AN exciting scheme to create a new £350,000 visitor centre in Tavistock is in the pipeline. It follows the announcement of a huge cash grant awarded to the Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project. The £2.7-million grant, part of a £5.8-million funding package for the project, means a major tourism and recreation boost to the Tamar Valley area ? the gateway to which will be the new centre based in the heart of Tavistock. Tim Selman, manager of the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Service which is spearheading the heritage project, said his group, in partnership with other agencies, was considering the public toilets site in the Guildhall area for the new centre. The toilets would be demolished and new ones incoporated within the new complex. Mr Selman said: ?We are putting together an options appraisal, including five different options for that site. ?It will be a signpost centre for the area ? we?d like it to be a really exciting building and we?ve got potential sponsorship with a big computer company to put in some very innovative things ? we are working together because we don?t want to miss the opportunity to do something bigger and better.? John Taylor, chairman of Tavistock Forward, is working closely with Tamar Valley AONB Service on the visitor centre project, which will incorporate new public toilets. David Inman, borough council deputy chief executive, confirmed that a meeting was to take place on June 6 to discuss the opportunities and options available with regard to the public toilets and a new visitor centre for Tavistock. The borough had already set aside funds towards the refurbishment of the Guildhall public toilets, said Mr Inman. He said: ?We regard the historical link between Tavistock and the Tamar Valley as very important ? this is epitomised by the canal and is why we organised the bi-centenary celebrations in 2003. ?Now that Tamar Valley Services have been successful in obtaining this important funding, sketch ideas can be worked up in further detail and there is a meeting with Tavistock Town Council in a couple of weeks to discuss the proposals.? Mr Taylor said as part of Tavistock Forward?s longer term aspirations, it was hoped to link the new visitor centre with the redevelopment of the Guildhall, as well as opening up views of the river to the south of Market Road. The Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project aims to make sustainable, sympathetic and long-term investment in a largely undiscovered area. The partners say they will work closely with the community in bringing the area?s mining heritage to the fore, creating many leisure and recreational opportunities which will boost local businesses. In addition to the Tavistock visitor centre, the project will invest £1-million in Morwellham Quay, create a huge network of cycle and walking trails, open up ancient mines for public access and create a new footbridge over the River Tamar, the first permanent crossing to be built since the 15th century. Work will be carried out on Tavistock Canal to make it navigable for canoes and other small craft and there will be new access links to the canal and the old Tavistock to Bere Alston railway line. Adrian Tinniswood, of the Heritage Lottery Fund, speaking at the project?s official launch in Morwellham last Thursday, said: ?This project is a great example of how heritage matters ? any society that doesn?t celebrate it?s past has no future. ?Tamar Mining Heritage Project, in celebrating its past and opening up its heritage for others to enjoy, is doing a marvellous job.? David Andrew, of Devon County Council, said: ?This is an important project for West Devon and particularly important for the communities of the Tamar Valley. ?What we are dealing with here isn?t just significant to this area, but something of world significance. ?Very much of what happened here influenced much of the world and was a major drive as far as the industrial revolution was concerned.? Anthony Power, director of Morwellham and the Tamar Valley Trust, said the mining heritage project would create a ?world class facility? celebrating the legacy left by the mining industry in the area. ?We are celebrating the lives of ordinary people, the hardships they endured and what they had to do to survive ? this project is a huge boost to us,? he said.
