Community Building Project
To be built on a derelict mining site already owned by County Council at Drakewells the Tamar Valley Centre will be implemented as part of the £1.8 million East Cornwall Regeneration Project (ECRP).
The objectives of the project are:
- To provide a gateway visitor centre to the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Tamar Valley Mining District
- To promote local products, including arts and crafts
- To increase visitor spend in the Tamar Valley, especially in the shoulder periods
- To create new jobs in the TVC workshops and local tourism businesses
- To provide community information and a quality meeting room for local people and local businesses and much improved access to Calstock Parish Archive
An Orientation Centre will provide permanent displays informing visitors what there is to see and do in the Tamar Valley AONB and wider Tamar Valley Mining District, and providing information on accommodation and visitor facilities. The displays will be of the highest design quality, with stunning photographs and images. The emphasis throughout, will be on fostering sustainable tourism in the area and promoting local tourism businesses. The information desk will be staffed by both paid staff and local volunteers.
Community Information will be provided for local residents on events, public transport and local authority services. This important role will be achieved without compromising this area’s main function of providing visitor information.
A Retail Area for local products will raise awareness of local goods and provide revenue to help support the centre. The emphasis will be very much on Tamar Valley products.
A Café area will help attract visitors, provide catering for events and meetings and also provide revenue to help support the centre. This will feature the use of local produce.
The Calstock Parish Archive which is owned and managed by the Calstock Parish Archive Trust will be stored at the centre and will be open to public access. This is understood to be the most comprehensive parish historical archive in the UK; and only includes secondary material, so climate storage is not required. Clastock Parish was one of the main mining areas of Cornwall in the 19th century and the archive is a key resource relevant to the proposed World Heritage Site. The centre will enable it to be much more accessible to both visitors and local residents.
Temporary Exhibitions – space will be available for hire by local artists and craftsmen, or for meetings and events. This will provide an additional draw for visitors, promote local arts and crafts and provide income towards the Centre’s revenue costs. This space will be flexible so that it can be expanded into the orientation / information area in the evenings and during the quietest months. It will provide a much needed high quality meeting room for training events. The exhibitions will be linked with existing arts partnership marketing initiatives where possible.
A badger hide for evening events watching the nearby badgers
Workshops for craft producers or adding value to local produce or similar with ancillary retail sales of products produced on the premises
Office (separately funded) for Calstock Parish Clerk and Tamar Valley Centre Manager. Another office (separately funded) will be available for all staff of the Tamar Valley AONB Service, which will help ensure that the Centre is fully integrated into relevant initiatives in the wider Tamar Valley, and will provide income through rent towards the Centre’s revenue costs.
The multi-use functions of the Centre will ensure the critical mass to help attract the projected increase in visitors to the Tamar Valley ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ and Project area, and to generate sufficient income towards the Centre’s revenue costs to make the Centre financially viable.