A DECADES-long bid to connect Exeter and Crediton with a cycle trail has taken a major step forward but campaigners have pleaded for quick action.

The so-called Boniface Trail made a significant leap towards becoming reality after Devon County Council’s cabinet endorsed a preferred route and fired the starting gun on moves to buy up land it needs to complete the trail.

Nearly a third of commuting trips from Crediton are to Exeter, yet there is a severe lack of safe ways to walk, cycle or wheel between the two locations, the cabinet heard.

Campaigners who have been pushing for the trail for years or even decades, welcomed the report but pressed the cabinet to ensure it moved quickly to bring the trail to life.

Nick Dyer, Chair of the Boniface Trail Association who wrote a letter of support to all Cabinet Members, said: “The unanimous decision of Cabinet to endorse the A377 alignment option and approve commencement of acquisition procedures is most welcome. There is much work to be done.”

Resident Gerald Conyngham, who attended the meeting to address the cabinet, said: “I’m very glad about this report as it is very much in line with what we are aiming for, but I’m concerned about timing.

“I hope the suggestion that the first phase won’t be completed in the next two to three years is wrong, and I hope this project is given priority, especially given the Crediton to Newton St Cyres section is eminently doable.”

The trail is being planned in three sections, with Crediton to Newton St Cyres, then from there on to Langford and Cowley, and then to Exeter St David’s. The total cost at 2025 prices is around £15.5 million.

At present, there is no funding for the scheme, but it is hoped government-related transport funding and contributions from housing developers can be secured.

Another resident, Giles Fawssett, who attended the meeting and had cycled from Crediton, was keen to know whether the trail would be built to a 3-metre width, a size suggested by national regulations if trails are to accommodate both walking and cycling.

However, Mr Fawssett was told that there could be some stretches that would be less than three metres, partly due to the constraints of the route and to minimise the amount of land the council needs to compulsorily purchase.

Councillor Jim Cairney (Liberal Democrat, Crediton), who represents Crediton, said he and fellow member Councillor Steve Keable (Liberal Democrat, Creedy, Taw and Mid Exe) had been “working really hard” to bring the trail to life.

“We now need to work together and help each other get the best trail we can,” he said.

“It might not be perfect, but if we can get it started there will be a lot of people prepared to use the route. We have done what we can with different communities to bring them together, and if they help us shoulder some of the work that needs to be done, there is a chance we can get ahead and get it started before a unitary authority is created.”

Cllr Cairney was referring to the process of local government reorganisation, which will see most if not all of Devon’s councils abolished or merged away to create new unitary councils.

Some councillors have fears that such councils, which will have to oversee all services currently split between the county council and underlying districts, might not prioritise the projects that some councils see as important now.

Cllr Keable said his constituents were among those who had “worked hard for a great many years”.

“The Boniface Trail Group has been going well over 30 years, and I pay tribute to their tenacity,” he said.

Councillor Andrew Leadbetter (Conservative, Wearside and Topsham) acknowledged the A377 was “not a road I would want to cycle on”, and so welcomed the prospect of the trail.

While the proposed route will largely follow the A377, it will use a so-called ‘quiet lanes alignment’ between Newton St Cyres and Langford.

The cabinet voted unanimously in favour of progressing the trail.

Bradley Gerrard

LDRS