BUSINESSES along the Tamar could receive a major boost if a £350,000 funding bid to make the river more accessible for recreational and tourism use is successful.

The Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) together with local businesses and partnership organisations is hoping to win funding to improve quays, introduce new tourism initiatives and boost existing businesses along the river from Calstock to Morwellham.

Named the Tamar Links project, it has the support of many businesses such as Canoe Tamar and the Calstock Ferry and Motor Launch Company and partnership organisations like the parish and county councils and National Trust.

Tim Selman from the Tamar Valley AONB explained that everybody was very concerned about the commercial activity on the river.

He said: 'It has almost dried up to nothing. There are one or two ferries left that go from Cotehele to Calstock and sometimes Morwellham, but it is not viable.

'A lot of pleasure cruises used to come up from Plymouth but there is less for them to see because Calstock does not have the shops and pubs that it once had.'

Mr Selman said that in terms of fishing, the Tamar was silting up and the window of time that the boats could work on the river was getting smaller and smaller and a lot of the quays were not accessible anymore.

'We also want to create more sustainable transport links so people can come up the river from Plymouth on the train or ferry and go for a walk or cycle and go back on the train or ferry. It is about getting it to work more effectively.

'If we get it right people can come down from London for the weekend and have a wonderful time without using the car.'

He added that with cycling, horse-riding, canoeing and walking trails there were all sorts of options for leisure time.

There were also many requests for camping facilities en route from people canoeing along the river.

'The River Tamar was the main highway at one time and has always been a commercial river, so to see that disappear is sad,' said Mr Selman.

'If we can improve activity on the river it will help the local economy.'

The Tamar Links Project will be bidding for cash from the Rural Development Plan for England Fund as well as gaining contributions from local authorities, the National Trust and a private sector funding consortium. It will hear in the summer if it has been successful.