A COMMITTEE to kick-start an exciting moorland maze project for Okehampton is being set up and members are being sought.
Local residents who enthused over the project at the Okehampton Market and Coastal Towns Community Day on Saturday are being encouraged to attend a meeting at the Museum of Dartmoor Life on December 3 at 7pm.
The committee will be formed at the meeting to take the project forward.
Environmental artist Yvette Martin, who has also designed a maze for Hatherleigh, received 62 positive responses to questionnaires about the moorland maze at Saturday's event.
Yvette said permission has been given by a local farmer to site the maze at Meldon where it would act as a 'gateway' to the moor.
'Constructed from Meldon Quarry stone, the maze would consists of seven circles built like a Devon hedge and a granite tor in the centre, ' said Yvette.
She is hoping with enough community support, the project could be one of those that goes forward for funding under the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative, which earmarks a virtual £1 million for the Okehampton area.
She has also been gaining support for a cob and thatch maze design for Hatherleigh which has a central theatrical space based on The Globe Theatre.
Yvette said: 'As well as a place for fun and entertainment the maze would be an educational centre for rural skills.'
The artist sees it as a money-making venture for the community with specialist workshops, commercial outlets related to the project, theatre and other stage productions, specialist craft and product fares and a variety of different open days.
Yvette said: 'One of the main aims of the project would be to rediscover the values of the immediate environment and explore ways in which local skills and materials could be used in the 21st Century'.
To get a good idea of how traditional local skills are still being used today the Hatherleigh Maze support group has organised a visit to a recently built cob house in Ottery St Mary on December 1. Anyone interested should meet at the London Inn car park in Ottery at 10.30am.
For more information about the Hatherleigh or Okehampton Maze projects contact Yvette on 01837 861186.