Devon Borough Council will bear out the robustness of our financial case. We have a track record of delivering rail projects on time and on budget, as demonstrated by our new rail freight terminal opened by the Rail Minister last week for Honda at Swindon.

We would like to thank everyone for their patience and whilst projects of this nature need to be thoroughly researched we remain committed to sharing information with elected representatives and the public as it becomes available.

We hope to work with you to bring the best mix of opportunities to the town, including the rail reinstatement while sharing the desire to retain Tavistock's much admired qualities.

Peter Frost

Managing director

Kilbride Community Rail