TEMPORARY toilet facilities will be installed in Tavistock town centre when the dilapidated Guildhall loos are closed down this autumn ahead of a £150,000 rebuild scheme. West Devon borough councillors have stressed the importance of keeping some sort of toilet facility at this location while building work takes place, and asked for better signage to direct people to the pannier market toilets. Members of the council?s environment and community committee reinforced their support for the integration of the public toilets with the provision of interpretation facilities for the Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project on a new site adjacent to the River Tavy. The results of the Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project funding bid will be known in the autumn but if the bid is unsuccessful, a rebuild of the toilets on the existing site will be carried out. West Devon Borough Council has allocated £100,000 to the project and Tavistock Town Council £50,000. Head of client services for the borough council Helen Dobby said the toilets were currently being kept open beyond their life expectancy and at an increased risk to the authority: ?They are limping along ? water is coming in and affecting the safety of the floor in the ladies? toilets.? The public conveniences, a centre interpreting the mining heritage of the area and the relocation of the tourist information centre, which are all part of the Tamar Valley project, were originally planned for the Guildhall site but it was felt a new building there would detract from its architectural heritage. Extensive archaeological investigation would be required given that the site was within the scheduled ancient monument of Tavistock Abbey and this would be both time consuming and expensive. An alternative location had been identified, adjacent to the River Tavy on a site created by a re-alignment of a stretch of the Guildhall.
