County councillor Christine Channon says she would support a new road being built from the Sandy Bay area of Exmouth to the junction between Dinan Way and Salterton Road

A new road connecting a holiday park with an Exmouth link road should be built but only once money is found for a long-awaited extension.

County councillor Christine Channon said that a new road from the junction between Dinan Way and Salterton Road to Sandy Bay would be ‘beneficial’.

But the member for Exmouth Littleham and Budleigh Salterton Coastal warned that there is ‘no money’ of the already approved scheme to extend Dinan Way to the A376 and funding that should come first.

The emerging Exmouth Neighbourhood Plan backs the idea for a road connecting Devon Cliffs Holiday Park with Dinan Way and cllr Channon believes there would be support for the scheme.

She said: “I am in favour of a road being built from the junction of Dinan Way down to Sandy Bay holiday park.

“I believe that such a plan would also have support of a good many people in Exmouth.

“It would relieve the problems at Littleham Cross junction, aid the construction of the new development at the Pankhurst site, and improve the route to Sandy Bay.

“It would be particularly useful for the holiday park when they were delivering or removing lodges.

“To be really effective, however, we would need to complete the Dinan Way extension first.”

DCC was given the go-ahead for the extension in 2017 following a failed challenge from the National Trust which was concerned about the impact on the nearby A la Ronde in Summer Lane.

Cllr Channon said the extension to the A376 will cost ‘millions’ and called on central government to step in.

“Although the plans have been passed to complete Dinan Way, at present there is no money to complete the scheme.

“The cost is too excessive to be paid out of development contributions.

“It needs to be government funded, as would any extension to Sandy Bay.

“I think that government needs to abandon schemes like the HS2 scheme and put some of the money towards road schemes like Dinan Way.”

A spokesman for the DCC said: “To deliver the Dinan Way scheme Devon County Council is looking to secure funding from a number of sources.”