THE Guildhall Gateway Centre project, local environment, the Royal visit and the Townscape Heritage Initiative featured in the Tavistock mayor’s milestones of the civic year, as told during the town’s annual meeting last Tuesday.

The meeting, held at Tavistock Town Hall, provided an opportunity to discuss what Tavistock Town Council had undertaken over the past year and was attended by fellow councillors and a small number of local residents.

In her speech, mayor Cllr Anne Johnson said the town council had achieved a great deal but that ‘there was still work to be done’.

‘The past 12 months have been the most demanding yet as we start to bring the Townscape Heritage Initiative toward a successful close. We are also fully in the process of delivering the works for the Guildhall Gateway Centre which forms a separate project.

‘We are now in the fifth and final year of the THI project and are, so far as we are aware, still the only town council to have delivered such a scheme

‘In doing so we have protected both the commercial future and historic fabric of two critical buildings, six third party priority buildings, an area of the public realm and provided a wealth of interpretation and historic and heritage skill opportunities. It is estimated that overall direct and indirect investment to date amounts to over £2.5-million.’

She added that the town council had also started work on how best to protect the local environment and secure a sustainable future — addressing challenges associated with factors including habitat and biodiversity loss, plastic waste, pollution, energy usage, the climate and other challenges. ‘We will be looking not only at what we as a town council do and how, but how working across the sector and with community interests local government as a whole can contribute to this increasingly important agenda for change.’

The public also heard how the town council was the lead authority for arranging the Royal visit in July with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to Tavistock. Cllr Johnson thanked everyone involved for making the day a ‘most happy and memorable occasion for the town’.

It was heard that a number of challenges faced the council in the year ahead, with demands upon council resources and despite the council’s property estate being a ‘great asset’ was also a ‘substantial liability’. ‘Most of the buildings are mid-19th century Grade II Listed and inevitably require regular care and maintenance to keep them in good repair and inevitably challenges arise.’

Cllr Johnson concluded: ‘Much has been achieved over the past year.

‘It has been and will continue to be challenging to deliver that programme but it will serve the town well for many years to come. We will then have the opportunity to look at both how we consolidate the operational requirements of the organisation and deliver our ongoing commitment to lasting benefits for the citizens of Tavistock.’