TAVISTOCK is not offering youngsters what they want — according to a recent Towns Alive survey of students and customers, only around nine per cent of young people are satisfied with the town.
This stark result was revealed after around 300 people responded to the survey on the advantages and disadvantages of Tavistock conducted by Graham Vallis Associates this autumn.
The survey involved students from Tavistock College and Kelly College, plus on-street interviews with customers and visitors to Tavistock and surrounding villages.
As far as young people were concerned, a huge 90.7 per cent said Tavistock did not offer what they wanted and there was not enough for young people to do — many wanted to see a night club, big cinema, more sports facilities, more shops and a skate park.
The number of specialist shops and fact the town was friendly proved a big draw, while car parking was most strongly disliked. Many people felt more use should be made of Bedford Square — and generally people felt safe at night in the town.
Businesses taking part in the Towns Alive regeneration programme, brought to the town by the Tavistock Forward group, have been investigating the
results.
John Taylor, chairman of Tavistock Forward, said young people in Tavistock were a 'very important element of the community', representing a quarter of the town's population.
He said: 'Most of them don't have the right to vote, so what we are trying to do is incorporate their views into our action plan.'
Graham Vallis, who is running the Towns Alive programme, said the object of the survey was to identify what people wanted from Tavistock, in terms of attractions, amenities and accessibility.
He said: 'Any activity concerning regeneration takes effort and time because it is dealing with change and very often, people don't like stepping outside their comfort zone.'
Mr Vallis said a 'staggering' amount of ideas had been generated for the town, which will be incorporated an action plan for the future of Tavistock.
The last of the weekly Towns Alive meetings takes place next Wednesday, December 6 in The Bedford Hotel at 6.30pm, but a further meeting to discuss the action plan is scheduled for January 10, 2001.
l A questionnaire to broaden results of the survey already carried out will feature in the Times next month.