THE sum of £1.5-million has been allocated to linking up the Tarka and Camel Cycle Trails and Launceston Forum is pressing for the section through Launceston to be one of the first to be developed.

At the forum's AGM, Chris Parsons said how pleased he was that the Rural Development Programme for England highlighted the linking the Camel and Tarka Cycle paths as a priority and had allocated £1.5 million which would fund part of the link.

TRAC(Tourism and Rural Access in the Countryside) was initiated by the Forum but includes many groups across East Cornwall, including Cornwall Council who put together the funding bids.

Chris also thanked Jason Sculthorpe for all his hard work since starting work for the forum and highlighted how disappointed the directors were that they were not able to find the funds to keep Jason and the rest of the team in place. The forum will continue with the delivery of the community plan but without the aid of of the team.

In his report, Jason Sculthorpe, the Social Inclusion Officer for the Launceston Forum, gave a review of the forum's activities over the last year which highlighted just how busy the team has been. Working towards the aims set out in the Community Plan for Launceston, developed in 2004, the team had worked tirelessly to improve the social and economic prosperity of the town.

For example, the team had been at the centre of the debate regarding improved youth facilities in the town and surrounding parishes. They hade championed road safety issues, by helping to setting up a new partnership; worked alongside the Police and Launceston Town Council to develop a CCTV project for the town centre to tackle crime and disorder, and set up a learning and skills partnership to move forward on education and skills issues.

PLAY STRATEGY

Mr Sculthorpe had written a new Play Strategy for the area and has worked steadily towards improving play facilities across the town. In fact, the new Lanstephan Play Committee was a shining example of real grass-roots community work at its best. Now, the estate had a working group to develop a green space for the children, youths and all residents alike. They were even successful in gaining over £35,000 from North Cornwall District Council to build a toddlers play area and a natural play section on the estate.

Mr Sculthorpe commented: " Yes it was such a good feeling to be able to instigate such a positive change on the Lanstephan estate. Historically, the residents' association had dispersed, leaving no voice for the residents. But through this process we now have a strong and vibrant community willing to work together with other agencies and local authorities to achieve successful goals and ambitions. I am very proud of that.

"Another role that the forum had taken up is that of co-ordinator for a new Transition Town Forum. You may recall Totnes in Devon, becoming a Transition town some years ago. With some work to be done, we hope Launceston will be no different. The potential benefits from becoming this type of town are far reaching and touches on all sorts of new sustainable ideas, such as using local produce, environmental issues, recycling, reducing Co2 and supporting local businesses to mention but a few."

Local transport and rural isolation was very much at the top of the list of things to be tackled. The forum, alongside the East Cornwall Council for Voluntary Services and East Cornwall Rural Transport Partnership; not to mention the people of Launceston had been working to provide a community bus project. The Partnership had worked very hard to secure outside funding to buy and run 'the little red bus' to aid those in isolation or who had no vehicle of their own. "We are pleased to say that the bus rolled out for the first time only last week and you will hopefully see it out and about over the coming years."

WORK TO BE DONE

To aid and continue this type of work the Forum have also invited other agencies into the town to help continue with some of these important issues. For example, Cornwall Neighbourhoods For Change or CN4C have listened to the forum and agreed to help further some of the good work that has already begun.

"The forum and its team hope they have achieved quite a bit over our three years in post. The forum directors and the team have helped to bring in nearly £1-million to Launceston from outside sources, without putting any extra strain on Council Taxes. But there is no time to become complacent. There is much more work to be done and we now hope that the new community groups that we have helped to set up, combined with the other agencies will now work more closely together, alongside the new Cornwall Council, to achieve more," he continued.

Mr Sculthorpe concluded: "I know we have achieved a considerable amount and raised lots of money, but like all short-term projects, there is much more that can be done to improve the social and economic prospects of the town. This is why our directors will continue to push hard for them. For example, the Kensey Link Road will provide a much better access to Newport and help create a more sustainable route into town. This is just one example of the need for ongoing discussions with strategic agencies, and our directors will no doubt champion them for the town."