Sean Wilson, of Buckfastleigh, writes:

The Friends of Ashburton Station suggest that the return of the railway to Ashburton would contribute £6.3m to our economy. The contribution would result from an increase in the number of visitors, additional employment opportunities and volunteers, visitors and the operator itself spending money in the town.  A report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Heritage Rail finds that heritage railways contribute on average 2.7 times their turnover to the local economy.  The £6.3m estimate is this figure applied to the £2.35m turnover of South Devon Railway at Buckfastleigh.  

However:

1) The 2.7 average comes from a very small proportion of successful operators and the results vary wildly, so is not a good measure.

2) There are no published surveys of SDR's actual contribution, which would give a more concrete figure.  

3) Buckfastleigh is in decline, despite 100,000 SDR visitors each year.  

4) A major component of the benefit is operators taking on employees and volunteers in the area.  Ashburton is only 2.5 miles away from Buckfastleigh, so anyone who wants to work for a heritage rail centre is already working at SDR.  

5) SDR is already buying locally; it's hard to see how there could be any incremental benefit.

6) FoAS estimates 20 per cent of its 100,000 visitors would visit Ashburton; this is going to bring at best a fifth of the economic benefit – £1.26m.  

So after spending over £20m during a ten to 20-year period the town would, at best, see footfall from an additional 20,000 tourists with an associated economic benefit of perhaps £1.26m and an expensive and limited transport option.  But, the proposal requires the removal of some businesses from the site, and the loss of land used for parking. This, and uncertainty about the future, may force other businesses to move. 

This loss could easily negate the estimated tourism footfall.

So there are huge concerns over the return of the railway to Ashburton and it may not have the popular support that has been reported.

As one resident put it: 'Ashburton has its problems, the lack of a railway is not one of them...'