'Don't forget Dawlish' plea to government

'Without funding, all the progress to date will be lost'

The government has been warned not to take its eye off a long-term project to make South Devon’s railway links more resilient to bad weather.

In February 2014 a storm smashed through the sea defences at Dawlish and left Devon's main railway line dangling in mid-air. It was closed for weeks as Network Rail made repairs.

Since then a new sea defence system has been built, and work continues to protect the railway line, which runs along the water’s edge from Dawlish Warren to Teignmouth.

Responding to the recent budget, Newton Abbot Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley said there was nothing in it for Devon’s essential transport.

“Not even mentioned in the budget was the completion of the Dawlish rail resilience project, which is key to connecting the south west,” he said. “Without funding, the design team will soon be redeployed and all the progress to date will be lost.

“This project will cost millions more if it is not done now, and I urge the minister to meet us to get it funded. Growth in the economy in Devon and Cornwall is heavily dependent on fast, reliable train services, and we saw what happened with Dawlish.”

He went on to welcome increased spending on social housing, but warned that the budget had not gone far enough.

He said: “The broken housing market is failing Newton Abbot, and the proposed changes to the planning rules are insufficient to fix it. Homes are unreachable for too many families. People are being denied the right to a safe and secure place to call home.”