URGENT calls are being made to protect heritage mining structures on private land in the Calstock parish following concern that they could be destroyed. Pressure is being put on Cornwall County Council to 'pull its finger out' and list the plethora of mine chimneys, lime kilns and tramways in the parish, which form a vital part of the newly designated World Heritage Mining Landscape of Cornwall and West Devon. Calstock Parish Council is unhappy with its response so far from the county council, which has said parish lists were a 'medium term priority' for the World Heritage Site team. Cllr Ian Kirk said: 'It seems to me that we have gone in for this hugely expensive bid to get mining heritage status but nobody has bothered to do anything at all about getting any special protection for the heritage itself. 'There are dozens and dozens of mining remains on private land in Caradon and unless they are listed they can be knocked down willy-nilly. If a landowner wants to blitz them he can and there is nothing we can do about it. 'The county needs to pull its finger out. I would have thought it was relatively straightforward to get somebody to go around and make a list of all the structures that need protecting. 'We are not talking about restoration and conservation which involves spending large amounts of money — the first step is to get them listed so no-one can knock them down.' Cllr Godfrey Smale, who is also a county councillor, said it was very important to keep the momentum going and Devon appeared to be striding ahead of Cornwall at the moment as far as capitalising on the bid. 'We have achieved the big goal but now we have to deliver,' he said. 'We have to be serious about drawing people here — they will want to come and appreciate seeing the sites where their forefathers worked 200 years, even if the sites are not complete. 'It is no good asking for World Heritage status and then denying people the resource to spend money trying to achieve it — it is up to us to keep the momentum going.' Mr Smale said the Tamar Valley Visitors' Centre due to be built at Drakewalls with good road and rail links nearby would be key to promoting the mining heritage of Cornwall and West Devon. 'If it does not succeed here, it will not succeed anywhere,' he said. Phil Markham from the county council historic environment service, said a list of the buildings and structures which were of importance to the World Heritage Site within the Calstock parish was a recognised issue. In a letter to Calstock Parish Council he said having spoken to the World Heritage Site team, lists were a medium priority and at this time there was no start date for the work. 'I suspect that this answer is not what the members would be looking for but there are many issues which have to be prioritised,' he said.
