I WOULD like to share with your readers some of the bureaucratic doublespeak contained in official letters written to me (by the Environment Department Local Service Officer and by Dartmoor National Park Authority) since the farcical decision of the Partnership Committee to make no changes to the so-called 'gateway; on the Whitchurch-Grenofen road.

l the scheme has 'clearly . . . achieved its objectives'. This is despite speeds through Whitchurch village remaining the same.

l the scheme is considered perfectly safe, 'with no changes required'. This is despite numerous slight accidents and near-misses.

l the scheme 'blends into its surroundings . . . and reflects the general nature of the rural environment'. This is despite the chief executive of Dartmoor National Park Authority having 'agreed its environmental failings' (the DNP boundary runs along the eastern hedgebank).

l the scheme 'does not create any greater bottleneck than the cars parked along the length of Whitchurch Road'. Presumably one must assume that two bottlenecks are no worse than one.

l there is no evidence of 'road rage'!

l the extra £10,000 cost of the scheme was due to 'inconsiderate drivers', and has nothing to do with its design.

l Dartmoor National Park Authority 'do not have an interest in this scheme'. This is despite DNPA having 'welcomed' and 'supported' (on March 5 1999) the 'Dartmoor National Park Transport Package' from which some of the initial money came.

Your readers must draw their own conclusions from the above. The Dartmoor Society remains strongly opposed to this nonsensical and wasteful 'gateway', and urges people to write to Mr Edward Chorlton, Environment Director, County Hall, Exeter EX2 4QW requesting that the road be restored to its previous state as soon as possible.

Tom Greeves

Chairman

The Dartmoor Society

THE 'Whitchurch Gateway' is here to stay. May I tell you why? The councillors decided they wanted to cut the amount of traffic using the Horrabridge to Whitchurch road, so they said it was accident-prone (which it wasn't) and asked the county engineers to come up with a scheme to cut the traffic flow.

I was a borough councillor for a few years, so I know what happens in these cases. The engineers drew up the 'gateway' system but it was from Horrabridge to Whitchurch and when they put the cost to it, the councillors said we can't spend all that money, so it was reduced to the length it is now. However, to keep the costs even lower they used earth banks and put in a footpath starting nowhere and ending nowhere.

Unfortunately, drivers, realising what a stupid idea it was, drove over the earth banks returning the road to its normal size. This upset the councillors who are not used to their policies being ridiculed, so the granite posts were installed at more cost.

The councillors also said the 'gateway' was for a trial period. Believe me, councils do not spend large sums of money for trial periods. That 'gateway' is permanent. As the engineers' department told me: 'If it saves one life it is worth it', but the fact is this 'gateway' is liable to cost a life, and there was no loss of life before the 'gateway' was established.

Richard C Hull

Moorland Close

Yelverton

I WAS interested to read the two recent letters in the past two issues of your paper from our local Liberal Democrat councillors, Messrs Connolly and Donkin, trying to distance themselves from the failed abomination known as the Whitchurch Rural Gateway.

This is a county council matter, which was foisted on the local populace without detailed prior consultation with the local community, by Devon County Council, when it was controlled by the Liberal Democrats.

Now the experiment has failed I note that Cllr Connolly is seeking to blame the system rather than the party politics by his colleagues that brought about the experiment in the first place! The maxim seems to be if it works take the credit, if it fails blame somebody else.

This may be all well and good for politicians but in the meantime a lot of the Tavistock ratepayers' money has been wasted. It is hardly surprising therefore that the county council is now seeking to save monies due to overspends, such as lopping off £3-million from their Social Services budget.

John G Taylor

7 Wessex Court

Tavistock