Sometimes it feels like we are fighting a losing battle to improve our area. Just this last week we have seen Bideford’s brand-new play park defaced by vandals and our Post Office slated for closure. Tourist attractions are struggling; we are nowhere near our net zero target, and smoking is actually going up in Torridge, bucking the trend across the country as a whole. 

The anti-smoking campaign ASH says that levels of smoking are linked to deprivation, while the pro-smoking lobby seems to agree, saying that what local and central government should do is to improve the conditions in which people live. 

This is what we are all trying to do, and there are some bright spots on the horizon. After months of doing the sums, the Government has now told Torridge that it will after all be eligible for the potential £20 million Levelling Up Partnership funding and that the regeneration projects presented before the election are still in the frame. Meanwhile, the Appledore Clean Maritime Innovation Centre is securely on track, and money is being invested in renovations to the old library and Town Hall, and in Holsworthy Leisure Centre. 

We also hear that local authorities are getting extra powers to tackle the epidemic of empty shops that besmirch our high streets. Where premises have been vacant for more than a year, local authorities will be able to auction short-term leases, opening the way for ‘pop up’ businesses or charities to take them over. 

So, where does heritage fit into all this? Is it maybe a ‘nice to have’ but not a necessity? Shouldn’t we be focussing on better employment opportunities, higher paid jobs, and business viability? 

Yes of course, but we must not overlook the importance of heritage for community pride as well as for economic development. The trashing of the play park is an important lesson. We must have community engagement, a sense of who we are and what makes us special. If we are to capture the potential of becoming a Heritage Harbour, one of only twelve in the country, we must look to the future as well as the past. It must underpin rather than hold back wider plans to regenerate the area. And it must involve the community, especially young people – we have some ideas about how to do this. 

That way increased awareness of our heritage can help to overcome the disengagement and negativity of those who would pour paint on our amenities. 

TT