THERE has been a broad welcome to news that historic buildings watchdog English Heritage is funding a detailed study into Tavistock?s Guildhall, following a progress report to the town council last week. John Taylor, chairman of Tavistock Forward which has commissioned a feasibility study into future uses of the police-owned Guildhall, was invited to the council to update members on the situation. The council has put £5,000 towards the study by top consultants DTZ Pieda. Mr Taylor said since an initial presentation to the council by the consultants, there had been little progress as far as a move from the building by the police was concerned. However, the bid to UNESCO to gain World Heritage Status for Cornwall and West Devon on account of the international influence of its 19th century mining industry was going ?extremely well?. Mr Taylor said a visitor centre had always been Tavistock Forward?s preferred use for the Guildhall ? and the town could be a superb gateway to the area covered by the bid. He said: ?Nowhere else has these lovely Bedford cottages and buildings that we have here, that are above ground. ?It would be the ideal place for people to visit before they go on.? It was good news that in the meantime, English Heritage had agreed to fund a detailed study into the Guildhall building itself, he added. ?They have written a brief and approached consultants in Exeter to do this work at their own cost, so we will know precisely what we can use this building for. ?Just to have English Heritage support is very important. To take this project on and fund it we need these reports ? and it?s very nice to know it?s not coming out of the local taxpayers? purse.? The publication of the report had been delayed due to the closure of Devon County?s records office for the last seven months ? but Mr Taylor hoped it would be completed by this spring. He told the council the police authority, which owned the building, needed to get a reasonable price for it once the station finally closed. But he assured the council he was confident the authority preferred to see the building serve a community use. As to its future ownership, this was where funding applications would be made, backed by the feasibility study and the English Heritage report. ?The route we are looking at at the moment is a development trust. ?There is a precedent here ? in Chipping Camden, where the police station was bought by a community trust. ?The more people you have involved and on-line with this, the better.? Mr Taylor said he ?could not over-emphasise? how important town council backing was to the whole project. ?If you talk to Mr Smit, of the Eden Project, he says it would never have got off the ground without the support of the local council,? he said. Cllr Betty Batchelor said she was ?very pleased? to hear English Heritage had been so positive and stressed the Guildhall project had to be worked on through a partnership basis, particularly since the town council owned the buildings and land surrounding it. Cllr Jane Ramsey said it was an exciting project and she was happy to be given a detailed progress report, considering the council had a financial stake in the feasibility study. Mayor Jenny Metcalf said it was wonderful to have the backing of English Heritage: ?It was good and encouraging to have this presentation and to know that English Heritage are so firmly on board, as they are the experts, after all ? it?s very exciting.? Representatives from UNESCO are due to visit the areas covered by the Devon and Cornwall partnership?s bid this summer ? a decision is expected the following year.
