PLANS for a giant Celtic Cross to welcome visitors to Cornwall have been toppled by the loss of an expected £50,000 grant.
The cross would have been erected at a site on the Carkeel roundabout at Saltash and was to mark the millennium and be a focal point of the gateway to Cornwall.
It was part of the Saltash Regeneration Scheme and was backed by many local organisations including the town council and chamber of commerce.
But this week the East Cornwall Initiative Board, which administers the Single Regeneration Budget, turned down the Saltash festival Committee's request for the grant in a close six to five vote.
The news yesterday afternoon that the grant had been turned down came as a blow to the committee. Secretary Stephanie Rees said it was a devastating blow after so much hard work.'
Deeply
disappointed
'We are all deeply disappointed and we can't see how the project can go ahead', she said.
However, the committee will now try to raise the money through a public appeal for cash pledges.
The cross was the subject of a design competition earlier this year and the winning design was by Simon Thomas. Its construction was of copper, stainless steel and concrete.
It is understood that one of the reasons the committee turned the application down was because they were unhappy about the materials being used which were not traditionally Cornish.
Anyone who can help pledge cash can contact Stephanie Rees on 01752 842060 or 070970 423411.