Plans to re-route buses scrapped after complaints

Plans to re-route 160 buses a day through a quiet residential street in Barnstaple have been scrapped after local opposition.

Devon County Council said sending buses down Sticklepath Terrace would have improved journey times to Barnstaple railway station and town centre, but residents raised issues about the safety of children, walkers and cyclists.

The plans were part of an £800,000 travel enhancement scheme to join up rail and bus travel.

Councillor Jeremy Yabsley said the result was "a good outcome for democracy".

He said: "I very much hope the project can be achieved with the amendment, but there is always a danger, if it is not exactly as it should be, the government may pull the plug on the funding."

He said the money had to be spent by the end of March.

Barnstaple station is used by about 540,000 rail passengers a year and served by 280 buses each weekday, the Local Democracy Reporting Services (LDRS) said.

When the traffic regulation order was advertised, 73 people opposed the re-routing and 108 signed petitions against it.

Councillor Caroline Leaver, who proposed the amendment, said the council had developed plans without taking on board the implications for road safety or the worries of residents.

"It needs to be safe for everyone and that road is well-used by cyclists to get to the Tarka Trail, which is the second most important reason people give for coming to north Devon," she said.

Jane Steeley, who lives on Sticklepath Terrace, said it would have "been carnage" to turn the quiet no-through road into a main route.

She said: "There are massive safety issues, children play outside here at weekends and people walk their dogs and there are lots of cats here."

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