A COMMUTER rail link between Okehampton and Exeter is essential to cater for the population of Okehampton, set to rise dramatically in the next few years, the town council has warned.

The town council is calling for a feasibility study into a commuter rail link to be included in a forthcoming development plan for the county.

There is concern that there is no mention of re-opening the railway link between Okehampton and Exeter in the new draft county structure plan, which dictates how communities will develop and expand up to the year 2016.

Okehampton mayor Christine Marsh said there were lots of politics involved in getting a regular service like this going regarding different ownerships of tracks and so on, but she believed these could be overcome.

'We have the line there and although it may be difficult to get several trains per day day going up and down to Exeter, let's start in a small way by having an early morning and early evening service for the 9-5 workforce,' she said.

'The railway line runs almost parallel to the A30 and if we provide free parking at Okehampton people could use the service from all over the South West to get to Exeter and on to London.'

Cllr Marsh added the Government wanted more people to use public transport but it needed to put its money where its mouth was.

'We need financial help to get something like this off the ground and it is not just the trains — there needs to be a big improvement in bus travel.

A better integrated transport system would encourage many more people to use public transport.'

In a letter to Devon County Council, the town council has stressed the need for an improvement in the transport infrastructure, as the town continues to grow at a fast pace.

Okehampton itself saw a growth of 14.5% during the years 1991-1998 and it is suggested that if this percentage growth rate continues, the town will have a population of 10,000 in the same number of years from now.

The rate of sustainable business is not expected to achieve the same level — and it has been further observed that the largest demographic migration to Devon is 40-60 year-olds.

This suggests the pressure on dormitory-type towns such as Okehampton must be increasing to cater for these people to access work places at principal urban areas like Exeter by way of car journey.

The council goes on to say that planning policy guidance and development plans make reference to managing vehicle movements and parking — and there was no better way of achieving this than if a large number of commuters were taken to Exeter from Okehampton by train.

With the station being on a hillside, it has been suggested that a rail head with associated parking could be created on land adjacent to the Exeter Road Industrial Estate which has just been acquired by the Rural Development Agency for employment purposes.

Furthermore, it would be possible to reopen the station at Sampford Courtenay and this link could merge with the Barnstaple, Exeter line at Crediton.

The bus and coach services were described as 'slow and cumbersome' since buses inevitably needed to trawl the villages either side of the A30 corridor in order to maximise revenue and there was no express service between the town and Exeter or Plymouth or Barnstaple.

At present, the only rail service that runs between Okehampton and Exeter is on a Sunday throughout the summer, catering for shoppers and tourists.

The letter highlighted the funds recently spent in regenerating Okehampton and the hope of securing more to encourage business to the town.

There were also future development plans for leisure and recreation.

The nine week consultation on the draft Devon Structure Plan comes to an end this week.

The proposals are available for public inspection at the offices of Devon County Council, Dartmoor National Park and at West Devon Borough Council.