A TIRED-looking East Cornwall car park has been given a fresh new look thanks to a newly formed community group.

The former dirty white, moss covered walls of Gunnislake car park were the subject of a spring spruce up by new group Gunnislake Community Matters (GCM).

Volunteers from the village, led by the Community Matters Group which was formed two months ago in a bid to breathe life into the village, armed themselves with paintbrushes and paint on a sunny day and got to work repainting the car park walls.

Chairman of GCM Ross Hanley said: ‘When Calstock Parish Council took over the lease of Gunnislake Car Park, it was looking very bedraggled and sorry for itself.

‘But when the residents of the village, led by the Gunnislake Community Matters group, offered to spruce it up, the council gave permission.

‘It took longer than expected — about 140 hours of volunteer help to clean the walls and apply the paint. We thought it would need about 25 litres of masonry paint.

‘Natalie Jasper had kindly donated 15 litres but it actually used 40 litres, plus six litres of Hammerite metal paint.

‘It all happened because local residents of all ages were prepared to give their time and effort to paint, put up notices and supply tea and cakes.

‘The atmosphere became almost carnival-like as the sun shone and the walls and the railings were transformed.’

The group received compliments from passers-by at the time and received positive feedback on the GCM Facebook page. More fun fundraising events have been planned to cover the costs.

Ross added: ‘The other good news is that the car park is now free for the first two hours of parking.

‘It is hoped that visitors to the village shops and amenities will increase and the road outside the nearby Gunnislake Health Centre will be more clear of parked cars.

‘The only task remaining is in the hands of the parish council which will be sorting out the parking lines.’

A spokesperson for the parish council praised the work of the group: ‘We’re very happy that they’ve taken this task on and done it in a good way and we will continue to support them in any way we can.’

The parish council is currently looking into the repainting of the parking lines.