A PLEA to allow Tavistock Museum permanently to extend into Court Gate Cottage and gain access to substantial grant funding was last week made by Tavistock and District Local History Society. Roger Martin, secretary of the society, which runs the museum, asked town councillors for an update of the situation regarding the future of the empty Court Gate Cottage. The museum currently uses two rooms of the cottage for storage ? but Mr Martin told councillors that extending into the cottage permanently could make a huge difference to the future of the musuem, particularly by providing space to create disabled access. He said: ?If the museum were to be extended into the cottage the history society could apply for a grant to refurbish the cottage and turn it into a museum. ?But when it comes to filling in forms, if you can?t provide disabled access, you fall at the first hurdle ? that?s why it?s so important to us.? Mr Martin said the history society would be ?well-placed? to receive such a grant, which would mean the cottage would be refurbished at no cost to the council ? apart from the fact it would not be able to receive rent from a residential tenant. Cllr Iain Andrews said: ?I do believe any town should be proud of having a well-presented museum ? I just hope we can help, and get best value for money for our properties.? And Cllr Caroline Keane backed the request by the history society. She said: ?I would fully support use of this cottage by the museum as a best service to the community, rather than in any other area. ?My hope has always been that the museum could proceed very quickly with grant funding. ?My feeling is that certain of our town properties are best used for community use and I consider this to be one of them.? Town clerk Roger Howard said that so far, the council had made no decision on the future use of Court Gate Cottage. At present, he and his staff were compiling an estimate to bring the cottage up to residential standard. Mr Martin?s request will be put to a future meeting of the town?s properties committee, once the refurbishment estimates have been assembled.
