FORMATIVE work has already started on two projects — preparing a new town heritage trail and the idea of a franked message on all mail leaving the town is being explored with the Post Office.

Tavistock Forward, the group spearheading the Town Alive project appealed for volunteers to help develop 'quick win' projects for the regeneration of the town at their annual meeting last Thursday (January 24).

Quick win projects are those smaller projects which could be achieved in the short term and which would give momentum to the process of getting larger projects off the ground.

Environmental charity WestDEN will be arranging and supporting small working groups to prepare action plans and funding bids for the priority projects, and bringing the relevant agencies together.

WestDEN are looking for three or four volunteers to join each of the four community groups being set up to develop different strands of project ideas and funding bids.

John Dixon of WestDEN said: 'We will be assisting with early projects and our role will be to set up small working groups to bring forward 'quick-win' projects to try and develop action plans, finding resources and getting some of those projects delivered.'

John Taylor, chairman of Tavistock Forward, said: 'We are really trying to put the organisation on a better footing, we already have people heading the groups, but we want to see more volunteers joining the small groups to work this process up.'

Other projects highlighted by Mr Dixon at the meeting were the promotion and regeneration of Bedford Square, a rail link to Plymouth, themed trading days, concentrated internet promotion of the town and a slogan to publicise the town.

Community open days in the outlying areas of the Tavistock project, such as Princetown and Bere Alston, are to take place during March and April, to ensure the Action Plan is well balanced and representative of the needs of the whole area.

John Barkham from the South West England Regional Development Agency also attended the meeting to explain the Government's proposals in greater detail.

Mr Barkham discussed the next stage after priority projects had been developed; the submitting of projects to a brokerage table.

'The concept of the brokerage table is to bring together government, lottery funding agencies and other organisations to look at how to direct resources and offer advice on the proposals,' he said.

The exact form the brokerage table would take has yet to be finalised.

However there was opposition from some at the meeting to the idea of one central brokerage table to cover the 16 towns in Devon which had joined the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative.

It was felt that a community-based scheme should continue to be focussed in the community and not go to county level at the brokerage stage.

The meeting also heard that some of the money from the separate Tamar Valley Pilot will fund a project officer, based in Tavistock. Part of their remit will be to integrate the Tavistock initiative and the Tamar Valley Pilot and bring forward projects in each area.

The Town Alive action plan unveiled six months ago, has been produced to access funds from the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative, which aims to facilitate projects helping economic, social and environmental regeneration.