TAVISTOCK mayor Andy Hutton has revealed town councillors are planning to bring back Goose Fair this year after Covid-19 put paid to the iconic event for two years on the trot.

Cllr Hutton, whose term of office ends next month, said he believed bringing back the fair would be one of main focuses for whoever stepped into his shoes for the next civic year.

The fair, held in October, was axed last year despite councillors planning for it to go ahead amid continuing uncertainties over how the pandemic would pan out and possibly of more Government-posed safety restrictions. They had already been told that because of those uncertainties, the fair might not go ahead.

Councillors voted 7-5 to pull the plug on last year’s event after considering an extensive report prepared by officers which said they could not recommend putting on the event on safety grounds. There were also concerns that organising the event would seriously stretch an already under-pressure town hall staff, whose numbers had been reduced due to the financial fall-out from the pandemic.

Cllr Hutton had been one of the councillors who had voted that the fair — one of only two of its kind in the country — should be held last year. He later revealed that the fair’s organisation would be overhauled in an attempt to get it on this year.

And he told the town’s annual meeting that he expected one of the main focuses in the new civic year would be to bring back Goose Fair and the Tavistock Garden Festival, also shelved for the same reasons.

Cllr Hutton said it was a different year to the one he had anticipated, but that he had still enjoyed it.

He told the annual meeting: ‘The work of your council over the past year has been challenging as we try to return to “business as usual” and the country moves from pandemic to endemic.’

Cllr Hutton said the authority’s work had continued to be ‘seriously impacted’ by coronavirus, which led to new ways to working and new priorities, which included maintaining key services with less staff, introducing safety measures because of Covid-19 restrictions and the forced cancellation of Goose Fair and the Tavistock Garden Festival last year.

He told the meeting the pandemic continued to have a major impact on the council’s finances, but added: ‘However, the financial position of the council has now been stabilised and we are beginning the process of recruiting into vacant posts and reopening our service offer.’

Cllr Hutton said he thought the focus on the next civic year would be how, with other organisations, the council could promote and support the community and town, represent the interests of the ratepayer and continue to recruit staff and re-open services, plus supporting the business community and rebuilding the council’s finances to ‘sustainable’ levels.

Cllr Hutton paid tribute to everyone who had helped Tavistock through the worst of Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: ‘We acknowledge all those in the health and caring professions, the organisations, community groups and good neighbours who have helped and supported those in need in our community. To all of you, your support and help will have made a huge difference to those whose lives you have touched.’