EMERGENCY repairs to the roof of Tavistock Town Hall were recently completed, but major restoration work on the roof will still go ahead to protect the building.
Safety and debris netting and polythene sheeting were affixed to the roof by Thursday, November 15, at a cost of £3,850, allowing the hall to re-open for business.
However, more long-term restoration of the town hall roof is needed and councillors have two options available to them — to repair the roof 'like for like' with traditional building materials, or to use modern materials at around half the cost.
First estimates suggested that repairing the town hall ceiling with like for like materials would cost at least £76,000, but the same appearance could be achieved using modern materials at a much reduced cost.
At a meeting of the properties committee on Tuesday, November 27, councillors supported a proposed planning application to West Devon Borough Council to undertake the repair work in modern materials, despite the borough's advice that repair work should be carried out on a like-for-like basis.
The town council may face some obstacles to carrying out the work using modern materials. They might have to follow the application through to an appeal against any refusal by the borough council.
The council may also have to repay a £10,000 grant made by English Heritage around ten years ago for undertaking any repair work using traditional materials. But councillors decided that this extra cost was far less than the difference in cost of using traditional materials as opposed to modern ones.
Mayor of Tavistock Norma Woodcock said: 'Overall, we would be better off to fight this, through any appeals if we have too, than to use like for like materials.'
Town clerk Roger Howard said that if the council did go ahead with restoration using modern materials, English Heritage would be entitled to ask for the money to be repaid.
However, the council would not have to pay the money back in one lump sum and it would still be cost effective to proceed with repairs using modern materials.
He described the temporary repair works using nets and sheeting as 'not intrusive and quite safe'.
The council were pleased that safety works were completed two days earlier than expected, allowing the town hall to open for business again.