A work hub is being considered for Holsworthy and a consultation will be held at the end of the month.

An online survey has also been launched to gauge local opinion on the proposal.

Alongside Holsworthy Town Council, Torridge District Council is exploring the potential for this ‘vibrant co-working space’ in Holsworthy, which they hope will provide low-cost but high-quality shared spaces.

The hub would mainly focus on the younger generation of business people, including students, and hopes to provide a space where new businesses can grow.

Economic development officer at Torridge District Council Chris Fuller said: “The consultation will be open until March 31 and is designed to ensure that we can gather the right details and gauge interest for any future funding which might emerge through, for example, the successful Devon Work Hubs programme or other routes which come forward as part of the Build Back Better agenda.

“The offer will need to be relevant to people from across the region and create a supportive, vibrant community of users and offer access to the right facilities, such as printers, a bookable meeting room and, of course, fantastic WiFi.

“Town centres are also changing, so this proposal will seek to create a more vibrant scene and ensure that Holsworthy is an ever-more appealing place to work — whilst also boosting town centre footfall and the businesses within the town. So please come and get involved in this first step.”

Mayor of Holsworthy Helen Parker, town clerk Vanessa Saunders and town and district councillor Jon Hutchings and district councillor David Jones attended a Zoom meeting last month to hear Mr Fuller’s proposal for a work hub in Holsworthy. Cllr Parker said: “This was to discuss the establishment of a business hub, but then he changed it to a community hub. It’s going to, hopefully, be especially aimed at the younger generation of young business people, including students. They envisaged a vibrant area, possibly supported by a mentoring service to encourage and support new businesses in the future.

“Now, we sort of questioned it — does our rural area have this need? It came to the conclusion that [Mr Fuller] would send out a questionnaire to the community to find out what the interest is.”

Cllr Jones commented: “I thought that was interesting, I think it needs some more thought but its good to see that Holsworthy is featuring in the plans which TDC has.”

Before plans are developed and funding sourced, the councils would like to gather feedback from the local populace.

Those in Holsworthy and the local area who would like to meet other businesses, use a meeting room, form collaborations or even just get out of the house to work every now and then, are asked to include their thoughts in the survey, at www.bit.ly/HolsworthyWorkHub