Traders and councillors are working together to breathe new life into Tavistock high street as the number of long-term empty shops rises.

The issue is raising concern among the town council and the Business Improvement District (BID) and MP Sir Geoffrey Cox (Torridge and Tavistock), particularly as the shops are staying empty for longer than in th epst.

Town councillor Cllr Steve Hipsey, the council’s BID representative, told the council: “BID is very, very concerned at the number of empty windows (shops) on Duke Street and West Street. The trend is towards more empty premises. BID is working to identify the the cause of the problem and how to alleviate the situation.

“The town council, BID and Sir Geoffrey Cox met recently to discuss the issue and we agree that although we agree there is a problem, the best way to find solutions is to collect objective evidence.

“There’s been highlights with the Pannier Market winning the national award, which will help bring in more visitors. But we do need to do more.

“There are lots of new homes being built on the outskirts of the town which will bring in new people, which is welcome, but they will not appreciate what the town has to offer. We need to reach out to them. Tavistock is a relatively hidden gem, compared with other similar places in the region. It might help to have an official brown tourist sign on the A30, for instance and some new events to bring in new and more visitors.”

Town councillor Cllr Jeff Moody suggested to the council meeting that a previous discontinued survey was renewed to give an empirical and regular picture of the health of the retail heart of the town.

The survey has previously provided statistics such as footfall and parking levels among many other factors to give a comprehensive view and early trends and a scientific basis on which to support the local economy.

Cllr Graham Parker agreed that a new survey should cover retail floorspace, turnover and land use changes and also opinion surveys. He suggested it would be instructive to compare Tavistock with Okehampton.

Cllr Moody said this was important ‘benchmarking’ and would enable a similar comprehensive overview to be compiled as that from the Mary Portas review.

Mary Portas investigated the reasons for the decline of the UK’s high streets and provided her vision of how to breath economic and community life back into them on behalf of the government.

Cllr Hipsey said Tavistock BID had commissioned a consultant to carry out a similar ‘Portas’ report. He said it was sometimes suggested that Totnes was an equivalent town and that it should be looked at as a good example – however, he said it was difficult to make meaningful comparisons. But a factual report was needed to assess the impact of any remedies.

Cllr Parker also said Tavistock should be considered as a new site for a Dartmoor National Park Visitor Centre because of its unrivalled position facing Dartmoor, the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (recently renamed as a National Landscape) and the Cornwall and West Devon World Heritage Site.