HAVING become one of only a handful of councils in Devon to be awarded Quality Parish Council status, Okehampton Town Council is now in a good position to be able to enhance its responsibilities in providing local services. Okehampton Town Council became the 15th authority in Devon to achieve the prestigious accolade following months of hard work. Mrs Barbara Thomas, chair of the accreditation panel which made the award to the council, attended a special reception in the council chamber last Thursday and presented a certificate to mayor Cllr Tony Leech. Mrs Thomas said it was clear everyone connected with the council had put in a ?lot of hard work? to gain the award. She said her impression was that Okehampton had an ?up and coming, going-forward council? and it now had a certificate to prove it. She said the council had shown it had great plans ahead, and it was now a case of ?taking your people with you?. Cllr Tony Leech said: ?I must thank all of the council. It is a team effort, although I would particularly like to thank the town clerk Don Bent for all his hard work.? The mayor said achieving Quality Parish Council status on top of the Investors In People award in the last 12 months gave kudos to the council. Cllr Peter Hill, chairman of the Devon Association of Parish Councils, told the gathered councillors and staff: ?We in the association are absolutely delighted that Okehampton has obtained quality status. ?What does it mean? It means that you have shown to an outside body that you are capable, that you communicate to your electorate and you have an open council. ?You have a town clerk who has to understand the rules and guide you, because we councillors are lay people, who come from the people and serve the people.? Cllr Hill said out of 8,000 parish and town councils in England, only around 160 had achieved this quality status. ?You really are at the forefront. I hope you will continue and go on to bigger and better things,? he said. The quality parish and town council scheme was launched in March 2003, following the Government?s rural white paper.
