THE latest proposal for a coach park in Okehampton has provoked opposition from residents and shopkeepers in Station Road who fear it will reduce safety and their quality of life.
West Devon Borough Council is currently involved in talks with Dartmoor Railway over siting a long-awaited coach park at Okehampton Station but serious concerns have been raised about the route up Station Road which has been described as a 'highly dangerous thoroughfare'.
Charles Pulteney, one of 70 residents who have signed a petition, said it was totally unacceptable that the site was being proposed without any assessment of the environmental impact or safety implications to the people living and working in Station Road.
'There are already 36 bus journeys up this road to the station on a Sunday and we do not make a fuss about that because we realise it is important for the town, but this is a step too far,' he said.
'It is obvious that Dartmoor Railway will try to make much more commercial use of the station but we want to make it clear to the borough council that it has an obligation to protect the public interest. It is the residents who will have to suffer the environmental consequences.'
He added that he and his family could no longer sit in their front garden in the summer because of the noise from the roaring engines and the fumes.
Since the building of Waitrose on the site of the old coach parking facilities, the borough council has been promising the town a replacement coach park.
The chamber of trade, which has supported a coach park at the station, claims that thousands of pounds has been lost to the economy because coaches are now bypassing Okehampton.
The petitioners say that owing to the steep gradient, Station Road was already a dangerous thoroughfare and additional public service vehicles would reduce safety even more.
They feel the proposal would result in a significant increase in noise, pollution and disruption to everyday life.
'It appears that no consideration has been given by either authority to the loss of amenity that has been suffered by residents since the station opened,' they stated.
Martin Gransby, of Elliots Hire Centre in Station Road, said the council 'did away' with the coach parking facilities and it had failed to come up with a reasonable alternative.
'We already have enough difficulty with customers parking out here let alone coaches adding to the problem,' he said. 'The council has not worked it out — it neither knows nor cares.'
Deputy chief executive of the borough council David Inman said he believed the the number of coaches was being massively overstated.
'We estimate about four a day and do not envisage a big increase in traffic movements in that road,' he said.
'As its name suggest it is a road to a station and clearly there is spare capacity there for the parking of visiting coaches.'
The plan would be to drop passengers off and pick them up again in the centre of town but they would also have the option of visiting the station.
Mr Inman said he could see great commercial benefits to the town:
'There are not many towns that can offer two experiences to visitors. We think a scheme of this nature will be good for the commercial well-being of Okehampton.'