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Friday, November 21, 2008, 13:50
Elwell Lane is nearly two acres of overgrown scrub woodland close to the Tamar road bridge.
The town council is renting the land for a peppercorn rent of £1 a year for 25 years and will transform it into public wildlife parkland.
Saltash acquired the land from Caradon in advance of the transfer of district council assets to the new super-council that will run Cornwall from next year.
Councillor Joe Ellison, who is managing the project, said the council already had £38,000 from its own funds and £18,000 from Caradon to start the work.
Saltash has commissioned a landscape design from Groundwork of Plymouth as the basis for grant applications to the Lottery Fund and the Forestry Commission.
On the land are the outlines of Elwell Lane, a sunken footpath, and the remains of a cider press.
"It was cleared for the bridge construction in the 1960s and fenced off," Mr Ellison said.
"I reckon most people in Saltash don't know it's there because it has been shut off for 40 years. The only people who have used it have been local kids who built their dens there."
He said the council would put in paths and picnic benches, but leave it essentially wild.
"When it's cleared the view up the Tamar Valley will be stupendous," Mr Ellison said.
The council has won the backing of Saltash Waterside Residents Association and Gateway CIC for the project.
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