Set up for the works to Bude's iconic Storm Tower begins on April 24.

Bude-Stratton Town Council have said they have now undertaken a first compass site visit with the appointed contractors, Sally Strachey Historic Conservation, alongside the project architect, project manager, ecologist and structural engineer.

The project features contributions from National Lottery Heritage Fund.

In response to a resident who criticised the time it had taken to reach this point, saying they felt it was due to procrastination, local Councillor, Peter La Broy, Cornwall Councillor for Bude, said: "I want to give some assurance there was absolutely no procrastination. This has been an incredibly complicated project, bringing together Cornwall Council, Bude Stratton Town, the freeholder, Natural England, Historic England, architects, surveyors, project managers and of course the community of Bude and the Councillors that gave it political will. Other communities are already looking at this project as an exemplar. I know it must have felt frustrating (lord know I have felt that way also) at the process. But we have given this our best shot, and I’ll point out that without the continued local political pressure supported by our community that this project wouldn’t have even been considered. The Stormtower would simply have been left to fall into the sea. If we were starting now, I can be reasonably sure that it just wouldn’t have got anywhere at all."