THE geographic area which will be served by a £1-million regeneration initiative for Okehampton will be one of the issues decided at the inaugural meeting of the project steering group in the next two weeks.
Okehampton and its hinterland was recently identified as one of the nine West Country towns to be given an opportunity to bid for up to £1-million of Government cash under the South West Regional Development Agency's Market and Coastal Towns Initiative.
But where the hinterland stretches to will be a matter for the steering group to decide — it has already been established that North Tawton and Chagford will be included.
The initiative invests in market and coastal town communities to help them plan for their future, build their skills and create local organisations to take the plan forward. At the heart of it is the preparation of an 'action plan' covering social, economic, environmental and cultural themes.
With help from a panel of consultants, the community will identify a clear vision for the future, bring together information on the area, identify the main goals they need to achieve and priority projects and actions.
The steering group, made up of representatives from town, borough and county council and local organisations, will consult with the whole community to progress the plan and will be holding a number of public meetings in due course.
In Hatherleigh, which is one of the other towns included in the market and coastal towns initiative, three steering group meetings have been held and up to 60 project suggestions put forward to regenerate the area in the wake of the foot and mouth crisis.
All projects will have to be match funded to receive money under the RDA scheme from such sources as the lottery, charities or public sector.
Although there is currently £400,000 available for the South West to progress projects straight away in response to foot and mouth disease, main funds are not expected to feed through until spring next year.
Villages included in the Hatherleigh area scheme are Sampford Courtenay, Northlew, Meeth, Exbourne, Jacobstowe, Inwardleigh, Iddesleigh and Bratton Clovelly.
Development manager Charles Coffin, who is co-ordinating the scheme in Hatherleigh, will be addressing Exbourne Parish Council on August 29 and doing the same with the other villages to find out what they want for the future.
There is a possibility that some parts of the Hatherleigh and Okehampton project may overlap with the potential of drawing down more funds from the Government.
The inaugural meeting of the steering group in Okehampton will take place within the next two weeks and other items on the agenda will be clarifying the role of consultants, progress made by previous community planning initiatives and village appraisals and consideration of any immediate projects.
The membership of the steering group will be reviewed at future meetings to ensure that all sectors — community, business and public — are represented.
The initial group of members will be: Christine Marsh (Okehampton Town Council, Devon County Council), Bob Westlake (Devon's Westcountry Association), Nick Morgan (West Devon Borough Council), Robert Sampson (Chagford Parish Council), Chris Powell (Okehampton College), Susanne Watt (Okehampton and District Chamber of Trade), Noel Cartwright (West Devon Borough Council), Paul Baker (North Tawton Community Forum), Ian Bailey (Okehampton and District Chamber of Trade), Charles Pulteney, Andy Clements (Okehampton OK! Ltd), Hyder Pirwany (Okehampton Town Council), Judy Pride (Community Action Rural Devon), Alan King (Youth Service, Adult Learning), Mauri Webber (Dartmoor Life Museum), Tim Beavon (West Devon Borough Council), Heather Hillman (North Tawton Development Trust), John Smith (Devon County Council), John Winchester (Town Clerk, Okehampton Town Council), Paul Tucker (RDA Market and Coastal Towns Initiative).