Staff at Newlyn Gallery have three good reasons to celebrate this week with the news that they have been granted £1.2 million funding from the Lottery, £600,000 from Objective 1 and the green light from Penwith planners to extend the gallery. Curator Liz Knowles said yesterday: "We are all jumping about! We are ecstatic!"

The news that the gallery had been successful in its funding applications came as Penwith's planning committee, meeting on Tuesday, recommended approval for their plans.

They now have the go-ahead to demolish a small two-storey extension at the Grade II Listed gallery and construct a replacement extension with a glazed link to the main building.

Providing further funding applications are forthcoming, work on the £2.5 million project - which also includes refurbishing the Old Telephone Exchange in Penzance - will begin in the summer and be completed in October 2005.

The proposed gallery extension will be designed to provide a link detached pavilion to the original building.

Like the original gallery the proposed top floor of the two storey extension will benefit from a lantern roof and a large exhibition/education room providing 42.8m sq of open space and offering panoramic views of Mount's Bay.

The ground floor of the extension would provide access lift, service stairs, shop entrance, hall, reception, cafe and information area.

A basement area containing utility store, dark room and storage area is also proposed. The extension will increase the footprint of the existing gallery from 175 metres square to 255 metres square. The new pavilion will employ natural indigenous materials to match the original building.

The gallery will be required to direct visiting vehicles to adequate parking facilities off the surrounding highway network and a Green Travel Plan to encourage cycling and bus tours for visitors to the gallery will be set up.

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