Moving Bovey Tracey forward

BOVEY TRACEY TOWN CENTRE REGENERATION PROJECT

There’s good news on this front, as the Town Council and a group of local business people have got together to get the ball rolling on this challenging project. A well attended meeting of the group was held with the help of a facilitator from the Action for Market Towns (AMT) organisation. This is a support organisation for communities to call upon to help build business plans, engage the community in neighbourhood planning, establish or support town teams and partnerships, through its Towns Alive team. Bovey Tracey has become a member of AMT, to join 450 other towns, villages and some cities, to benefit from and share the valuable expertise it holds.

This programme will take time to achieve its objectives, some of which have yet to be defined and will come out of the initial work that will be undertaken. However, three sub-projects have been identified through the facilitated workshop as the highest priorities, and work will commence on these shortly. The top priority is the production of a marketing strategy for the town, identifying its unique selling points, and what needs to be put in place to exploit these to the benefit of the town. Secondly, focus will be put on updating the town’s website, to make better use of the technology and techniques now available, and widening its scope, better to serve the town’s communities and businesses. There is great opportunity for raising Bovey’s profile in both these sub-projects, and consultations will be held as the Regeneration group require, with the help of AMT’s Towns Alive advice and recommendations.

The third sub-project is perhaps the most demanding of all, as it covers areas where there has already been much discussion in the town, and I know there are some entrenched opinions. This is likely to be known as the “Town Centre project”. It will target improving the signage in and around the town, so that people will know what’s going on in the town, where key places and facilities are, and raise awareness of Bovey Tracey’s attractions. Traffic flow and parking are major issues for us, and resolving these will need a concerted effort by the project team. Involvement of outside authorities, the town’s geography and architecture, addressing vested interests, and certainly finding financial resources will have a great part to play. Also, there is much support for creating a town square in the centre of the town, providing an open space and focus for residents and visitors of all ages to congregate and enjoy events or just to socialise. This too will be a target for the team.

So, as you can see, the scope of the Regeneration group is wide and much will need to be done to establish what is feasible, who needs to be involved, and how an ambitious end result can be achieved. I’m sure that efforts will be made to involve townsfolk in the early deliberations as these projects get off the ground, and that official updates on what is agreed, the milestones and the sources of funding that will be needed, will be made in a timely and responsible way. This is all very exciting, and, although not everyone will agree with everything all the time, I hope you will give the Regeneration project the backing it is going to need.

THE COTTAGE MAGAZINE

I’ve been very pleasantly surprised recently (and I hope the editor Dave Harman will be too) by how many people have told me that this magazine is now part of the fabric of Bovey Tracey and its surrounding areas. In it there is a long list of local craftsmen and specialist small businesses that offer their services to the local populace, and they are getting excellent references from the folk that use them. This is really good news, and is exactly what a publication of this sort is for. I’m delighted therefore to write my articles to support the magazine, and it is very rewarding to know in some small way that it is helping the Bovey Tracey community to flourish and thrive.

REMEMBER THE HORSE MEAT SCARE?

Just to finish with, here are a few gems for all ages to smile at from last year’s horse meat scare. They have been in the public domain, so apologies if you’ve seen them before.

Despite the recent scandal, the supermarket insists it uses only meat of the highest quality. A spokesman said: ‘Our meat has to clear several hurdles before it goes on sale.’

I’ve got some supermarket burgers in the fridge. But......THEY’RE OFFFFFFF!

The supermarket is giving treble points on your loyalty card for all burgers and
petrol, starting today. The deal’s called ‘Only Fuel and Horses’.

My doctor told me to watch what I eat, so I went out and bought tickets for the Grand National.

I won’t eat supermarket burgers. They may be low in fat, but they may have a very high Shergar content.

The supermarkets would have got away with it if it wasn’t for the DN Neigh test.

Tony Allen is a Bovey Tracey Town Councillor & Leader of the Bovey NHW Forum. This column is written in a personal capacity and not on behalf of any particular group or organisation.

Other columns by Tony Allen