Exmoor railway extension plans rejected

Planners refused scheme

Hopes of reinstating part of an Exmoor railway line have been dashed after the park’s planning committee voted overwhelmingly to refuse the scheme.

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust had applied to reinstate the railway line between Killington Lane and Cricket Field Lane.

The works would also have included the renovation of a road bridge and the construction of another, as well as a halt, and run around loop, which would have allowed the engine of the train to attach at the opposite end of the carriages.

Planning officers had recommended the scheme be refused, and seven of the planning committee members backed this view, with the remaining member abstaining.

The steam train line is a rare narrow gauge, which reopened to the public in 2004 and runs from Woody Bay station.

In it’s heyday, between 1906 and 1913, it is believed to have carried around 100,000 passengers annually, a figure which dropped to 32,000 in 1934, a year before it was closed.

Several members of the public attended the meeting (Tuesday 6 May) to speak against the plans, raising issues such as a lack of a public right of way around Cricket Field Lane, worries about flooding, and fears that the proposed economic benefits would be much smaller than suggested.

A statement read out to the committee on behalf of the owners of Heddon Hall, in Parracombe, Stuart and Carol Blowey, raised the issue of access.

“The proposal seeks to use land to gain access to the new terminus, however there is no public right of way along Cricket Field Lane as we own the land on both sides along the entire length apart from the centre part,” the statement said.

“We therefore own Cricket Field Lane under common law principles and anybody wanting to use it would need our permission and nobody has approached us about our ownership of it.”

The statement added that the paid had “serious concerns” about flooding and drainage issues.

Lee Willocks, another resident who’s statement was read out, said the suggestion that the extension would create 5,000 extra passengers a year had “no evidence to support it”.

He claimed the railway owners had admitted at a recent public meeting that this was a “finger-in-the-air estimate”.

Mr Willocks said members of the railway trust had suggested the proposal would “add almost nothing to the current operation and might not be capable of being built”.

Resident Stuart Wallace wrote to the committee to say questioned whether any of the proposed economic benefits were sufficient enough to outweigh the “significant harms” identified.

Mr Wallace, who said he had experience of economic appraisals and was an expert witness on a Parliamentary committee’s scrutiny of the HS1 and HS2 schemes, queried the possible benefits.

He estimated it would only add around £12,000 a year extra to the greater Exmoor tourist economy, thought to be around £400 million.

A resident identified only as Mr Harrison said there “must be significant benefits for this to be approved but they are just not there”.

“The applicant has chosen not to submit economic analysis and simply refers to a 2021 report by Arup that solely focuses on a different extension.”

John Barton, a trustee of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust, said the organisation contributed to the local economy, supporting around 45 North Devon businesses as part of its supply chain.

“The railway is a popular local attraction and we just had our EX and TA postcode week and carried 1,758 passengers,” he said.

“Visitors ask if the line can be extended to enhance the offer, so the demand for a longer journey is clearly demonstrated.”

He added that this application followed on from the expiry of a 2018 permission given to the trust to reinstate the line between Killington and Blackmore Gate, but that the latest scheme only covered the first section of the prior plan.

Another spokesman for the trust, identified as Mr Hill, said the national park had accepted the principle of development as acceptable by granting not only the 2018 plan but a 2021 scheme too.

He said the latest application “complies with planning policy” yet the park had raised heritage and landscape concerns as part of its recommendation to refuse the scheme.,

“But the heritage officer acknowledges there is no direct impact on heritage assets, however, the setting would be impacted,” Mr Hill said.

“Hedon Hall and the conservation area are 100 metres to the south, and it is noted that there would be less than substantial harm [to the environment] but in the officer’s assessment, the park does consider there to be public benefits, such as impact on local tourism, visitor experience, increase to visitor spend and employment opportunities.”

In a statement on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway website, it said it was “extremely disappointed” the proposed extension had been refused permission.

“As the trust is a member-led organisation, we will be seeking the views of our membership to determine our immediate course of action with respect to the Cricket Field Lane proposal and other options for the development of the railway,” it said.

“This process will start immediately with options being outlined at the forthcoming AGM before being presented for decision by the full membership.”