Cycle path plans given £1m boost by councillors

In a 2020 consultation on the project, 98% of respondents were in favour of the the proposals

Plans for a long-awaited cycle trail linking Newton Abbot and Teignmouth have taken a leap forward after councillors pledged £1 million to get the next phase of the project underway.

Teignbridge Council voted unanimously to buy land for the project, which will cost a total of £44 million, design the path and draw up a business case to get more funding, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

The three-mile trail linking the Passage House Inn at Kingsteignton to the Morrisons supermarket on the outskirts of Teignmouth would also be suitable for wheelchair access.

Council leader Martin Wrigley said the move would unlock "a project that has been stalled for a decade".

The £1 million councillors agreed to spend to kick-start the project will come from the council's community infrastructure levy, which is paid by developers building homes and businesses in the area.

The project was first talked about in 2013, when the Town Quay bridge at Newton Abbot was opened, taking the cycling and walking trail as far as Kingsteignton.

A 2020 consultation on the proposals attracted more than 3,000 responses, with 98% of respondents in favour.

Councillor Andrew MacGregor, SD Alliance Independent at Bishopsteignton, said: "Sometimes we have to take cost on, because otherwise the cost of human life is the risk we take.

"We are increasing the amount of housing in the district. That creates more traffic and makes it even more dangerous for those brave cyclists that usually do use the roads."