CAMPAIGNERS have reacted  angrily to news that the completion of Crediton’s new link  road may be put back by another THREE YEARS.

The long-awaited road — first  talked about decades ago — is  now unlikely to be completed before 2015, according to Devon  County Council’s draft budget.

It also appears that highways  officers at County Hall are pressing for the £7m hillside route,  rather than the £10m valley route  preferred by many townsfolk.

Cash to fund the road from the  A377 to Lords Meadow industrial  estate, aimed at improving air  quality in the area, was being put  aside each year.

 Last year’s budget showed the  project was due to be completed  in 2012, but the new draft budget  shows £6.8m being put towards it  between now and 2015. This includes the contribution from  Tesco, suggesting the more expensive valley route has already  been discounted.

County councillor Nick Way  has slammed the council for its  budget proposal and called for  the previous timetable to be reinstated.

He said: “Only a few months  ago, the county council held a  public exhibition as part of its  consultation process for the link  road, inviting residents to give  their opinions.

 “The 2011/12 time frame was  on display for all to see and we  fought hard locally to have it  placed in the council’s Local  Travel Plan, a document approved by central government.”

He added that many people  campaigned to have the new road  built before the Tesco superstore  opened in December. He said: “It  has been proven that the town  has suffered from poor air quality  for many years, with pollution  well above government limits.  Now the residents of Exeter Road  and the eastern part of the town  are, in effect, being told they face  even more delay. I am determined to fight this. Residents can  be forgiven for suspecting the  county council really plans to  kick this scheme into the long  grass. The previous administration at County Hall did at least  understand the importance of the  scheme being delivered.”

The council’s cabinet member  for highways and transportation,  Cllr Stuart Hughes, pointed out it  was Cllr Way’s Lib-Dem colleagues who presented two options to the public before producing a third, the western route,  that runs closer to people’s  houses. Cllr Hughes said: “The  blame cannot lie with the Conservative administration. No  budgets have been agreed yet and  our cabinet has not even discussed the issue of the link road.  We have been handed a poisoned  chalice, and we are now trying to  put right this fiasco created by  the previous administration.”

Cllr Hughes said the council  was considering the public’s response to the consultation and  was still committed to creating  the right link road for Crediton.  He said: “We want to deliver a  scheme that supports development in the area, improves air  quality, and addresses the issue  of present and future traffic  growth.”

Bob Edwards, of Crediton  Traffic Action Group, said the  council’s chief highways engineer, Paul Ewings, told him it was  likely the hillside route would be  recommended to the cabinet on  Wednesday, February 10.

 “This is because going for the  valley route would trigger a public inquiry, which the council  probably wouldn’t win because  the landowners have offered an  alternative that does the same  job,” said Mr Edwards. “Our view  is the hillside route wouldn’t do  the same job. We’re continuing to  press for the valley route.”