DUE to absence, Connect Bude action group member Michael Heryet stepped in to give a presentation to Holsworthy Town Council during its full meeting on Wednesday, September 4.

Mr Heryet said: “I know that three of our members came and gave a presentation before but you have a few new councillors, so for those who might not know what we are aiming to achieve I will give a brief overview.”

Mr Heryet provided councillors with a brief background of where Connect Bude began and its aim to reinstate a railway line from Okehampton to Bude, via Halwill and Holsworthy — with the possibility of a parkway station on the A3072 near Windmill Road.

He said: “We are approaching 300 members and we would like to have Holsworthy Town Council as a corporate member if possible.

“There is a need for these train services, as was proved by the first train from Okehampton — there was one person on the train travelling to Milan and another going via Okehampton from Launceston in Tasmania to Launceston in Cornwall. The first train out of Okehampton, there was standing room only!”

Mr Heryet said the managing director of Great Western Railway Mark Hopwood had encouraged the group to undertake a feasibility study to assess the viability of the route they have proposed.

He said the next step would be to bid for funding for the feasibility study, as suggested by MP for North Cornwall, Scott Mann (Conservative).

Mayor of Holsworthy Jo Heaven thanked Mr Heryet and asked: “Is there anything you want from us?”

Mr Heryet said it was the council’s support they needed, to show a united front.

Town clerk Vanessa Saunders said: “We will be discussing later in this meeting our viaduct project. We would be interested to know where the train would come in for Holsworthy. We offered our support if the route doesn’t inflict the cycle route or our project.”

Mr Heryet said they would be unable to use the Sustrans so an alternative route, away from the viaduct, was hoped for.

Devon County Councillor Barry Parsons (Conservative) said he was ‘hugely excited’ to hear of the work being done by Connect Bude: “Transport is something I am very passionate about and I would be happy to give my in principle support for this project.

“We need in the South West to look at connectivity. We have to open this locality up otherwise there is a greater chance of it dying.”

Mr Heryet agreed adding that connectivity was paramount as Bude was the furthest town from any rail service or hospital in the country — this shocked many councillors who were unaware.

Cllr Toby Johns enquired as to a time scale: “It says on your leaflet that we might get a rail link ‘sooner than we might have thought’ — that is a very broad time scale?”

Mr Heryet said he couldn’t give an exact date as a lot was predicated on the feasibility study, but the hope was for a link to be in place within the next decade.

Cllr Johns added: “Yes, but they said that about HS2.”

Mr Heryet told councillors one of the benefits of a train line would be to lower the number of cars on the roads, reducing pollution and parking issues in towns, as had been done in Exeter.

Cllr Richard Brown said: “I’m so old I remember commuting to Exeter by train. The thing is, in London they [Government] will sit around and talk but won’t do anything.

“You mentioned Scott Mann’s involvement, what is our MP doing?”

Mr Heryet said Mr Mann has spoken to MP for Torridge and West Devon Geoffrey Cox (Conservative) but assumed ‘he has been very busy with Brexit’.

Cllr Heaven concluded: “You can never be too busy for the little people!”

Mr Heryet was thanked for his talk, and asked to send more information through to the clerk with regard to proposed routes for further scrutiny.