Devon County to tarmac over our high street paving.

Devon's high quality brick paved high streets could be a thing of the past if County Engineers have their way. Devon highways department is looking to save money by not repairing the paving but rather to cover it in tarmac. The proposals would see Courtenay Street in Newton Abbot and Bank Street in Teignmouth change from "a coloured textured highway to a boring sea of black tarmac" according to some members on the committee.

The proposals were made to the Teignbridge area Highways committee last Thursday.

But the proposals did not go down well with the Liberal Democrats on the committee. Newton Abbot County Cllr Gordon Hook said it would damage trade in the town as it would create a "soulless sea of tarmac'" and he predicted "massive opposition from local residents and traders."

Teignmouth's County Cllr Richard Younger-Ross, who spent 25 years working in architecture before he took up full time politics, said the proposals would "certainly damage tourism in the town as they would create a boring, boring high street. The danger is that a pedestrian space with no character encourages vandalism and petty crime, that is what the Council will be doing. Coloured tarmac is little better, it looks great for two years but ends up as a mish-mash of colours as repairs are made and utility companies dig it up."

The Lib Dem's group leader at County Hall asked that "if these brick paved spaces were a hidden financial 'time bomb' of maintenance costs to the County, why are the Council allowing developers to construct housing estates with them, when the County would then adopt them as its own highway?"

Richard Younger-Ross said they would raise these issues in full council. "This is silly penny pinching and we will oppose it. We need our town centres to be vibrant places not sterile streets. Places to enjoy."

Richard Younger-Ross 0778 593 1044