Visit to Consultation Exhibition on Slapton Line study by consultants, Scott Wilson

12.00.00am GMT Fri 19th Nov 2004

Scott Wilson, the consultants engaged to report on options for the future of the road at Slapton, held a public consultation exhibition at Torcross where the first stage of their report was put forward. Mike Treleaven joined many local residents and business representatives to take a look at their findings.

The future of the road is of great concern to the thousands of people who live between Kingsbridge and Dartmouth and who don't want to see a repeat of the 2001 disaster when the road was closed for months after a section was destroyed by storm damage. The report by Scott Wilson looks at what causes the erosion problems, likely scenarios for the future and examines possible alternative solutions.

Following his visit Mike Treleaven said:

'Maintaining the coast road along Slapton Line is vital for the economy and social well being of all who live in the area. This report has concluded that the most viable option is a managed re-alignment of the road which means either predicting where a breach will occur and re-aligning the road before hand or waiting until a breach happens and then acting quickly to restore the road. I will be interested to see what local people think of these options during the forthcoming consultation period. If the option to repair once a breach has occurred is chosen it is absolutely essential that the funding is in place and the necessary permissions granted to enable immediate remedial action to be taken. The last thing we want is a repeat of 2001 with the road closed for months.'