PLANS to keep car parks and pavements in Tavistock town centre clear in extreme weather conditions have been adopted by the town council — but it rejected an option to take part in a community self-help scheme.

The council was offered two options regarding partnership working during extreme weather conditions, one by West Devon Borough Council and another by Devon County Council.

The county's Snow Warden Scheme encourages communities to help each other on a voluntary basis, as the county council's main focus is the major routes which carry the most traffic.

Under the scheme, the town council would enter into a quasi contractual agreement to allocate a Snow Warden, who would act as the key point between the local community and DCC, which offers advice, training and salt to volunteers to deliver a service in areas which would not otherwise receive support in extreme weather conditions.

County councillor for the Tavistock area Debo Sellis said signing up to the scheme would mean the town council would get 10 tons of free salt.

She said: 'You all know local nooks and crannies, you know the problem areas. You might actually like to be snow wardens — you'd have access to 10 tons of salt. You could knock on doors and ask if they could hold a couple of bags of salt so if the weather gets bad they can sort out their area.'

The West Devon Borough Council scheme requested assistance during times of extreme weather if needed. It is targeted to specific areas, mainly car parking spaces in the town, in the event that the borough council is unable to deliver its programmed service.

Town clerk Carl Hearn told councillors at last week's meeting: 'I've had extensive discussions with the works department. The difference between the two options is that West Devon's proposal is inviting us to assist as and when for car parks — it's a flexible arrangement. The snow warden scheme looks more to residential areas rather than town centre areas.

'There's an agreement that we have to prioritise safe highways access and there may be potential to have the capacity to do more, but that is affected by the number of staff and weather conditions. I think there is a degree of uncertainty as to how we can deliver that. In genuine extreme weather conditions I don't think we would be able to do anything meaningful.'

Cllr Brian Trew said: 'If we're talking about a major snow problem then we're going to need loads of salt in all areas. Firstly we've got to ensure we've got the manpower to deliver and the equipment on hand to do it. I can't support at this time the idea of the snow warden scheme.'

Cllr Harry Smith was also against the scheme: 'I firmly believe as an authority we can only promise to deliver something that is clearly defined and deliverable. We need to look at what our current obligations are and in what capacity we can go above our obligations.

'We are aware it is a substantial area. We have finite resources and rely heavily on the expertise of staff to respond to severe weather to the best effect. It is vital that we are clear that whatever external commitments are made are deliverable.'

After a proposal by Cllr Smith, the council agreed to work in partnership with West Devon Borough Council to help keep car parks and pavements clear in the town centre and offer any other reasonable help it can.