TAVISTOCK has topped the poll in a nationwide survey focussing on market towns throughout the country, according to a national newspaper.
The news was greeted with cheers from shoppers and stallholders in the town?s pannier market on Saturday, when the reeve announced the result of the survey over loudspeakers.
The survey was run by the Council for the Protection of Rural England as part of its Countryside Character Campaign, launched last June.
It asked people to vote for their favourite town, based on ?retaining individuality and distinctiveness, sensitive planning and new development, architecture, sense of history, thriving shops and businesses and community spirit.?
According to the Daily Telegraph last Saturday, Tavistock topped the list of 120 market towns.
Town mayor Cllr Norma Woodcock said she was absolutely thrilled with the news.
Cllr Woodcock said: ?We are a town full of vitality, with a beautiful built and natural environment.
?Our thriving pannier market and wealth of small, individual shops makes us interesting and different for shoppers.
?Our range of societies, clubs and town events gives us strong community involvement. I am delighted at this recognition ? and certainly the town council will do all it can to maintain it in the future ? we will not be complacent.?
David Scrivener, chairman of Tavistock Chamber of Commerce, said: ?This is very good news for the town. We are delighted ? this achievement will hopefully bring more people to the town during the coming year.
?As businesspeople within Tavistock, we will continue to strive to maintain the standards found by this survey ? and develop new initiatives to build on what has been achieved so far.?
John Taylor, chairman of Tavistock Forward, said the survey result was ?brilliant news?, which reflected well on the ?fantastic?, hard-working community groups in Tavistock.
?It makes everything we do in the town worthwhile,? said Mr Taylor.
?We are delighted for the whole community. The basis on which the choice was made was interesting ? it conforms to Tavistock Forward?s towns alive programme, to make Tavistock a better place to live, work and visit.
?However, there are still a lot of improvements needed to make the town even better. We ought to use this news to build on what we already have ? and get some more visitors in.?
The CPRE believe it is vitally important to preserve and protect the local character and diversity of market towns. It is hoped the survey will identify how that character and diversity can be maintained and encouraged, while accommodating change as necessary.
A spokesman for the CPRE this week told the Times: ?Market towns are under a great deal of threat. They can be under threat of being subsumed by other larger towns ? sometimes they even grow too big and lose their character.?
In launching the market towns survey last year, Tom Oliver, CPRE rural director, said: ?The character of the English countryside is under attack as never before. All it takes for blandness to triumph is to let events take their course.
?Miserably designed housing, futile attempts to build our way out of traffic congestion and inadequate attempts to give farming a purpose which commands broad support, all contribute to the sense of anywhere and nowhere.?
The full results of the CPRE?s market towns survey are due to be released next week.