A WORKING party to help drive forward a project to create a new future for Tavistock?s Guildhall area has received the green light from town councillors.
A meeting was recently held between town councillors and the police authority, including a tour of the police station, Guildhall, the subscription library, Court Gate and Court Gate Cottage.
The town council?s properties committee last week heard the feasibility study into possible uses of the police station and Guildhall was awaiting a report by English Heritage on what physical alterations could be made to the building.
Cllr Iain Andrews, chairman of the committee, said: ?I think the meeting was positive ? there was disappointment at the lack of a feasibility study, which was due in no small part to the involvement of English Heritage ? it is dragging the whole project behind slightly.?
Cllr Andrews said he was concerned that the police reiterated their need to obtain the property?s ?true commercial value? under their commitment to best value ? and that community use of the building might not ?fit into the equation?.
?The positive outlook was they were not looking at any immediate solution to the complex, which is good for us as it gives us more time to look at the options.?
He proposed the idea of a small group of partner organisations to take the project forward.
Cllr Roy Connelly said there appeared to be a lack of direction between the interested parties.
?What I detected was uncertainty between the police authority and the borough council and it appeared one was waiting on the other ? I think it needed a third party in there.?
Cllr Ted Sherrell and Cllr Betty Batchelor backed the idea of a working group ? Cllr Batchelor asked if the county council could be involved in some way.
The committee was told that Gill Owen, the chair of the police authority, was a county councillor herself and so the authority should have some awareness of the situation.
The committee agreed Cllr Andrew?s proposal, the group to include representatives from the town, borough and county councils.
The police station and magistrates? court are owned by the police, with Court Gate, Court Gate Cottage and the subscription library in the ownership of the town council.
The court was closed several years ago and it is the intention of the police to move from their present Victorian premises as they are too small.
The town council has already helped to fund the feasibility study, commissioned by Tavistock Forward, into the police station and court.
It is believed it could be converted into a visitor centre, possibly connected with the bid to UNESCO to make Cornwall and West Devon a heritage site due to the importance of the area?s mining history.