Teignmouth Town Council has agreed to resubmit plans to permanently open the Upper Den Carriageway to Devon County Council for a third time after reviewing the results of a public consultation.

The proposals will be added to the agenda for the next Devon County Council Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC) meeting on November 6.

Supporters of the scheme believe that opening the Upper Den Carriageway, which runs between the main beach and the Den recreation area, will ease the shortage of parking spaces in the seaside resort.

However, opponents have raised concerns about the safety of children and the elderly trying to cross the road and are worried about the environmental impact if the road was to be open to traffic year-round.

The Upper Den Carriageway is usually closed between May and September to create a wider, pedestrianised promenade. However, this year, the closure was delayed until June due to gas works taking out even more vital car parking spaces in the town centre.

Last year, Devon County Council’s HATOC rejected a proposal from Teignmouth Town Council to permanently open the road for a second time. It said there needed to be further consultation regarding safety, environmental and policy issues.

The question of whether or not the Upper Den Carriageway should be permanently open has been rumbling on for around five years.

Teignmouth Town Council recently carried out a survey to gauge public opinion on whether or not the Upper Den Carriageway should remain open all year. More than 600 people completed the survey, the majority being residents of the town.

When asked if they wanted the road opened, 423 said they ‘strongly agreed’ and another 47 agreed. Those who opposed the idea totalled 130.

The survey also asked the opposite question: would they want the Upper Den Carriageway to remain closed during the summer. 453 voted against while 150 were in support.

Councillor Robert Phipps, who organised the survey, said safety concerns about allowing the road to remain open would be mitigated by imposing a 20mph speed limit and adding clearly marked crossing points around which parking would be restricted to improve vision.

Summing up the results he said: ‘My schoolboy maths is telling me that three-quarters or two-thirds of people are in favour of it being used for parking year-round.’

Councillor David Cox, who, as a Devon County Councillor chairs HATOC, said he would not make his thoughts known until the meeting.

He also told members that he and MP Martin Wrigley were planning to pay for a ‘yes/no’ postcard survey on the subject that would reach an estimated 80 per cent of the Teignbridge population.

Asked by Cllr Joan Atkins why he would want to do that when the Working Group survey had already been conducted, he replied: ‘It’s a County matter, it’s a HATOC matter, and I feel that’s what’s needed to be done.’