A PROJECT to create more than 100 desperately needed car parking spaces in Tavistock received the thumbs up at a meeting in the town last week. Town councillors unanimously voted to start the ball rolling to create a formal car park on un-made land it owns in Pixon Lane — reversing a previous decision to put the project in the 'bottom of the filing cabinet'. Several councillors said they could not understand why, at the previous week's meeting, members had agreed to put the scheme on the shelf until the council's budget setting process at the end of the year. Members agreed a Pixon Lane Car Park would be beneficial to Tavistock and wanted the project to move forward. It is estimated it will cost around £150,000 to create 109 spaces. Cllr David Farrant said: 'If it is put on the shelf it is like putting our head in the sand. 'Pixon Lane deserves to be developed, Tavistock Town Council deserves to be at the helm and we owe it to Tavistock to sign a long term low cost car park.' Cllr Philip Sanders said traffic was the main problem in Tavistock and he could not understand how elected members could put off the scheme. 'What we can't do is pass up this opportunity. There is no reason to delay — it is here today and we need to address it today and not put it into the drawer,' he said. Cllr Alison Clish-Green said: 'It is our only option at the moment. We should bite the bullet and do something for Tavistock, as the main thing people talk about in Tavistock is car parking.' And Cllr Mandy Govier said the council had spent four years talking about car parking. The subject should never have been put to the bottom of the filing cabinet. Town clerk Roger Howard said plans to create the Pixon Lane Car Park would now go ahead — but he advised that preparations could take some time. Money for the proposed car park has already been earmarked.
