Tehidy Park's East Lodge area has recently seen a number of improvements following meetings between the Tehidy Partnership and Cornwall county council's Environment and Heritage Service.

East Lodge, which was the original lodge entrance to the Basset Estate area and has a high historical value, has been a major cause for concern for Illogan parish council who have campaigned hard to make sure that improvements were carried out and that it was made more "visitor friendly".

The council was concerned that the East Lodge area was being used as an "unofficial" carpark with many cars blocking the existing private residence. Visitors were avoiding parking in the designated car park as it had become overgrown and was a targeted area for thieves.

Dave Clarke, countryside officer said: "A lot of work has been done by the service to improve the official car park in an effort to deter car crime. Work was also carried out to remove and tidy vegetation that was threatening the Grade 2 listed original boundary wall at the East Lodge entrance."

"The wall is now totally visible and grass verges and local, decorative granite posts have been used to prevent people from parking in this area and returning to the cleared-out official one."

The work carried out at Tehidy Park was the first initiative of the Tehidy Partnership, which was set up by the Council as a consulting body for the park of which it manages, and includes representatives from local community groups and local councillors.

Dave Clarke added: "After discussions at our meetings, the council agreed to carry out work at East Lodge as part of our drive to improve Tehidy Park generally."

Peter Mason, chairman of the Tehidy Partnership, said: "The improvements at the East Lodge are a good reflection of the process of the Tehidy Partnership as all members and interested local people had input into the final design."