Plymstock community cut off for cycle path

Resident said diversions would cost extra £3,000 in fuel

Aggrieved residents in Plymstock have slammed Plymouth City Council for “cutting off” their community for 14 months to create a £1 million cycle route extension they claim is not needed.

Colesdown Hill will be closed until next spring as work is carried out to open an old blocked-off bridge under the hill and provide a new crossing across Elburton Road as part of the Laira Bridge to Saltram Meadow cycle way, already estimated to cost £2.8 million.

Residents say they found out about the scale of the disruption three weeks ago and are angry over the lack of consultation. 

They set up a petition to force a public meeting with councillors and officers last week which was attended by almost 60 people and have enlisted the support of South West Devon Conservative MP Rebecca Smith.

Homeowners said with Colesdown Hill being their main route to shops, schools and other services, diversions of up to 30 minutes will be a major inconvenience.

And some elderly residents have reported that care professionals will be making fewer visits to them because they don’t have time to make a detour.

Susan Ballantyne said although the scheme had planning permission, the council underestimated the impacts on people, particularly working parents and elderly and vulnerable residents.

She said the significant hardship of a 14 month road closure was disproportionate to the minor benefits of the scheme.

The work is expected to complete a three kilometre “high quality, step free and traffic free” walking and cycling route along the former railway next to Billcombe Road.

But Susan said: “There is a cycle route already on the main Elburton Road which people will continue to use as it is the quickest route to the city.

“The council basically wants to create a flat offroad section after a group of people complained about a flight of steps. This is not a well used route, I walk my dog there three times a week and I am lucky to meet one person.”

She said having an elderly mum with heart problems, she was concerned about emergency vehicles getting to her property.

“People want to be listened to and we haven’t been. It’s like it’s being done to us. There is so much anger about how this has been done and how people have been treated. 

“We just want the council to pause so alternatives can be looked at.”

The community believes there is a cheaper way of creating a flat surface  including tarmacing an area next to the steps but has been told the plan can’t be stopped now because the council would miss out on  government funding.

Resident Robert Hembry called the cycle scheme “pointless”  and another said the diversions would cost her more than £3,000 a year in fuel costs.

Eighty-seven-year-old Brian Furse said carers came to his property in Colesdown Hill four times a day to help him care for his disabled wife but getting to his house for 7am and 6pm was going to be challenging with diversions and their workload.

He said their dentist had cancelled a home visit because the road was closed and he was worried about getting to frequent hospital appointments, an issue he said the council had seemed to dismiss.

“It feels like the older generation is just a pain to everyone,” he said.

Plymouth City Council said: “We understand and apologise for the disruption caused by the delivery of this scheme which will replace the existing steps with a level and traffic free route under Colesdown Hill and back across Elburton Road.

“When the previous phase of the scheme was constructed, we received significant criticism from those with disabilities as the current path is not accessible for them. We think that it is important that the path can be used by everyone.

“The diversion route has been assessed as suitable for the relatively low additional flows of traffic.”

The council said the scheme was consulted on through the usual planning process and was widely publicised on the council’s website and through the local media.

The authority said: “South West Water wrote to residents about the first four weeks of the closure in early January and as soon as traffic management requirements were finalised and the scheme approved, we wrote to residents to inform them of the plans.”

To maximise the notice period for residents, the letters were hand-delivered on 19 January, rather than posted, said the council.

“It is invariably the first week or two which is the most disruptive as those not familiar with the new arrangements adjust,” they said, adding: “We have been talking to people with a high level of dependency on care and deliveries and will continue these conversations to see if there is anything further we can do to help.”

The Conservative group leader on Plymouth City Council Andy Lugger (Southway) is calling on Cllr John Stephens (Plymstock Dunstone), cabinet member for transport and strategic planning, to “suspend all proposed road and associated works until there is a majority support by the community”.

“If no such community support exists, the project is terminated full-stop,” he said.

Conservative chair of the Housing and Services Scrutiny Panel Cllr Lee Finn (Budshead) said it was a delegated decision to sign off this project and so was not given any due scrutiny.

“Considering the facts known to date it is only right that the residents be afforded transparency regarding information and most importantly heard.,” he said.

“Clearly, I would argue as with other capital projects no lessons have been learnt regarding the Armada Way fiasco and its time the one-way propaganda stopped and was replaced with credible and meaningful two-way communication with all stakeholders.

“Further questions arise in the bigger picture to how such projects as this last some 14 months which is at best ludicrous and leaves more questions than answers as to why?”