A FLAGSHIP centre for the Tamar Valley which has been talked about for almost two decades is set for its grand opening on July 13 by the Princess Royal.

The checkered history of the building of the Tamar Valley Centre on the site of the old Drakewalls Mine is now firmly in the past and the community could not be more delighted that it is finally up and running.

Princess Anne will perform the opening ceremony before moving on to Cotehele Gardens to commemorate the bi-centenary of the bramley apple where she will meet children of Delaware Primary School who have been involved in the Mother Orchard project.

The centre, which was pioneered by the former Cornwall County Council as 'a gateway to the Tamar Valley', will bring all the major players in the area together under one roof, including the Tamar Valley Service which manages the area of outstanding natural beauty and Calstock Parish Council, which will have its first official office.

The Calstock Parish Archive will also be based there and there will be exhibitions of the best the area has to offer and information for people visiting the Tamar Valley.

Chairman of Calstock Parish Council John Roberts, who will wear a Cornish kilt when he greets Princess Anne on July 13, said it would be an honour for the parish to welcome the royal guest.

'I feel quite chuffed that the centre is deemed suitable for opening by royalty. It is great for the parish and personally I am looking forward to it as I have never met the Princess Royal before.'

Mr Roberts said the building was different from what was originally planned and compromises had been made because of budget pressures but he hoped the centre would be of great benefit to the community: 'The plan is that the centre will be self-sufficient and autonomous.

'The biggest advantage is that our parish clerk will be accessible and everything will be easily available for public scrutiny.

'Because we have never had a proper office before, the parish clerk has worked from home and people sometimes feel compromised going to someone's house.'

Dynamic plans for the centre hit problems in 2007 when the project budget escalated to more than £1-million.

Parish councillors were critical that the design was over-ambitious and felt project leaders had put the whole scheme in jeopardy as they were in danger of missing the grant funding deadline.

A smaller scheme was drawn up but there were further delays when the Duchy of Cornwall announced it was not happy with the design.

Manager of the Tamar Valley Service Tim Selman said the original budget was £700,000 and project manager Chris Hariades had brought it in on budget: 'It's a little bit behind time but it does what it says on the tin and we are very pleased with it,' he said.

'July 13 will be a celebration of the building and we want it to involve everyone who has been involved in its development and a lot of people from the local community.'

Mr Selman said it was a modern sustainable building which would create most of its own energy from renewable sources: This building is a home for the community, a hub, and that is what we will be celebrating,' he said.

Major funding came from the South West Regional Development Agency and Objective One but there were many other partners, including Cornwall County Council, the AONB, Caradon and North Cornwall District Council and Calstock Parish Council.