THE re-launch of the rest room facility, the start of construction of the community sensory garden and the delivery of the nationally-covered Man Engine event featured in the Tavistock Town Mayor’s highlights of the civic year, as told during the town annual meeting last week.

Mayor Cllr Mandy Ewings said she had enjoyed her year as mayor despite having to be involved in making some difficult choices.

She said: ‘The last year has been an exciting year as well as a year of making difficult decisions. The council is working harder than ever as an organisation to deliver our strategic vision with less income resulting from government measures to localise aspects of council tax.

‘As the mayor of our beautiful town, I have had the privilege of so far attending 112 events. My particular highlights were the Man Engine, the opening of the new Mount Kelly 50m swimming pool, Dickensian Evening, the Sports Personality of the Year at Tavistock College and some wonderful concerts held in St Eustachius’ Church.’

She detailed projects that the town council had been involved with, including re-launching the town’s rest room facility Rest A While, which had been closed for ten years; working with partners to deliver the Community Sensory Garden in the Meadows; working with Tavistock BID to develop the Coach Driver’s incentive scheme in the pannier market; aided in the delivery of the Man Engine event which brought thousands of people into the town and gained Tavistock national media coverage and continued to strengthen relationships with the Meadows Makeover community group to provide enhancements to the play equipment in The Meadows, as well as many other ventures.

She said the town council was currently working on a number of different projects. The council is at the later stages of a development phase submission with Tavistock Heritage Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund to bring the Guildhall back into full public use. It has also recently completed works on the historic Butchers Hall building as part of the Tavistock Heritage Initiative Scheme, which has also seen work begun on the restoration of Foulston House (1 Church Lane).

Looking forward, Cllr Ewings said the town council would be embarking on major repair works to the pannier market roof, there were plans to re-point, redecorate and refurbish rainwater goods and windows in Duke Street in June, the development of the Guildhall scheme would continue and she said the council was looking forward to working with community groups in the delivery of a neighbourhood plan for Tavistock.

In the financial statement, Cllr Ewings gave details of the cost of all the projects being undertaken by the council and highlighted the difficulty the council faced with changes to government finance.

She said: ‘We continue to see significant changes in local government finance and governance. In particular there is an ongoing loss of income each year resulting from government measures to localise aspects of council tax, there is the potential for “capping” to be introduced to limit the precept that local councils can make to invest in community services and an increase in the regulatory burden on the sector. More locally, over the past 12 months, and in addition to a significant programme of maintenance and repairs to council property, we have been successful in identifying grants to regenerate both council and privately-owned historic buildings in the town, working under the Townscape Heritage Initiative, including Betsy Grimbal’s Tower, have awarded approximately £20,000 in grants and concessions to support local community activities and organisations and we have provided “in kind” support to local organisations.’

The mayor concluded by looking ahead to the future, highlighting that the council was committed to doing the best it could for the town.

She said: ‘Tavistock Town Council continues to be one of the few councils in the country which successfully subsidises services to the local tax payer. It raises more than half of its income from commercial activities and continues to work hard to maximise this income. In a difficult economic climate, we cannot expect that level of subsidy to continue unaffected. However, we are mindful that the increasing regulation of the sector and reductions in other public services place increased costs. We therefore continue to be committed to exploring a range of avenues to drive down cost and increase income.

‘Looking ahead, the next few years are likely to continue to be financially difficult and the council will be faced with challenges in terms of demands on the capital programme, working with an ageing estate, delivering grant schemes and the vulnerability of income and the increasing importance of working with others to achieve common goals.

‘However, we remain committed to doing the best we can for Tavistock, both now and for the long term and providing relevant and value for money council services.’