GRANITE slabs which have been lying in a town council-owned piece of land in Tavistock have become the focus of a row between councillors and the businessman who owned them. Tony Kaminski said he was ?amazed? at the attitude of councillors regarding the granite, which he agreed to donate to the council to enhance the Tavy Cut, a small area of land next to the river on the northern side of town. Mr Kaminski said he had been approached by the town?s works superintendent, Wayne Southall, and the deputy town clerk, who wondered if he would be prepared to donate a small amount of granite to the project. Mr Kaminski said: ?As I was extremely busy at the time I was only able to afford them an informal chat for approximately three to four minutes. ?I did agree however, albeit very quickly, that they could help themselves to some of our granite pieces kept across the road in our garden centre. ?It was purely as an afterthought that I felt it would be a nice gesture to place a plaque with a simple inscription along the lines of ?Granite pieces donated by Mr E J Kaminski?, to be placed somewhere in the project area.? E Kaminski refers to Tony Kaminski?s father, Edmund, who died two years ago. However, the request for a plaque did not receive a favourable reception, as some members of the council felt it would turn the gardens into a formal memorial area. As the council is trying to develop a policy of encouraging local firms to sponsor some of its open spaces, it was felt if Tavy Cut was viewed as a memorial garden, no other organisation could be attracted to provide sponsorship for it. Now Mr Kaminski has written to the council to inform members that if they felt the informal arrangement between him and the works superintendent ?sadly infringed upon protocol?, they were free to return the stone he originally wished to donate. Councillors discussed the issue behind closed doors at last week?s meeting of the properties committee. They agreed the whole matter should be referred back to the council?s open spaces best value review group to make the necessary recommendations. Meanwhile, the granite remains in Tavy Cut until a decision has been made on its future.
