LYNTON & Barnstaple Railway Trust’s (L&BRT) planning permission to reconstruct the line between Killington Lane and Blackmoor Gate expired on March 7. This 3.5 mile section would have formed an extension to the current milelong line from Woody Bay to Killington Lane.
Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) granted planning permission to rebuild the line to Blackmoor in March 2018. However, the permission was conditional on all required land being in L&BRT ownership and all money needed to complete the project being secured before work could commence.
Although L&BRT owns most of the required land, it has not been able to buy a section of trackbed south of Parracombe where the revived railway would run 100 yards from the current owner’s house. Money to rebuild the entire route is also not currently available. In May 2022, following professional advice, L&BRT submitted a Section 73 application to ENPA to vary the planning conditions to allow reconstruction from Killington Lane in stages.
The current end of the L&BR line at Killington Lane station, seen on September 28, 2019 looking south-west towards Parracombe, Blackmoor (and Barnstaple).
ROSSER1954 (CC BY-SA 4.0)