WRITING in response to the appeal (Times, November 13) to 'have your say', there are so many aspects of the conservation management plan for Tavistock that the questionnaire in the paper hardly begins to cover the variety and complexity.
Having waded through the document prepared by 'Conservation Studio' of Gloucester (why so far away?) there is almost an 'Alice in Wonderland' element to the proposals for a Utopian Tavistock.
It is proposed that the big, bad cars (so 'unsightly' in the Guildhall car park) should be kept out of sight so that tourists are free to wander around, admiring the beautifully kept historic buildings. That is, except for the public toilets which, for all the money spent on improving them and removing half the walls, will now be tastefully screened by greenery.
The sun will shine every day and Bedford Square and Bank Square (stripped of its car park status) will be thronged with people sitting, drinking their coffee, enjoying the scenery. The area around Bank Square will of course be touched by the magic wand of 'enhancement'.
However, back to reality, and as Cllr Sellis pointed out, Tavistock is one of the wettest towns in the country, and Bank Square has a far, far better use as a car park. Cllr Drew undoubtedly voiced the opinion of the vast majority of local residents in saying there is not enough car parking now. Many local shops are struggling to keep going, and need all the help they can get.
Like it or not, cars cannot be wished away and on-street parking helps maintain economic viability.
Much trade surely is down to popping into a few shops and parking for ten or fifteen minutes, when it is not convenient to walk from car parks on the edge of the town centre. Loss of the two car parks would put even more pressure on street parking.
With regard to the enhancement projects; until details become available as to what exactly is planned, what is there to vote for? The paving over of Bedford Square, replacing ugly car parking spaces with ugly Portuguese granite and more recently the placement of the mechanical monster at Abbey Bridge are two projects which caused controversy. The proposed restaurant in West Street would have been infinitely more desirable than an empty shell for another eleven years.
It is written in the plan (4.3 Promotion and Awareness): 'It is important that local people should understand the significance of their surroundings if they are to play their part.' What a sentence to end on!
R Pierson
Kilworthy Hill
Tavistock