THE man behind the newly formed Bude and Holsworthy Railway Action Group has said he was impressed with this weekend’s OkeRail Forum public consultation event, and asked why the railway line to Okehampton ‘did not reopen years ago’.

Around 245 people attended the public consultation event at Okehampton’s Charter Hall on Saturday, November 12, including Richard Wolfenden-Brown.

Mr Wolfenden-Brown recently organised a packed public meeting at the Parkhouse Centre in Bude, bringing people together who would like to see the return of rail travel to North Cornwall.

The recent public consultation event allowed people to ask questions about future rail services to Okehampton, look at plans and costings for an Okehampton parkway station, and take part in a survey.

The forum was held in association with Destination Okehampton and OkeRail CIC.

Mr Wolfenden-Brown said the Bude and Holsworthy Railway Action Group (BHRAG), of which he is chairman, first met on November 8, and ‘decided unanimously that the first aim of the group must be to support the return of rail to Okehampton’.

He attended this weekend’s OkeRail public consultation along with action group member Mike Moore, and said: “We were impressed by the turnout and the tangible sense of a project that is moving quickly towards a favourable outcome.

“The main surprise is that the line to Okehampton did not reopen years ago. It just seems the obvious thing to happen for so many reasons and the new group in Bude and Holsworthy will do all we can to help our colleagues in the Okehampton area to overcome the outstanding issues and get the line open with all speed.

“The time is right and the growing groundswell of local opinion in favour of a return to rail has the momentum to create the local democratic mandate to make it a reality. If we work together nothing is impossible.”

Michael Ireland of OkeRail said the event was supported financially and through representation from the Campaign to Protect Rural England, which had an information and book stall. It was also supported by the Dartmoor Railway Supporters’ Association.

Mr Ireland spoke at length on the day to Conservative Central Devon MP Mel Stride, and requested a visit by the under secretary of State for Rail and the Minister, Chris Grayling, to fully assess the potential of the line to Okehampton and eventual extension to Plymouth and North Cornwall.

Mr Ireland told the Post: “I think what the consultation event at Okehampton showed us was that opening up the Okehampton line and the station as a hub would benefit the whole of the county right down to North Cornwall, demonstrated by the fact we had a good representation of people from Holsworthy, North Cornwall, Hatherleigh and Torridge there.”

It is hoped the next public consultation event will be held in the Parkhouse Centre in Bude early in the new year.